IN OUR GARAGE - TAKING CHARGE

I’m fortunate enough to have press cars arriving on a pretty regular basis, but this means that Deux Smurf, our 1996 Toyota Surf, hardly gets used, and in the near freezing temperatures we’ve had recently, that inevitably means her battery dies.

Thankfully I have two pieces of equipment that solve this problem.

The first is Britpart's XS Power Pack which I reviewed last year in our February 2021 issue.

Weighing in at only 615g, and measuring only 230 x 87 x 27mm, the XS Power Pack is an excellent piece of kit.

Removing the power pack and jump leads from their sturdy case, I attached them both and watched as the small LED lights flashed giving me the go ahead to connect them to the battery. I then jump in Deux Smurf, turn the key and without any hesitation she fires up.

What amazes me is that when fully charged the XS Power Pack has the ability to jump start Deux Smurf up to 40 times. Yes really, 40 times, and it’s only the size of a big bar of chocolate, and it can also charge up your mobile and pretty much every other gadget with a battery too - AMAZING!!

As I live in a mid terrace, after starting her with the XS, I decided to drive around to the back, park her up and use the second essential piece of equipment, my CTEK MSX 7.0.

The MXS 7.0 is perfect for charging larger batteries. It’s a fully automatic 8 step charger that has a special reconditioning mode for restoring and reconditioning stratified and deeply discharged batteries.

It also includes other witchcraftery like a battery diagnosis to establish whether your battery can receive and retain a charge, or if it is totally knackered. It also has a winter program for charging in cold weather.

With the Deux Surf on charge for around 6 hours, her battery was fully charged and refurbished, which was just as well as, over the next week or so there was more freezing temperatures to come. Each time I turned the key, she's fired up without any hesitation.

Both the Britpart XS Power Pack and CTEK MSX 7.0 have been worth their weight in gold over winter, and I have no doubt they’ll continue to do so. They may be on the expensive side, but by ‘eck they’re worth it.