Useful things for your car

The radio will improve comfort

Radio - will make the management doubly pleasant, listening to music while driving is more useful than harmful. In some foreign countries there are special radio stations for drivers who select the appropriate repertoire and broadcast it. And it is harmful when it takes up so much space that it turns the interior and trunk of the car not into a music salon, but into a concert hall, and if the headphones also close the driver in this concert hall, then we must at least remember that he is on wheels and The traffic light will turn red soon.

Currently, there are a lot of different types of radio tape recorders, one is better than the other, one is more expensive than the other. Choose. Order «music» possible when buying a car. There are special firms involved in the sale and installation. If you wish, you can put the radio tape recorder with speakers yourself, for this you need to go shopping, or maybe it’s better to find everything on the radio market.

In chapter «Music in the car VAZ-2110» recommendations for the selection and installation of music sources in the interior of your car are considered.

Air conditioning will provide a microclimate in the cabin

The air conditioner will help you escape from the heat in the car. It is especially needed in the southern regions of Russia. A «ten» the good thing is that the one who developed it foresaw that it can be used where not only to drive a car, but also just to sit in the cabin is very hot, when the hot outside air burns the hand, and stuffiness in the cabin.


When buying a car, you will be offered a car with air conditioning. It will be delivered to you, connected and tested.

There is a place for it, there is a place for the evaporator, we mentioned this. The interior temperature control system becomes an interior climate control system. The conditioner allows to provide a microclimate to temperature of external air of 0°C.

Refrigerator makes traveling enjoyable

If in your operating plans «dozens» there are trips for more than a day, business trips for a long time, or you plan to travel «for a week in Komarov», where there is no electricity, but there is a forest and fishing, the refrigerator will help not to spoil your appetite, and cold beer will ensure comfort in the tent.

Compressor auto-refrigerators with the principle of operation, like household ones, require space, freeze well, almost always in the refrigerator 10°C, electricity consumption is small.

Refrigerators operating on the Peltier effect, the so-called thermoelectric refrigerators, belong to another type of auto-refrigerators. They are cheaper than compressor ones, lighter and more reliable. They work silently and in any position. But such refrigerators give a temperature difference in the air and in the refrigerator compartment of only 20-25°, often this is enough.

Installing a refrigerator in the trunk is not recommended, it must be kept in the cabin. Batteries are sold with refrigerators. They are enough for different refrigerators in different ways - from 3 to 8 hours.


Imported auto-refrigerators are also on sale.

If you want to go on a trip or go fishing, having a refrigerator will be more fun.

Anti-radar will save travel costs

A device that detects radar installations ahead that measure the speed of vehicles. The use of radar detectors in our country is prohibited. The radar detector is a free interpretation of this device. In fact, this is a receiver of signals emitted by the radar; earlier, simple receivers were simply called detector receivers. Detector in translation from English is a detector. A detector receiver is a detector of magnetic waves emitted by a radio station.

Why their use is prohibited is not clear, it's the same as punishing the driver for warning the oncoming driver with a light signal about the traffic police officer standing in front, but for what? Obviously, for the misuse of lighting devices.

But such devices exist and many people use them. They discipline the driver, encourage them to slow down to a reasonable speed. At the same time, safety on a certain section of the road is increased. And if a traffic police officer is standing in the area where you really need to improve security? This means that his radar is not intended for violators who do not have a detector receiver, but to warn other road users that they are entering a dangerous zone where it is necessary to slow down. Therefore, in many countries the use of such a detector receiver is not prohibited.

Such detector receivers are also sold here, mainly imported. Well, why they are not made with us is clear. The capabilities of these devices are different, the higher the price, the wider the possibilities. The main features of such devices are as follows:

• detection of radars in the frequency bands on which these radars operate,
• selection of the operating mode: urban - with a lower sensitivity level at the receiver, and suburban - with a higher sensitivity level,
• additional services: presence of a compass, night and day operation, turning off and reducing the volume of the buzzer, the ability to detect a signal in a 360°zone.

If you decide to save time, money and nerves, purchase this device, it will make your movement more disciplined and safe.

The compressor will help not only pump up the tire on the road

The compressor in the economy of the car is far from the last thing. Of course, its main purpose is to inflate and inflate the tire if you find it difficult to use the foot pump. But he can inflate many different things, such as an inflatable boat or a mattress. Well, if you have a carburetor engine, then blow through its jets. Compressors can provide other services, for example, have a built-in flashlight, act as a spray gun, pump out used oil from the body (who changes the oil himself knows - it's not always easy) and so on.

On the shelves of our stores there are both imported and domestic compressors. But imported ones are not always better than domestic ones, especially if they are from Asian countries. On imported ones, sometimes the gauge pressure indicator is in PSI units, i.e. pounds per cm², and 1 kg/cm² equals approximately 14 PSI. The cost depends on the services that the compressor can do additionally: from 200 to 1000 rubles.

Roof rack - for those who carry a lot of things

If you have plans to transport a refrigerator, boards and many other bulky things to your dacha, it will come in handy. «Dozens» they don’t have gutters on the roof, so they will need racks, and the rails are already installed on the station wagon and it needs supports.

On two arcs and four slats, you can put whatever you want. The first condition: arcs and slats are a support, on which all kinds of boxes of different sizes and shapes or special baskets are attached. The second condition: they cannot withstand everything that you want to transport, the maximum load by weight is not more than 50 kg, the manufacturer's requirements. In terms of dimensions, the cargo should not protrude more than 1 m in front and behind, and from the sides no more than 0.4 m. The cargo should be marked with shields during the day (identification marks) with red and white oblique stripes, or red flags, at night a red light or reflective elements. If the cargo hangs from the rear by more than 2 m, and the width of the car with the cargo is more than 2.5 m, then permission must be obtained from the traffic police to carry the cargo. In addition, the load should not interfere with visibility, cover lights and license plates. These are the requirements of the rules of the road, and a centimeter is included in the completeness of the traffic police.

In the markets and in the store you can buy everything you need to transport cargo on the roof of the trunk, both imported and ours. You can choose from both price and design.

A trailer is needed not only for tourists

In addition to tourists, trailers are used by summer residents, repair teams transporting their units, wholesalers transporting their goods from distant countries and neighboring countries, for whom the trailer allowed them to earn not only «top ten». But the trailer in our country also played another role - it did not allow many repair enterprises in Russia to completely collapse. Consequently, trailers are in great demand and their choice is large.

Trailers with a maximum permitted weight of up to 750 kg are in the greatest demand, since a passenger car whose driver has a category «IN».

Their bodies are all-metal and have an awning, VAZ wheels, and if the carrying capacity is more than 500 kg, they also have a brake system. There are many modifications of trailers, they differ in suspension, coupling device, side height.

If you decide to buy a trailer, then first of all think about where you will store it. Small trailers can be stored upright, the trailer can have a folding hitch, and this trailer can also fit in a garage.

According to GOST, the requirements for trailers are as follows:

• the length of the trailer must not exceed 1.5 times the length of the tractor and be more than 8 m;
• the width of the trailer must not exceed the width of the tractor by more than 200 mm on each side and be more than 2.3 m;
• the height of the trailer must not be more than 1.8 of the trailer gauge or more than 3 m from the carriageway;
• the center of gravity of a loaded trailer must be located in such a way that the ratio of the height of the center of gravity to the gauge of the trailer is not more than 0.725 (if the Load is distributed evenly over the entire surface of the trailer and the load capacity is not exceeded, then this condition will always be met);
• the ground clearance of the trailer must not be less than the ground clearance of the tractor.

Driving with a trailer is much more difficult than driving without a trailer. The features of this control will be discussed in another section.

Hands-free cell phone device

Since April 1, 2001, more than 60 changes and additions have been made to the Rules of the Road by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. Every driver should be aware of this. One of these additions to clause 2.7 is: «The driver is prohibited... to use a telephone while driving that is not equipped with a technical device that allows hands-free conversations».

This requirement improves traffic safety. The driver's hands, especially in difficult traffic conditions, should drive the car, and not press buttons, take out the phone, and so on. In many countries of the world, this item is in the rules, and violators of it are severely punished.

There are currently a lot of devices that make it easier to talk on a mobile phone, i.e. without using your hands. Some telephones do not need additional devices, such a telephone allows you to negotiate hands-free, it has a built-in loudspeaker. True, if you are negotiating in a room where there is practically no noise, of course, this is good, but when talking in the car, speech is illegible.

The simplest and cheapest today are wired headphones and a microphone with a special button. We receive a call, press the button and talk, by pressing the button again, the conversation is interrupted.

Advantages:

• easy to use, sound quality is good, what the subscriber says, other passengers do not hear;
• no need to put on and take off the phone;
• the ability to negotiate in public transport and in other crowded places.

Flaws:

• the abundance of dangling wires does not create comfort;
• Continuous switching on and off of the plug reduces the reliability of the phone.

Very easy to use local speakerphone. A small loudspeaker and amplifier are inserted into the cigarette lighter, and a microphone with a clothespin is attached to the phone. These two devices are connected by wires.

Advantages:

• easy to handle;
• practically does not affect traffic safety.

Flaws:

• relatively difficult to install;
• the conversation can be heard by the passengers present in the cabin.

The system is very easy to use when a special cassette is inserted into the radio instead of a cassette, and a microphone is installed on the front panel and a connector is connected to the phone. A special cassette reproduces the conversation.

Advantages:

• volume at will;
• easy to handle.

Flaws:

• the possibility of listening to the cassette by another person;
• communication is strongly affected by radio interference;
• the driver loses the music in the cabin.

More expensive systems provide many additional services such as:

• accept and disconnect a call;
• dial;
• look for a number
• connection of a remote antenna;
• all passengers can talk from the phone, of course, without picking it up;
• loudspeaker provides loud and clear conversation;
• the head unit is muted.

You also have to pay for convenience, comfort and design.

Fire extinguisher, first aid kit and warning triangle

Fire extinguisher as they say: «God forbid you never need it!», well, if it came in handy, then let it fulfill its purpose.

Fire extinguishers for sale in a large assortment, both domestic and imported.

The simplest, prettiest and most inexpensive one is always at hand, like a glass of water, any fire that is just starting can be extinguished, but it cannot fight it - these are aerosol-type fire extinguishers.

The most common fire extinguishers are carbon dioxide - these can extinguish everything, up to electrical wiring. But they must be able to use. The snow-forming foam that comes out of it has a temperature of -70°C. The capacity of the fire extinguisher can be from 2 liters or more. For «dozens» a 2-liter is enough, but in the garage you need more.

Powder fire extinguishers are also in demand. They are more compact and lighter than carbon dioxide, easier to handle.

The most common question among drivers: where to store a fire extinguisher? An example from personal practice. About twelve years ago, I was going, then still from Leningrad, to the Black Sea coast to rest, in front of the city of Rostov-on-Don, an employee of the then traffic police stopped, checks everything. Where's the fire extinguisher? I showed, he was attached to the rack, near the left leg, tightened with a collar. «Yes, you know, we have a hot climate, it's hot in the cabin, there was a case, the fire extinguisher exploded, immediately put it in the trunk». That's exactly what I did. I traveled 350 km and in the Krasnodar Territory, in front of the Caucasus Mountains at the exit from Goryachiy Klyuch, there is a well-known traffic police post. Stop, check. «Where's the fire extinguisher?» — «In the trunk, covered so that it doesn't explode from the heat!» — «Yes, you know, we had a case while the driver was digging in the trunk, taking out a fire extinguisher, his car burned down!» Is the conclusion clear? And where to store - it is not clear. In one manual I read: «At the location specified by the manufacturer». And my advice: in a place convenient for you, where you can quickly find it.

Be sure to take a first aid kit with you, especially if you are traveling far from home. Check the medicines in it. There are special requirements for car first-aid kits. A lot of things are in it. But the medicines you need, a tourniquet, a pipette, a bandage, iodine, a bactericidal bandage and an adhesive plaster must be required.

You should have a warning triangle - it is sometimes used - the best of reflective elements. In imported cars, there is a special place for storing them: in the trunk lid on the inside, and it does not interfere with opening and closing the trunk, and your car is visible from afar even at night. A small touch, but useful. You can also attach a warning triangle to the roof of the trunk from the inside.

Tow rope and a number of other necessary things

Traffic regulations require a towline to be between 4m and 6m long and must have at least 2 red flags. Driving a car while towing is a responsible business. How to tow correctly, we will consider later.

But having it in the trunk is no less important than a spare wheel or a pump. There are many tow ropes on the market. Each towing cable must be strong and preferably with a carabiner.

There are basically three types of cables:

• metal cable, usually made of steel, strong but less compact,
• kapron cable, also durable and compact,
• synthetic.

Cables come with springs to reduce jerk when starting to move.

The rear view mirror plays a big role in road safety and it is desirable to have it on both sides; if you have tinted windows or curtains installed on the rear window, then the Rules of the Road require the installation of a second exterior mirror on the right side.

The mirror must fulfill the requirements defined by the standard. But not always the handicraft mirror manufacturer adheres to them. Therefore, it is best to purchase them in company stores.

Mirrors are:

• with a reflective layer on the back of the mirror glass and with a reflective layer on the outside of the mirror glass. This is modern technology, and it is better to purchase mirrors with an outer coating of mirror glass;
• mirror with spherical element. A mirror with a flat element is not allowed by the standard. It is on sale, it was made in a handicraft way;
• a tinted mirror protects the driver's eyes from glare from reflected headlights, of course, it is better to choose this;
• the mirror should fold back and forth, but you can find a mirror that folds only in one direction or does not fold at all, this is very bad, it is traumatic;
• the mirror can be adjusted by turning the body or turning the optical element, the second way is better.

How to adjust the mirror for better security, we will consider in another section.

Sunroof «dozens» you can cut. But its installation should not violate the rigidity of the body. Therefore, the space reserved for the hatch should not cross the transverse roof reinforcements. If the design of the hatch does not allow it to be installed without breaking the rigidity, then it is necessary to ensure sufficient strength of the hatch frame.

Of course, it is also desirable to have a car-carrying flashlight, they come in different designs and there are a lot of them on sale, both domestic and imported.

You may also need a boiler, a fan, an electric razor. If there is an opportunity to watch TV in the bosom of nature, then you will be happy to relax.