Best summer car products 2024
These 10 test-winning products are perfect for all your summer motoring needs
Warmer weather makes motoring more fun. As the sun comes out and the temperatures rise, classic cars emerge from hibernation, convertibles drop their tops, and we can all clean our cars and polish without worrying about mud and salt. We can also look forward to the holiday season, when thousands of families will set off on adventures in their cars both in the UK and further afield.
There are lots of products and accessories that will keep your car looking good, your passengers comfortable and make holidays go without a hitch.
Buying them now, before the big rush, will ensure you get the keenest deals. We’ve compiled our top-10 summer tests, with the best buys in each category. Whether you’re having a picnic, heading abroad or looking to keep your car clean, these are our recommendations.
Angelwax Revenge insect remover
- Price: Around £7.00
- Website: angelwax.co.uk
While the salty grime of winter might be behind us, summer will bring a new cleaning challenge. Warmer weather brings out the insects, and they will soon messily splatter themselves over the front of your car during any long journey.
Once they’re there, the warm air and sunshine will bake them on to the surface. To keep your paint safe and remove the bugs, we’d recommend a dedicated insect remover, which will soften the debris without harming the car. Our winner for the last three tests has been Angelwax’s easy-to-use Revenge, which makes debugging a breeze.
Atera GENIO PRO bike rack
- Price: Around £575
- Website: roofbox.co.uk
The warmer weather means more of us will be swapping from four wheels to two as we get on our bikes for some pedal-powered fun in the sun. If you want to go further afield in search of the best routes, you’ll still need to carry your cycles on a car.
Dedicated bike racks that mount on roof bars are great for traditional hatchbacks and estates, but they will be trickier to load if you’re driving a taller SUV. A tow bar-mounted rack is much safer for use with SUVs, especially if you have weighty electric bikes. Our favourite is the foldable Atera GENIO PRO. While it’s not cheap, it works brilliantly and will keep your bikes – and car – safe.
Brita Fill & Go active Water Filter bottle
- Price: Around £12
- Website: boots.com
We all know the importance of keeping hydrated, especially in hot weather and while you are driving. But paying for refreshments from service stations when you’re away will quickly eat into your holiday spending money.
Brita’s Fill & Go isn’t the cheapest refillable bottle available, but we love the way it filters the water through a charcoal disc as you drink. This means you can top up from a tap or public water fountain and it will taste just as good as bottled water that you’d buy in a shop. One £4.33 filter disc lasts for 150 litres, Brita says, so the savings will soon add up.
Gtechniq W5 Citrus & I1 Smart Fabric soft-top cleaner
- Price: Around £28
- Website: Gtechniq.co.uk
After a wet winter, your convertible’s soft-top might be looking a little grubby and unloved, especially if it’s a light colour. Blasting it with a pressure washer could damage the fabric and make it look worse, while leaving it untouched could cause mildew.
If a car is kept outside and used all year, we’d suggest cleaning and reproofing a fabric roof twice a year. Our tests gave the Best Buy prize to a pair of products from Gtechniq, using the W5 Citrus All Purpose to clean, and the I1 Smart Fabric AB to treat the roof fabric.
Halfords Rear Window Sunshades
- Price: Around £11-£13
- Website: halfords.com
While we all love summer sunshine, there are times when it can be rather a nuisance. In hotter weather the rays will warm up a car’s interior and annoy your kids, keeping them awake when they want to snooze or making their screens harder to see when they are gaming.
Sunshades are one of the cheapest and most effective accessories you can buy. Halfords products took the top three places in our test, providing shade for just a few quid. Our favourites were the Rear Window Sunshades. Besides giving protection from the sun, they allow you to open a rear window without letting insects in.
Outwell ECO Cool Lite
- Price: Around £71
- Website: outwell.com
When you’re off on holiday, you’ll want to keep the food and drink you’re bringing from home cold for as long as possible. You have the choice of powered cool boxes that use electricity from a 12v socket, or simple insulated containers.
For the powered boxes, the winner of our test was the Outwell ECOCool Lite, which has a 24-litre capacity – plenty for storing picnic food. If you need more space and can’t plug in, then the Quechua Flexible Cooler from Decathlon took the prize for the insulated cool box. It has a whopping 35 litres of space and cleverly folds down to make it easier to store.
Photonic Universe 10W Solar Trickle Charging Kit
- Price: Around £40
- Website: photonicuniverse.com
Using a solar battery charger this summer will mean you can keep your cells topped up without the need to plug into a mains supply. This could mean your classic car will start on the first turn of the key, or your camping trip won’t be ruined because you’ve flattened your vehicle’s battery while parked up with the door open.
Our tests found that some smaller solar panels were barely worth the effort, but the Photonic Universe kit was effective in keeping us powered up. A USB port lets you charge up devices from the sun, while it’s also waterproof, so it can be kept on a roof.
Ring RK002 European travel car safety kit
- Price: Around £35
- Website: ringautomotive.com
You’ve got your passports and ferry tickets. But is your car going to be legal once you get to the Continent? Buying a Euro Travel Kit before you leave will be much cheaper than buying all the items separately or having to make a panicked purchase at a service station.
Our favourite kit from Ring contains a regulation-size UK sticker, warning triangle, two high-vis jackets, a universal bulb set, a pair of beam converters, a first-aid kit and a single foil blanket to keep you warm or protected from the sun. All these items are neatly stored in a Velcro-backed bag which won’t slide around.
Summit SUP-084 roof bars
- Price: Around £80
- Website: mountneyltd.com
When it’s time for a holiday, your car suddenly seems far too small. With all the seats full of family members, you still need to find space for their luggage and even the dog. The logical place to look is on the roof, where you can install roof bars and add a roof box, bike carriers or even a fold-out tent.
‘Aero’-shaped alloy bars might be worth the extra investment if you are regularly doing long journeys or need to quickly change accessory mountings, but for more occasional use we can’t think of a reason to spend more than £80 on the Summit SUP-084s.
VonShef Picnic Backpack
- Price: Around £45
- Website: vonhaus.com
If you’re looking for an excuse to go for a drive in sunny weather, then what’s better than heading out to a nice spot for a picnic? Our test-winning picnic backpack from VonShef set has everything you need, except the food.
The easy-to-carry backpack has plates, cutlery, and a chopping board. There’s also a plastic-backed blanket and an insulated food-storage section and bottle holder. If you like a more traditional look, the £89 wicker Alfresco Highlands hamper would fit in at any classic-car gathering.
Are you planning a summer road trip this year? Which car products are you making sure you don't leave behind? Let us know in the comments below...
