Time to take on the rains, again

It’s been a fair wait, but the monsoon finally does seem to be trickling its way into the subcontinent with a few heavy showers along the way. As important a part of our lives as the monsoon is, it can prove to be quite a stumbling block for motorists and it is very often due to their own doing. It isn’t uncommon to see cars parked by the side of the road with the hood up, or cars losing control even at our sedate urban speeds. Here we have put together a small check-list for you to make to be sure that you are monsoon ready and can embrace the rains rather than fear its arrival.

It is alarming how casually most of us take the issue of tyre wear in this country. The general consensus seems to be if the tyres are still black and you can’t see the tube through it, it must be fine. And somehow they are expected to last 50,000 kms. And there lies a huge problem. The slender lines on your tyres are there for a reason and during the rains, they become doubly important because they need to disperse water to give you the grip that you need to move safely.

The minimum tyre depth required to be road worthy is 2mm for cars, which is roughly the gap between where the year is printed on a two-rupee coin and the edge of the coin. More reliably, you can head over to any tyre dealer and use a gauge to get the exact depth of your tyre tread – on all four tyres. Braking distances increase exponentially with every millimetre of lower tread depth and that is what causes most of the unnecessary road crashes. Your tyres are the only bits that are in actual contact with the road and responsible for keeping you on it through corners and help in predictable braking, apart from accelerating. Make sure they are in good shape and aligned and balanced for your car.

Visibility during heavy rains reduces dramatically and bad wiper blades compound the problem. Like tyres, wiper blades are deemed fit till they are ready to etch a formation on your windscreen. Again, late replacements can be very dangerous. For starters, try cleaning your wiper blades thoroughly in preparation for the monsoon. On most occasions you get a smear across the windshield because the wipers have picked up tiny particles over the summer which are clinging on and causing the problem. If the rubber feels hard and brittle, or the smear persists anyway, it’s time to get new wiper blades.

Use the de-fog or de-mist setting on your aircon, it is a life saver. Turn the car on, select the de-fogger setting on the aircon, the one with the symbol for heat coming off a rectangle which looks like the windshield, turn the temperature control to maximum heat and keep the aircon switch on. Dry hot air will be piped into the cabin to clear up the glass surfaces and restore visibility.

A number of accessories, sprays, coatings help keep your car clean and minimize water damage during the monsoon. All of us have heard about Teflon coating and anti-rust coating and possibly have got it done at some point. The thing to remember is that these don’t last a lifetime and you need to re-apply them especially on older cars to keep the surfaces in good shape. So, if you cannot remember the last time this was done to your car, it’s probably time to get a fresh coat. The other one that is very useful is a water repellent spray for your glass surfaces. Once applied, water rolls off in beads from the glass surfaces and although the windshield may not hold up for long with the use of wipers, it is a great thing to have on your wing mirrors and the rest of your windows to maintain excellent visibility.

Finally, we all know that it gets damp and muggy and we often jump into our cars for shelter from the pouring rain. The amount of moisture builds up inside the cabin and the lack of sunshine often makes things unpleasant. Pick up some fresheners, they will at least keep the car smelling fresh and vent the car when the sun is out.

Last, but not the least, you can never pull out of your driveway without a piece of cloth, one that can absorb a lot of moisture. When all else fails, wipe away.

COMMENT NOW