Replacing your standard headlamp bulbs with high quality upgraded bulbs is a really great, simple modification which anybody can do and has so many benefits. Chief among these being increased visibility, safety and driving comfort.

When I bought my car 4 years ago one of the first things I noticed was the dismal performance from the standard Audi headlamps. Within a few days I replaced the standard H4 bulbs which handled both dipped and main beam with Osram Nightbreakers. To be honest I wasn't expecting much and assumed the lack of performance was just down to poor design of the lamps, but the upgraded Osrams weren't that expensive so I thought i'd give them a go. I fitted them in about 5 minutes, it's a simple job albeit very fiddly. I went out straight away for a test drive and can honestly say I was not only surprised but impressed at how dramatic and immediately noticeable the difference was. 4 years later the same bulbs are still fitted and going strong!

At MicksGarage we stock OSRAM Nightbreaker PLUS bulbs. Hover over the graphic below to see the features of these amazing replacement bulbs.



Here’s a short video we made about the Nightbreaker Plus range, including a few tips and tricks:

Car tyre bags are a perfect way to store spare wheels and tyres. These have been available from MicksGarage for quite a while but they are becoming very popular lately. And why not, switching to winter tyres is becoming a common practice in both the UK & Ireland and these are a perfect storage solution for the spare set of summer tyres.  

Made of a tough polyester material the bags incorporate a handy tyre position indicator, a carrying handle and instructions on how to store the tyres both with and without rims (see below). 

In terms of rim and tyre sizes, our tyre bags are suitable for 14 to 18 inch wheels with a max rim width of 8.5" and an maximum external tyre diameter of 27 inches. A pretty wide application covering the most common wheel tyre and tyre sizes on modern vehicles. For more details or to purchase a set of tyre bags click here for the Irish website or here for the UK site. 

The below demo video by Rob from MicksGarage highlights some of the main features the tyre bags:

In the UK and Ireland we get very sporadic wintery conditions and if we do get snow and ice it usually only lasts for a couple of weeks. for most of the time your normal tires are more than adequate for winter driving.  For the 2 or 3 weeks of the year that we do get heavy snow, having an inexpensive solution to keep you safe and provide extra grip in the snow and ice is and excellent idea. and thats where Weissenfels Snow Socks come in

Weissenfels Snow Socks are an ideal, cost effective alternative to expensive Winter tyres or Snow Chains. 

Weissenfels Snow Socks are super-strong textile socks which you slip over the driving wheels to provide the grip you need on ice and snow. They’re reusable, take up minimal storage space, provide amazing levels of traction and are perfect for sporadic wintry conditions. Snow Socks are tailored for situations where the duration of icy & snowy roads is normally short and does not justify special tyres or snowchains. 

The big advantages are that they are extremely quick and simple to fit. There is nothing to chafe around the back of the tyre making them ideal for cars with limited clearances around the wheel. Fitting is also made easier since there is nothing to adjust and they automatically self centre as you drive. Since there is no metal chain in contact with the road, the Weissenfels Snow Sock is totally smooth running with absolutely no vibrations or noise being apparent.

How does the Weissenfels Snow Sock work?

Rather than cutting into the snow and ice with deep treads, Snow socks use friction to provide the grip. Snow and ice sticks to fabric and Weissenfels Snow Socks are made from a technical fabric which sticks to the snow. The specially developed textile "wicks away" water that's found between the ground and the tyre thereby maximising the friction grip.

Snow Socks provide an ideal solution to get you home, do the school run or Get you to that meeting. Manufactured in northern Italy the Weissenfels Snow Sock is ideal for the cold winters, where we experience sudden and sporadic snow fall, usually short lasting, but so often the cause of massive disruption and inconvenience while it lasts. Summer tyres are not suitable for snow, ice and sleet conditions – the Weissenfels Snow Sock is the ideal cost effective “always have in the car” solution.

Fitting

Fitting Weissenfels Snow Socks is very easy:.
1)    Stop the vehicle and apply the handbrake. Fit SnowSock to the driving wheels of the car, starting at the top of the tyre and working downwards.
2)    Move the vehicle approximately 1 metre (move back if the surface prevents forward movement)
3)    Put the remainder of each 'Sock' into position. 

4)    The Snow Socks will automatically self-centre when you start driving.

There's only one possible way to fit the Snow Sock and no practice is required. There's NO need to turn off any electronic traction and stability devices, e.g. ETS, ASR, ESP, DSC. Drive off gently, avoiding wheel spin. Extreme acceleration and braking could damage the product.

To take off

1)    Stop the vehicle and apply the handbrake. Pull the Sock down off the wheel
2)    Move the vehicle approximately 1 metre forward and roll off the bottom edge
3)    Fold neatly and put back in to storage bag for reuse. 

Diesel Particulate Filters or DPF's are a relatively new invention and are part of the exhaust system on modern diesel engined cars. They are designed to trap toxic soot particles before they reach the atmosphere.


You will no doubt have seen the clouds of black smoke billowing from the back of some diesel cars when they accellerate hard, DPF's are designed to combat this. The drawback of a DPF is that it can become clogged and the cost of a replacement could be as much as £1500/€1700!


Apparently DPF's are not at all suited to town driving and if a car spends its life in stop-start traffic it can get clogged. Regular motorway runs will help to combat the problem as the higher exhaust gas temperatures will burn off the collected soot. Another solution is to remove the DPF altogether as they are not needed to pass the MOT/NCT....for now.

Just yesterday we added a new range of Tetrax phone holders to the MicksGarage website. These are probably the most stylish car phone holders on the market. The Tetrax units are available in a few different styles ranging from the 'Fix Line' (suitable for small devices like iPods), the 'Geo Line' (suitable for bigger iPods, smart phones, etc.) and the XWay (suitable for larger units like Sat Navs and PDAs). 

I have been using the a Geo Line unit for the past week or so, in two different cars with a Samsung Galaxy phone, and I find it brilliant. It is easy to use, a simple screw action clamps the Geo unit onto car air vents while a small metal button is stuck onto the back of the phone. The magnet and the adhesive are surprisingly strong and I found that bumps and pot holes on the road were not an issue. In about ten days of driving in various different road conditions the phone did not come close to coming off the magnet, I even trust the unit enough to use it on the right had side vent, with the window open (admittedly I first tested a sharp left turn with the window closed).

Another thing I found handy is if you attach the metal button around the middle of the phone (like I have done in the pictures below), you can mount the phone horizontally. This is very handy if you are waiting in the car or stuck in traffic and have videos on to watch on your smart phone. (MicksGarage does not recommend watching videos or using your phone while in motion). 

Overall, I think the Tetrax Geo Line unit is strong, versatile and super stylish, and would certainly recommend it as a replacement to traditional plastic and bulky car phone holders. Tetrax's tag line is "invisible attraction", and it definitly makes sense when the its is compared to traditional holders.  The Geo also comes with a few spare metal buttons so you can switch around between different devices or if you change your phone. 

In the Tetrax range there is also an iPhone case available with the metal button attached to the back, but all the Tetrax models mentioned above are universal and suitable for any phone. The metal button is not too big either so it doesn't look out of place on the back of the phone.  

To see the full Tetrax range on MicksGarage.ie click here, or for MicksGarage.co.uk, click here. 

Have a look at the below video which describes the different Tetrax models very well:

Ever heard of Einszett?........Nope, didn't think so! Well for 75 years Einszett has been Germany's leading manufacturer of premium car care products. Their range is comprehensive, extremely high quality and perhaps most importantly, excellent value for money.

We have had Einszett products on sale at MicksGarage for a number of years and it has always been a steady seller for us but we've never really promoted the brand.

We have actually tested all of the Einszett products on our own cars and we believe they are a more than capable rival to better known brands such as Turtlewax and Autoglym. The real advantage over these brands though is the price.

To (re)-launch the Einszett brand we have put together two fantastic car care kits and are offering them at half price.  The basic kit contains all the essentials to keep your car in pristine condition while the professional kit contains 15 different products and will not be beaten on value, quality and quantity.

We have also created a series of videos to demonstrate the Einszett product range, a few of them are posted below but to see the full series head over to our YouTube channel 

As part of the ‘Product Insights’ section of the blog we will be writing regular “semi-technical” articles on various car parts. Today’s post is about clutches. Generally the clutch you find in a car is made up of three core components, a clutch disc, pressure plate and release bearing. At its most basic level, the clutch is used to transfer the rotation of the engine into rotation of the wheels.

Check out these awesome cardboard crash helmets from Kranium.  What an awesome idea!  it turns out the corrugated paper product actually makes a better impact absorber than polystyrene.

Kranium technology uses interlocking ribs made from cardboard housed under a stiff plastic shell. Since the cardboard is easily manufactured and cut to shape, custom fitment is possible by means of a simple and personalized head-shaped template. This way, the guts can be cut out of a single cardboard sheet and replaced without buying a completely new helmet.

Tests show that these cardboard helmets can withstand four times more impact energy than regular helmets. Just as interestingly, while polystyrene helmets can only take a single impact, these Kranium helmets can reportedly pass testing after five strikes. Read more about the technology at the Kranium site.

 

 

We have been taking a lot of phone calls here recently at MicksGarage.ie from customers looking to order replacement EGR Valves for their vehicle. Two things are apparent from these calls. A) EGR valves break a lot and B) Some people do not seem to know what an EGR valve is or what its function is.

So…..EGR Valve = Exhaust Gas Recirculation ValveThe EGR valve, or Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve, is a vacuum controlled valve which allows a specific amount of your exhaust back into the intake manifold. This exhaust mixes with the intake air and actually cools the combustion process. Cooler is always better inside your engine. The exhaust your EGR valve re-circulates also prevents the formation of Nitrogen related gases. These are referred to as NOX emissions, and are a common cause for failing emissions testing as part of the NCT.Unfortunately, EGR valves are known to get stuck open, causing NOX gases to build up.

You'll know if your E.G.R. valve is stuck or malfunctioning because your car will experience symptoms like rough idle and bucking on acceleration.  An amber warning light should appear on your vehicles dash board to indicate a problem before there are any noticeable driving defects. If the light is left undiagnosed, your vehicle will start to perform badly and the vehicles fuel consumption will drop considerably.