The temps are starting to drop. Is your vehicle ready to brave the frozen tundra? Here are some ways to prepare your vehicle for the upcoming winter:   Re-stock your emergency kit Each Fall, it’s smart to check your trunk’s emergency kit to see if anything needs to be added or replaced. Does your flashlight still work? It might need fresh batteries. Did you remove anything last year that needs to be replaced? Here are some ideas of what you might want to have on hand: Warm blankets Extra hats and gloves Water and non-perishable food Cell phone charger and/or power brick Extra medications Emergency flares Flashlight Extra batteries Hand crank or battery-powered radio Ice scraper for windshield and windows Shovel Jumper cables Neon flag or ribbon Roadmap [...]

Be Prepared For Winter Weather Before you hit the road during the winter months, it’s always a good idea to check the forecast and the road conditions for the route you plan to take. You should also keep an emergency kit in your trunk (here are some ideas of what to put in it). Keep these links handy to track current road conditions in the tri-state area of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa.   Iowa DOT Wisconsin DOT  Illinois DOT From everyone at Runde Auto Group, we’d like to remind you to drive safely this winter. Gauge the winter road conditions before heading to your destination and drive accordingly!

Choosing a drivetrain for a vehicle you’re looking to purchase can seem complicated.  The drivetrain you eventually select depends on a lot of factors including: the amount of money you’re looking to spend and what geographic area you live in. For those that live in an area like the tri-states where winter makes traveling tough, a common question among vehicle buyers is which drivetrain is best for their needs. The differences between all-wheel drive (AWD), four-wheel drive (4WD/4×4), front-wheel drive (FWD), and rear-wheel drive (RWD) can be confusing. Front-wheel drive is exactly what it sounds like, the engine’s power is routed to the front wheels. Most sedans are front-wheel drive. Rear-wheel drive, which is typically used in high performance vehicles and trucks, sees the engine’s power routed to the rear wheels. It provides better traction if you are pulling a heavy load, but provides less [...]

It’s that time again folks. Like it or not, it’s colder, slicker and more dangerous on the road than any other season. It can be a pretty scary situation going anywhere in the Tri-States driving in snow after a hefty snowfall. I know just a few weeks ago I was inching up the minor hill from our Chevy store to the Runde PreDriven store and I didn’t think I was going to make it. Which leads me to my first piece of advise to achieve a worry-free winter driving experience – be prepared. I didn’t have good tires at the time (bald would have been a complement), and that is my fault for waiting, thinking I had time as the roads were pretty clear prior to the [...]

We have a big and bad snowstorm coming our way tonight and hopefully most of you will be inside all safe and snug. However, some of you may find yourself out driving in snow … a lot of snow. It can be a scary situation when your wipers can’t seem to wipe away the snow fast enough for you to see through, the wind seems to become the bully of nature, trying to shake your car from side to side and you feel as if you don’t know when you are in control of your vehicle. The best thing to do is not panic, but here are some useful driving tips that may help keep you in control on potentially slick roads during the winter time: 1. Don’t assume your vehicle is going to be able to handle a certain situation with ease (including all-wheel-vehicles!). Even a slight turn could end up in a disastrous [...]

If someone offered you a $20 bill or free driving tips that would help to keep you out of the ditch during the winter, which one would you take?  If you answered “both”, then you’re pretty smart.  Ah November – the month of wonder… Imagine my surprise this morning as I was clearing my groggy eyes, stumbling into my kitchen, glancing out the window, to see something that made me second guess if I was actually awake or still dreaming… SNOW. With the change of scenery it’s easy for one to wonder many things… will my car start in the cold? How is my car going to handle with snow on the ground? Am I ready to drive in this stuff for the next couple of months? Easy there… before you call doctor Phil for some psychological help with winter whose, let us help you with some basic driving tips you can perform to make [...]

Ah winter time. For some, a time of peace and tranquility, a sight of beauty and wonder – perfect. To others, it’s just darn cold. Regardless your take on the season you need to be prepared for winters wrath. Here’s three winter driving tips that will help you be prepared for this potentially rugged season. 1. Check your tires before the winter time sets in. “I’m good, I put some air in those babies last week!” Check ’em again, Einstein. Cold temperatures makes the air in tires contract. You lose a pound of pressure per square inch for every 10-degree drop. Beyond that, the cold air can also make the rubber on your tires stiff, which could result in cracking or separating where the tire [...]

The Midwest can have some ‘interesting’ winter driving conditions throughout the seemingly never-ending winter season. It think it would be a lot easier if we all attended the Bridgestone Winter Driving School in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and actually learned how to drive in winter conditions. They have three ice-covered tracks with soft snowbanks to use as learning tools. I think all of us can relate to the crazy All-Wheel Drive vehicles flying past us on the interstate and then finding them in the median about a mile up the road. Or there is the other end of the spectrum…the people who have their white knuckles clenched to the wheel driving 35 mph when there is just a dusting of snow on the road.   Mark Cox is the school director at Bridgestone, and he has provided some tips to making it through the winter in one piece. Cox says when drivers are about to get behind [...]