ColdKa

Battery Performance

Chemical batteries are not able to provide as much power when cold and a morning start after a night parked up will be a demanding test of any battery. This will be when the starter motor needs to draw a lot of current, but when the battery is least able to provide it.

We will also be making far greater demands on the battery, especially during the “warm up” period. Use of the heated windscreens - both front and rear - the mirrors and (possibly) the heated windscreen wiper nozzles will all sap current. Once the engine is running, the alternator ought to be able to provide sufficient power to recharge the battery, but even in the United Kingdom, the lights do dim when you use the heated front windscreen.

On the move, headlamps are a priority and we may use the heated windscreens to help keep the glass clear of ice.

Engine Oil

When cold, engine oil is rather denser than normal and consequently sluggish. It takes longer to reach all parts of the engine, so it will be advantageous to ensure that the engine is kept warm as much as possible.

Checking the Ka’s handbook, it would appear that the standard oil Ford use, and recommend, can cope with the extreme cold.

Coolant and the Heater

I may well need to increase the antifreeze mix of the coolant, so as to ensure that the system does not freeze (because a frozen cooling system is very bad news and would scupper the whole show). If this is the case, I will arrange a coolant check before we go and then to change it back when we arrive back in the United Kingdom.

The Ka’s heater is very effective in the United Kingdom, and it can provide plenty of heat after just a few minutes, even in the middle of winter. I can expect it to take rather longer in the Arctic, as the coolant will have much further to rise and it may perhaps take double the time to heat up.

One concern that I do have is how well the heater will keep the interior at a comfortable temperature. The Ka does have a very effective heater, but it also loses heat much quicker than my previous car, the Mondeo. In the Arctic, it’ll lose heat even quicker. This may be because of a lack of insulation in the doors and rear quarter panels - which could perhaps be solved by packing these areas with sound insulation (which is also a very good heat insulator). The other aspect is the roof, which has a thinner headlining compared to previous cars, although I do not realistically think that there is much scope for insulating this.

Brakes

Disc brakes work much better when there is some heat in the components - generally speaking, the higher the iron content of the discs and pads, the more susceptible they are to feeling weak when cold. Kermit’s standard Ford vented front discs have a high iron content - this is why they rust quickly when wet - and so it is possible that the brakes will feel rather inadequate when decelerating from speed.

Of course, one would be rather foolish to attempt braking from speed in bad weather, so I do not expect this to be an issue. Even with ABS and winter tyres, I know Kermit will take a very long distance to stop.

On another note, handbrakes can freeze, so it will be important for the driver to leave the car in gear, rather than to use the handbrake, when parking up overnight.

I’ll have the brake fluid checked before the trip, because any ice in the system will be very bad news indeed.

Locks and Seals

The Ka’s fuel filler cap is, thankfully, kept behind a flap, which should afford it protection from frost. The door locks have no such protection, although we are fortunate in that Kermit has remote central locking, so our reliance on the key to get in and out of the car is very limited indeed.

The seals, however, are exposed to the elements and may therefore freeze over (something I have noticed in the depths of the British winter).

The boot can freeze shut - this happens in the United Kingdom when the temperature is about freezing point and you’re driving through snow, which is sucked out the back and promptly deposited on the tailgate. I will investigate any possible solutions to this, perhaps including using a lubricant on the boot seal.

The Ka in Extreme Temperatures: An Example

The Ka benefits from a few modifications for extreme wintry conditions – but the two main ones being an external power point, for hooking up to the mains – and two heaters, one within the water jacket and one inside the Ka.

This first shot shows the mini-plug in detail and this second one shows a Ka parked and plugged in.

In use, the driver sets the timer for the heater to two hours before he or she intends on using their car: with two hours to go, the heater fires up, thus warming the engine coolant and the interior.

This system costs around £100 to install (in a dealership), but is considered to be an essential for such a cold climate. When we take Kermit to the Arctic, we may well install this system – it will make things much easier for us, even though we’ll only be in the extreme cold for a few days.

The other modification is studded winter tyres! As this picture illustrates, winter tyres look very different to typical British “all season” tyres. The tyre is physically heavier, and has a different rubber compound designed to provide grip at very low temperatures.

Unfortunately, studded tyres are illegal to use in the United Kingdom.