The Filter

With our Dublin Docklands location, we regularly have motorists just off the ferry popping into us for mats and other such accessories, with their tales of incredible value across the sea.

But the tides are a changing and The Irish Times today reports an interesting move from BMW in Ireland who are going to start bringing in 'barely used' second hand BMWs from its British parent company. Some cars will have as little as 10km mileage. This is one of the first attempts by those in the industry to fight back against the attraction for those travelling across the water for their cars. It's good to see a practical approach from within the industry and I wouldn't be too surprised to see other dealerships start to follow the BMW lead.

I'm launching the world's most extravagant car competition...

How often in life do you get the opportunity to win a Porsche 911 Classic Car Mug? The answer of course is not that often, certainly not in these recessionary times. However, we have teamed up with Haynes (the world's most talented producer of car manuals, and other car related accessories) to offer you this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a Porsche 911 Classic Car Mug.

To merely describe the Mug as the most advanced design in porcelian drinking vessels available on the market is doing it a grave disservice. The sleek lines of the Mug make it both aerodynamic and incredibly stylish. The handling is second to none, allowing for the smooth passage of liquids to the mouth area with minimal fuss. The interior is simple and serene, the paintwork is pristine, as you would expect from a classic Porsche, a testament to the many hours of expert workmanship inputted by our friends at Haynes. Rumour has it that The Stig test drove it and said that it produced the finest cup of camomile tea he had every consumed...

So if you want to drive your work colleagues into a jealous rage every time you take this bad boy out, just tell us in 20 words or less, where and when you intend to use the Porsche Classic Car Mug, should you be lucky enough to win it. We will announce the winner once we sift through the many thousands of entries. Get posting!

http://www.thecanvasworks.ie/

This is a great website if you want to turn one of your photos into a canvas for your wall. I had one done myself and it turned out great. You can even enhance or put effects onto your photo. They have a great turnaround time, the picture arrived perfectly packaged and they deliver nationwide. It's an excellent website to purchase a unique gift for your loved one.

The website is easy to navigate and use. They also do some funky photography and artwork from various photographers and artists.

We did some research pre Christmas and asked our customers what we could do better on the website. The main point that came across is that internet shoppers want to see as many product images as possible, detailed descriptions, clear and comprehensive information - basically getting as close to touching the product as you can in an online world. So we've started to rectify things a bit. We're getting more (and better) product images up on the site and we've also started to do weekly video product demonstrations.

While we are far from Steven Spielberg, we hope that our demos may help customers to see how certain products work and how they are fitted. So next time you see a product on the site and you're not quite sure exactly what it consists of or how it works,  look for the video camera symbol below to see if we've got a demo on it. We've already done one for our armrests, replacement mirror glass, emergency kits and bulb kits.

Here's a few handy winter driving tips, what with the brutal weather we're having...

Winter conditions call for different driving tactics.  Ice and Snow, Take it Slow - slower speed, slower acceleration, slower steering, and slower braking.  Give yourself extra time to reach your destination safely.  It's not worth putting yourself and others in a dangerous situation just to save time.  The best advice for driving in bad winter weather is not to drive at all, if you can avoid it. But if you do need to drive:

• Drive with your headlights on.
• Winter road conditions often result in longer stopping distances. Drivers should allow additional room between their vehicles and others. 
• Be especially careful on bridges, overpasses and infrequently traveled roads, which will freeze first. Even at temperatures above freezing, if the conditions are wet, you might encounter ice in shady areas or on exposed roadways like bridges.
• Don't pass snow plows and sanding trucks. The drivers have limited visibility, and you're likely to find the road in front of them worse than the road behind.
• Use low gears to keep traction, especially on hills.
• Avoid abrupt actions while steering, braking or accelerating to lessen the chances of losing control of the vehicle. Decrease your speed and leave yourself plenty of room to stop. You should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you.
• Look farther ahead in traffic. Actions by other drivers will alert you to problems and give you extra time to react.
• Don't get overconfident with four-wheel drive. It won't help you stop any faster.
• Trucks take longer to stop.  Don't cut in front of them.
• Stopping on snow and ice without skidding requires extra time and distance. If you have anti-lock brakes, press the pedal down firmly and hold it. If you don't have anti-lock brakes, gently pump the pedal and brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake. Either way, give yourself plenty of room to stop.

1. Take your foot off the accelerator.
2. Steer in the direction you want the front wheels to go. If your rear wheels are sliding left, steer left. If they're sliding right, steer right.
3. If your rear wheels start sliding the other way as you recover, ease the steering wheel toward that side. You might have to steer left and right a few times to get your vehicle completely under control.
4. If you have standard brakes, pump them gently.
5. If you have anti-lock brakes (ABS), do not pump the brakes. Apply steady pressure to the brakes. You will feel the brakes pulse — this is normal.

1. Take your foot off the accelerator and shift to neutral, but don't try to steer immediately.
2. As the wheels skid sideways, they will slow the vehicle and traction will return. As it does, steer in the direction you want to go. Then put it back in gear and accelerate gently.

1. Do not spin your wheels. This will only dig you in deeper.
2. Turn your wheels from side to side a few times to push snow out of the way.
3. Use a light touch on the accelerator, to ease your car out.
4. Use a shovel to clear snow away from the wheels and the underside of the car.
5. Pour sand, gravel or salt in the path of the wheels, to help get traction.