Keeping your car cool this summer

While we’ve experienced a few typhoons and thunderstorms, it’s still pretty much hot outside. So here are some tips to help keep your car cooler, making your journeys more comfortable.

1) Cool down your car. If you’ve left your car parked out in the sun for more than an hour,  start the engine, pop the trunk or rear hatch, open all the windows, and turn your air-conditioner  at full blast first before you get in the car. Do not turn the compressor on, though.

The aim here is to blow out all of the hot, stale air that’s been trapped inside the car. How long should you do this? As soon as it’s comfortable enough for you to sit inside the car, hold the steering wheel, and change gears.

Once inside, you can turn on your compressor switch to  circulate the cold air.

2) Invest in tint, window shades and visors. Ideally, you have full wraparound tint on your vehicle to help suppress heat and UV light from entering your vehicle, and damaging the interior in the long term and causing you skin cancer and other skin diseases.

V-KOOL, 3M, LLumar and other high-end tint brands offer tints that allow impressive in-and-out visibility but stop excessive heat and light from entering the cabin. These help reduce in-car temperature, and also reduce the load on your air-conditioning system.

Some brands also offer protection against smash-and-grabs and other car theft attempts.

As a rule, the darker the tint, the more it tends to block heat and light. But don’t go overboard as super dark tint makes the car difficult to drive at night or in bad weather condition!

3) Park under the shade. A very simple tip, but it helps massively in keeping your car cool and protecting both the exterior and interior from long-term damage.

But be careful of parking under the tree. Tree sap, insects, etc., may  cause long-term damage on your vehicle’s exterior paint finish if left for long periods of time.

4) Park with your vehicle’s rear facing the sun, or park away from the sun. Ideally, you should park your vehicle facing the opposite direction of the sun. If the front or the dashboard is facing the sun directly, you as the driver can face great discomfort.

So if you will be parking out in the open, even with tint, window shades and visors on, park  with your vehicle’s rear facing the sun.

5) Leave a tiny opening in your door windows and pop the hood open. If you’re parking in a safe place, such as inside your own home or any guarded private parking area, you can leave the windows very slightly open and  the hood popped open to allow heat to vent out.

Just make sure the parking lot is safe, and there’s somebody to guard your vehicle, and that you lock the doors!

Additionally, here are some instances to avoid when leaving your car parked under the sun:

1) Don’t leave anything flammable inside the cabin or trunk. Leaving matches, cigarette lighters or other dangerous chemicals inside the cabin or trunk is dangerous. These might self-ignite (it can happen past 45 degrees Celsius), or the chemicals might start seeping out or leaking.

2) Don’t leave food and drinks inside the vehicle. These food and drinks will spoil in one to two hours, leaving  bad smell inside your vehicle. In the same way, don’t leave old, used clothes and shoes inside the car. Your car isn’t a locker, after all.

3) Don’t leave sensitive electronic devices inside your vehicle. Mobile phone power/battery packs, small digital recording devices and other electronic  devices can get damaged when exposed to high heat over prolonged periods of time.

Devices that use lithium-ion batteries are also dangerous, as lithium ion is highly unstable and needs to be kept cool at all times. Otherwise, it could cause serious damage or, worse, ignite.

4) Don’t rinse  your car with water immediately after a long drive, under the sun or if it’s been parked in the open. If you’ve been out the whole day or parked your car under the sun, allow more than two hours for the vehicle to cool down.

Sudden changes in temperature isn’t good for the car’s exterior paint finish, which can lead to a plethora of problems such as “orange peel” (the texture of the finish becoming to resemble that of  an orange’s), cracking and swirl marks.

If the exterior is hot to the touch, park it under a shade and let it cool down before  washing the vehicle.

5) Invest in paint protection waxes. Brands like Sonax, Autoglym, Meguiar’s, and Mothers Car Care waxes and polishes offer a nanopaint protection film which helps the original finish last longer by covering it in a layer of nano wax, reducing damage caused by UV rays, extreme heat and sudden temperature changes due to events like sudden summer downpours.

It will help your car’s finish to last longer, and your car to look  shinier.

While we’re down to our last two weeks of official summer time, it’s going to get hotter. So until the heavens open up, stay cool, be cool, and drive safely!