The Glovebox Top Ten
Any decent modern car will have oodles of storage compartments all over the inside of the cabin for drivers and passengers to put things in. These compartments come in large and small, and designers tend to get quite inventive. A frequently found option for many models includes a chilled console compartment, and some cars – one of the new Skodas, I think – has a special draining compartment for damp umbrellas. But what do you put in the compartments now that you’ve got them? Here’s a top ten list of what every car should have in the glovebox:
- The car manual. If you keep it in the bookshelf in your house or in the garage, you’re likely to forget it when you drop the car off for a routine service, which will make things a little trickier for the mechanic. Besides, if you’re not completely sure where the fuses are or how much you should inflate the tyres when towing, then it pays to have the info on hand when you need it. You probably found the manual in the glovebox; leave it there.
- A map. In fact, several maps. One for your local roads and one on the state or even the country scale. If you’re travelling out of town, it pays to get a street-level map for the place you’re visiting rather than following your nose, the sun and the vague directions of the person you finally stopped and asked. A GPS makes a decent substitute.
- Medications. If you have a long-term condition, you need to keep spares with you in the car (inhaler for asthmatics, insulin for diabetics, etc.). Even if you don’t have a long-term condition, it always pays to have an aspirin in the car – the sort you don’t need water for, as nobody drives well with a splitting headache.
- Tissues. Somewhere, some day, you will sneeze, get a nosebleed, burst into tears (or tend to a passenger who does so), need to wipe the windscreen… Tissues work.
- First Aid kit. Some models have these as options. Sticking plaster, antiseptic cream, bandages of all sizes, a sling, safety pins and some tweezers are the bare minimum.
- Sunglasses. And sunscreen. We’ve got a sunny climate, so prepare for it.
- Water. We all need to keep our fluids up, especially during long drives. Replace the water regularly, as it can grow nasties in it if left sitting around too long. Buy bottled water if you have to, but the stuff from the tap (in many places) is good enough, especially if you boil it or filter it yourself.
- Nibbles and chewing gum. Low blood sugar causes fatigue, which can lead to bad driving. Probably best to avoid too many sugary sweets (a few are OK). Try dried fruit, nuts, crackers and biscuits.
- Pen and paper. You are going to see an ad, have a bright idea or want to take down someone’s phone number at some stage. Have the pen and paper handy for making notes.
- Small change. It’s a good place to store it and comes in handy when you’ve only got plastic in the wallet and you need to feed the parking meter, pick up a loaf of bread or hand it over when the child you’ve dropped off at the school gate announces the need for a gold coin donation.
New models discovered in Paris
Not so long ago, the Paris Motor Show was in full swing. Motor Shows are when the motoring world gets to see the weird, the wild, the wonderful and the new. While we all know that some of the oddities unveiled at these shows never quite make it into production and some of the new models don’t get Down Under for yonks, these shows are always entertaining if you’re only slightly interested in cars and motoring – and even if you’re not.
New models are being unveiled by the following auto manufacturers: Audi (world premiere for the latest A7 Sportback, the R8 GT and R8 V8 Spyder models), Chevrolet (world premiere for latest Aveo, Orlando, Cruze and Captiva), Citröen (latest C4 and DS4), Ford (Focus ST Concept, Fiesta RS WRC and the unveiling of a demo model plug-in hybrid), Honda (Jazz Hybrid), Hyundai (JC), Kia (the concept car Pop), Land Rover (Range Rover Evoque), Mazda (new look 3 and 5), Mercedes Benz (A-Class E-Cell, three CLS variants and the S class), Opel (GTC Paris and Astra Sport Tourer), Peugeot (508 and 3008 hybrid), Renault (De Zir, Fluence ZE, Twizy, Twingo Miss Sixty and Laguna Phase 2), Smart (a fortwo facelift, car2go and two motorbikes/scooters), Toyota (Verso S), Volkswagen (latest Passat) and Volvo (latest V60). It still remains to be seen which ones of these will get down to this part of the world, but I’m hoping that we’ll see the Honda Jazz Hybrid, at the very least, and we certainly want to see new models of old favourites. But something tells me that the Renault Twingo Miss Sixty is going to need a bit of re-badging or re-naming before it comes down here – can you really imagine asking to see a “Twingo Miss Sixty” at the local car dealers?
Now Zoe Is In Trouble.
Just a few weeks ago we wrote about the trouble that manufacturers can get into when naming their new cars. We related the problems that Audi had in France when launching their new electric car the ‘e-tron’. Well, purely coincidentally, a French court has had to rule on another manufacturer’s name for their new electric car. This time it’s Renault, who have called their electric prototype the ‘Zoe”, a sort of play on words for Zero Emissions ( or, for classical scholars, a Greek word meaning ‘life’).
Cash For Clunkers Destined For Scrapheap?
The Government has announced it will delay the introduction of the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ scheme (officially called The Cleaner Car Rebate) by six months, to June 2011.
We’re not surprised and indicated our doubts when the Gillard Government was narrowly re-elected and we dealt with this issue in some detail.
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