Winter Driving & Emergency

The department a Canadian car actually lives in from October to April: lithium booster packs, telescopic snow brushes and ice scrapers, traction mats and tire socks, block heater cords and timers, windshield covers, emergency kits, folding shovels, candles and blankets. We pick items rated for real cold, meaning batteries that still crank at minus thirty and plastics that do not shatter on a frozen hood.

What to look for: a booster pack with a peak current suited to your engine (roughly 1,000 A for a four-cylinder, 2,000 A or more for a V8 or diesel) and a cold-weather rating printed on the box; a snow brush long enough to clear the roof of an SUV, because loose snow on the roof is a ticket in several provinces; and a block heater cord with a lit plug so you can see it is drawing power. Keep the emergency kit small and in the trunk all winter, not in the garage.

Read the winter kit checklist and when to plug in a block heater, or continue to tires and wheels and winter wiper blades.