7 In-Car Accessories Every Petrol Head Needs

7 In-Car Accessories Every Petrol Head Needs From digital parking databases to awesome smartphone mounts, some accessories just make your car a more comfortable place to spend your time. If you’re a serious petrolhead, your car is more than just a vehicle – it’s your second home. These seven in-car accessories range from essentials for reliability and safety to awesome new devices that make driving – whether it’s just around town or on a long-distance road trip – much more of a pleasure. Enhance your next road trip with these seven in-car accessories. © Depositphotos.com/Matthew Dixon

Tools, jumper cables and other essentials

Before we get into the cool accessories, let’s cover the essentials. Every car owner, whether they’re a commuter or serious petrolhead, needs to have a toolkit in their car to help them get moving again after a breakdown. Your car’s toolkit should include jumper cables, basic hand tools to help you change a tyre, spare screws and fastenings, duct tape and more. You should also keep some spare oil, fresh water and engine coolant in case your engine ever gets low. Need help putting together your car toolkit? Jalopnik has a great guide to building a complete toolkit for your car to help you out during a breakdown or let you quickly top up your oil or water whenever an irritating emergency light switches on.

Navdy

Want to monitor your speed, location and direction while using your phone at the same time? Navdy is an impressive HUD interface for your smartphone that’s just like the displays used by pilots on commercial jets. Here’s how it works: Navdy includes a tiny, high quality projector that projects the user interface on a transparent piece of glass. It sits on your dashboard, letting you interact with your smartphone while you’re driving, without using your hands. Using your voice, you can send texts and make calls, share your location on social media and send out tweets and Facebook status updates. Add Navdy to your car’s dashboard and you’ll really feel like you’re driving in the future.

Cobra JumPack

Cobra Electronics may be best known for its radar detectors, but its coolest product is without a doubt the JumPack. This tiny mobile battery lets you jumpstart your car after a breakdown as well as recharging your smartphone and other mobile devices. Better yet, it includes a built-in torch to help you find your way around your car and surroundings if you’re ever stuck on the side of the highway after sunset. It’s easy to charge, with a wall charger for home and 12V charger for on-the-go both included.

For $130, the @CobraElectronic #jumPack is the size of a mobile charger pack, but can jump-start your car. Woah. pic.twitter.com/TtrDvT784Z

— Santiago Ricoy (@SantiRicoy) 8 January 2014

Whether you accidentally leave your lights on while shopping and need to give your battery a jumpstart or just need a convenient mobile charger for your next road trip, it’s hard not to choose the Cobra JumPack.

Logitech Case+

There are thousands of smartphone cases out there, but none are quite as useful for petrolheads as the Logitech Case+. This modular case, built for the iPhone 5 and 5S, lets you mount your iPhone on a magnetic car mount and extend its battery life. The case also includes a wallet modular attachment that lets you store credit cards inside your phone case, and a convenient kickstand. The coolest feature for drivers, however, is the dashboard and windshield mount for simple in-car navigation. Mount your iPhone to your dashboard and windshield, type in your destination and enjoy hands-free navigation via Google Maps. Since the Case+ is magnetic, it’s simple to detach your iPhone and take it with you once you reach your destination.

Novatek 96650

Have you ever felt like you needed a record of your driving? Dashcams have become increasingly popular over the last decade, helping drivers keep a record of their on-road activity for insurance claims. The Novatek 96650 is an affordable, high quality dashcam that records in full 1080p HD at 30 frames per second. It also records in night vision, has a 120° viewing angle and supports continuous recording to help you capture every second of driving. From providing valuable evidence for insurance claims to recording your favourite road trip, the Novatek 96650 is a massively helpful accessory for drivers that log a lot of miles.

Parkopedia

Have you ever spent hours searching for a parking space? From London to Sydney, finding an empty parking space in a densely populated city can be a time consuming headache that, more often than not, leaves you several blocks from your destination. Parkopedia is a mobile app that tracks more than 30 million parking spaces in 6,308 towns and cities. From Vienna to Beijing, it can track down available parking spaces in seconds to help you park without wasting time circling the block. Available for iOS and Android, Parkopedia is a great app to have on your dashboard-mounted smartphone. In the UK, it’s also accessible via SMS – just text park followed by your location to 84322 to find the three parking garages nearest to you.

Mojio Car Connector

Connect to your car with Mojio. This tiny device connects to your car and links it to your smartphone, giving you unparalleled insight into your car’s performance, data and location. Have you ever lost your car in a parking lot? Open the Mojio app to learn where you left your car. As well as helping you find your car, Mojio logs trip information, works out your average fuel efficiency and let you know when your car is due for a service. Better yet, Mojio can help you save money. By connecting to the Mojio community, you can compare your driving habits against other drivers and learn how you can increase your fuel efficiency and spend less (users save 15% on average) on petrol.

What car accessory can’t you live without?

From your favourite sunshade to your car’s all weather mats, everyone has one or two car accessories that have enhanced their driving experience. What accessories can’t you live without as a driver?