70 steps to jump-starting a car and more good stuff
Hitting the road can be more manageable with these new products for the car. Each has been tested by the author.
-- Judi Dash
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High-pressure work
Driving with under-inflated tires wears out the tread faster and is a drag on fuel consumption. Happily, you no longer need to get down on your knees with a tire gauge to make sure your air pressure measures up. The battery-operated Air Alert Valve Cap screws onto each tire’s air-valve stem and blinks red if the pressure falls more than 4 pounds per square inch. Inflate your tires to the recommended pressure and screw on the Air Alert caps. The brass cap has a sensor that memorizes the tire pressure when it’s initially screwed on. The pressure cannot be reset on the cap, so it’s important to have the tires correctly inflated on first use. After the tire is reinflated to the proper pressure, the light will stop blinking.
Air Alert Valve Caps are $25 per four-pack from A.U.T.; (877) 293-3714, www.automotiveupgrade.com.
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Leading the charge
Freeplay Energy, creators of hand-crank emergency flashlights and radios, has developed a people-powered car battery charger. The hefty 19-pound FreeCharge Weza is a 12-volt battery and generator that can provide enough power (about 400 amps) to jump start a vehicle in emergencies using a simple step treadle. Ideally, the internal lead acid gel cell battery would be fully charged ahead of time by the included AC wall adapter or cigarette lighter adapter. It also can be partly charged by steady foot-pumping at about 70 steps per minute -- though fully charging it this way could take an hour or more. In an emergency where the FreeCharge battery is flat, you can jump start a dead car battery directly from the FreeCharge’s little generator component using pedal power -- 70 steps per minute for about five minutes should do it.
FreeCharge Weza is $269; (866) 697-7529, www.freeplayenergy.com.
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Vibes for the ride
Driving may be less of a pain in the neck thanks to the new IZON In-Car Massager. The vibrating neck rest, covered in spongy nylon, mounts onto the vehicle headrest with a detachable strap and is powered by the cigarette lighter. The control panel provides an on-off switch, a choice of eight rhythm modes and five intensity levels. The IZON does not actually massage -- it performs no kneading motions -- but the vibration can reduce tension. The IZON also can be used to
provide back support and soothe back muscles when wedged between the user’s back and the seatback.
IZON In-Car Massager is $29.95; (800) 439-9169, www.izon-therapy.com.
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Road sage
For directions anywhere in the U.S. or Canada, Microsoft’s Streets & Trips mapping and travel planning software program is one of the most reliable on the market, with plenty of neat graphic options. The 2007 version is available with an optional cordless GPS receiver that can work with a notebook computer by way of its USB port. The program also includes about 1.2 million points of interest -- gas stations, restaurants, hotels, ATMs and parks -- that can be incorporated into a personalized driving guide, complete with color maps and turn-by-turn directions. A “reroute from here” function helps you get back on track after a wrong turn. With all those spiffy options, I use Streets & Maps primarily to provide solid guidance I can print out or e-mail ahead of time from my home computer. A version for European road travel, called AutoRoute 2007, is due out soon at the same price.
Streets & Trips 2007 with GPS Locator is $129; $40 without the GPS locator; (800) 426-9400, www.microsoft.com/streets.
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Bow-wower
Fido may not mind being relegated to the back of the car after he settles into the swank Hammock Seat Cover from Bowsers Pet Products. Covered in soft nylon velvet in four classy color patterns (my favorite is “espresso houndstooth”), the thick polyester-filled bottom cushion has large velvety flaps that attach with nylon straps and clip to the front- and back-seat headrests, providing a hammock effect. Your animal companion can sprawl out over what would have been the gap between the front and back seats. One size fits all, and smaller breeds can double up.
Dog Hammock Seat Cover is about $200; (877) 269-7377, www.bowsers.com.
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