PIMP your ride, tech-style, with this selection of tech toys to make life behind the wheel sweeter.
From the electronic parking brake, to the autonomous emergency braking, triggered when the radar may (or may not) detect an obstacle ahead, tech is everywhere these days.
If you’re in a more manual groove, yet love the idea of some of this new-fangled future in your motor, this guide will save you from making some expensive mistakes.
Some stuff is really totally unnecessarily—like this scrolling LED rear window display—but some gadgets can be really helpful and even improve safety while you’re on the road.
We’re really excited for the arrival of Chris, the first AI digital assistant, the awesome Kickstarter project that make handsfree driving totally unavoidable, but until that arrives, check out these gadgets.
Using a mix of expert knowledge and user reviews, we’ve picked the very best car gadgets you can get in 2019.
These days manufacturers are pretty switched on about putting plenty of USB ports in the car to make sure you always have juice.
That said, some of these in older cars are seriously underpowered, meaning your navigation is drinking more than the car can put back in.
This dual plug is over two amps, meaning you can get the fastest charge possible via the 12V port.
Tile Mate, £14.99 from Amazon – buy here
If you’ve ever spent over 40 minutes in an airport or shopping centre car park hunting for your motor, you’ll know how frustrating it can be to get to the end of a long day and still not be on your way home for a nice relaxing cuppa.
Tile Mate is one of the most successful Kickstarter projects.
The little square affixes to somewhere in your car and then through the companion app on your smartphone, you can see where you’ve parked within 100 metres via Bluetooth signal.
Discrete and unimposing, the Firefly plugs into your USB and then your AUX port, enabling you to connect your smart device via Bluetooth and play all your favourite tracks and podcasts through the car speakers.
Coming in a choice of sassy colours, the Firefly Bluetooth streaming device can really tidy up your dash, if you’ve been using umpteen cables to get the same effect.
It turns off when the engine cuts out so there’s no chance of the car battery draining and though you can’t use the car’s interface to shuffle or skip songs, consider using your mobile’s digital assistant to stay handsfree.
If you want to know more about tyres, head to our buying guide, or check out a cheaper way to monitor pressure, with our guide to manual gauges.
But if you’ve got the cash and no desire to crouch over your wheel every week, a digital TPMS will transform your world.
A little sensor screws to each of the tyre’s valves, then the solar-powered monitor sits on the dash, alerting you if your tyres fall below their ideal pressure.
Best £30 ever dropped, so long as you don’t lose the little allen key which fixes the sensors tightly.
Pure’s Highway series for in-car DAB conversion is a best-selling, award-winning one.
The 400 is usually the best balance between performance and price, but Amazon has been selling the 600 for less than the 400 recently, giving you phenomenal value-for-money.
The receiver uses a radio channel on your analogue system to give you crystal clear DAB functionality.
You can also Bluetooth your smart device to access your playlists and podcasts through the car’s existing audio system.
The Pure Highway 600 also enables you to make handsfree calls. Safe and sound. Great sound.
Charge-masters at Anker have rolled up all of our favourite car gadgets into one affordable masterpiece.
The Roav VIVA is great for anyone with a lot of space around their 12V port.
The device draws on the car’s power to give you two fast-charging USB ports, a frequency for wirelessly streaming music from your phone through the car speakers AND a way of making handsfree calls.
Though the sound quality isn’t as reliable as other products on our gadget list, the three-in-one nature of this and the price makes it difficult to quibble.
Vodafone V Auto Car Tracker, £85 from Argos – buy here
Teach yourself to drive in a way that saves fuel, lives and wear on your car, with V Auto. Reassuring for parents, it automatically calls the emergency services if the car is in an accident.
Plugging into the OBDII port (usually located near your knees) the SIM card is built into the device and costs about £4 per month on a rolling subscription basis.
Through the app on your phone, you can see how well you and others are driving and where your vehicle is.
Eventually, there’ll be other features like mobile hot-spotting, making this a worthwhile investment.
Keep your eyes on the road is one of the hardest things to do in the modern age.
Old folk mither on about putting your mobile out of sight, but busy lives mean waiting to plan the rest of your day feels impossible.
Rather than pull to the side of the road each time, invest in a Navdy.
This little glass screen projects images right in your eye line, so you never need to look away again.
Not only does Navdy display navigation, music and telephony options, but it also works with gesture control, so you can wave goodbye to fiddling with buttons.
If you’re on the road for your job, you won’t be getting in the walk to the water cooler or office kitchen for a perpetual cup of tea.
Every little helps, so it might be worth considering this fancy massage cushion.
With nine massage nodes delivering eight massage modes (stay focused), tension in your back and shoulders should eliminate any road rage.
Powering from the 12V port, you can also heat it in less than 30 seconds, making those miserable chilly mornings much easier to manage.
It rolls up to store and can be used in the office too. Marvellous.
If you’re planning on giving your car a bit of love, check out our selection of the best car wax, pressure washers, and car polish.
Enjoyed our roundup of the best car gadgets? Check out our dedicated Sun Selects motoring section for more motoring advice.
To browse our full range of Sun Selects recommendations, be sure to head back to the Sun Selects page.
