Car features to look out for during the rainy season

When the rain pours in the Philippines, it pours—hard. From torrential rains to hurricane winds and head-height floods, we have it all. When it comes to cars, we’re very thankful for a roof over our heads among many other things, and the fact that a driver and his passengers can brave the storm during a flood is already something to be immensely grateful for. 

However, on the hunt for your new “flood hunter” or, in other words, your vehicle for a rainy day, we have a checklist that you might want to check out and look for when you’re shopping for your next car. 

One of the most basic of features in most cars (at least ones without a rear wiper) deserves a shout-out. Defoggers work by heating up the back glass through a series of electric coils. By switching on this feature, the window heats up and evaporates any fog build-up on the rear glass, and clears up the driver’s rear view. 

When the sun is out and everything is as clear as day, you won’t really pay much attention to this feature. However, when the rain pours, and steam is building up in traffic, it’s extremely useful and somewhat of an underrated feature to have. Nowadays, most cars already have a rear defogger if a rear wiper isn’t available. Even some of the most basic of cars like the Suzuki S-Presso have it, and it’s simple yet effective in giving you a little more visibility in the right conditions. 

Here’s one feature that you probably haven’t totally figured out yet, but totally get how to use. Cars have become a whole lot smarter over the years and rain-sensing wipers were really one of the first few features in most mainstream cars to get automated. It’s the adaptive cruise control of wiper technology, so to speak, and it allows for hands-free wiper operation. 

So alright, it’s not a revolutionary feature, and it doesn’t really make or break a car if it doesn’t come with automatic wipers. It does, however, free your hand from having to adjust the speed manually. Automatic wipers can aid you in focusing on the road rather than playing with your wiper stalks to get the right speed. The wipers start and stop with the rain, and having one less thing to worry about can allow you to focus on the road, even if that reasoning is a little far-reaching. Still, it’s a nice thing to have in your car, but still not really a total dealbreaker. 

You can find these features on cars that are a little bit more expensive or that want to add a little bit of flair. The purpose of a puddle lamp is to project a light next to the driver's door to spot, you guessed it, puddles. The feature has since become a bit of a gimmick for manufacturers, but we’ve actually found a use for it in the presence of actual puddles. The lights help you find “dry” footing and help you keep your shoes away from puddles. It can also help you water and/or flood while stepping out of the car. 

Is it nice to have? Yes. Is it a must-have? Well, not really. Puddle lights are a great and stylish feature to have in your car, but it’s a nice-to-have and kind of a sign that your car’s brand is quite proud to have made that car. 

Now we’re getting into the more non-negotiable pieces in a car’s spec sheet. Step boards are often found on pickups, vans, SUVs, crossovers, and MPVs. These features are either available as a factory, dealer, or aftermarket option for consumers to ease getting into and out of a vehicle. 

You will find step boards as an option for your car, and you will almost certainly never find them for a sedan. There are even some options out there that are designed for persons with disabilities. If getting in a car can be a challenge without them on a dry day, you’ll be glad you got some before the rain poured and before the floods started to flow. Some of our favorite step boards include the ones on most pickup trucks, especially the more rugged ones with a special coating that makes them more grippy. You may find the grippier ones on more hardcore off-roaders like the Ford Ranger Raptor, but if you’re not fine with the dealer option or the factory option, we’re sure that the aftermarket has got something for you. 

Speaking of off-roading, four- or all-wheel drive (4WD or AWD)are both great options to have in your arsenal if you’re going to tackle rain. While going slow is an option most of the time, rain doesn’t choose when it will strike, and if you find yourself in an area with not-so-great highways and roads, rain makes everything a whole lot more difficult. 

It also helps with traction because having four wheels driving the car instead of just two helps the vehicle stay in control and go where it’s pointing. As such, if you’re serious about owning a capable flood-wading and all-weather vehicle, consider a 4x4 system or an AWD system with your next car. Recommendations? Well, the more ‘hardcore’ a car is, the better. We do think that all-wheel-drive has the edge over 4x4 in most normal road driving scenarios. That’s because 4x4 systems need to be activated first before any of the four wheels are driven. Subaru’s notorious for equipping all of its cars with its Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system. If you’re not a spec sheet surfer, then going with the brand guarantees that all models have AWD—well save for the BRZ, but that’s a special case. 

However, and more importantly, stability and traction control are important features in the wet. If you find yourself going fast or on a twisty road and the rain decides to pour, traction control and stability control are all important features that you need to have. These features serve as a bit of a last line of defense as they kick in when things go awry in wet weather. 

This is especially apparent on a twisty mountain road or even on the highway. You never know when a slick patch will come into contact with your vehicle’s tires, so having these features at your disposal is definitely a plus. 

The first one is pretty self-explanatory, but the second one is not so much. Anti-Lock Brakes, better known as ABS, prevent the tires from sliding on the ground, and this is especially important because sliding is actually not so great for slowing down. You want your car to still grip the ground and help scrub off speed. 

So, what about EBD? Well, there are times when the traction that each wheel experiences will differ. Picture a puddle on one side of the road, and just a moist patch on the other. Without EBD, the car will veer towards the side with more traction, with it, the brake bias between the left and the right sides is balanced, which results in a stable and square stop. 

Drive modes are good to have, and some cars even come with a rain mode, but that’s more limited to very powerful cars, or cars that can do dirt. Putting your car in a drive mode will lessen or increase the sensitivity of your throttle, often giving you better control and modulation over the accelerator, or more punch with a little adjustment. 

Now, while interesting, you don’t really need to put your car into rain mode but think of it as an additional safety layer to combat sliding and jerky accelerator inputs. Eco mode helps a lot to smoothen out your accelerator input as well, so if you’re really keen on smoothing out your throttle work, drive modes can be a feature worth noting. 

One thing that we feel is a non-negotiable in a rainy-weather car is ground clearance. Floods are common in the Philippines, and getting a car that is at least about 160mm in clearance or higher is a must. Other than that, water-wading depth ratings are also something to look out for. The ground clearance can only tell you so much about a car's flood-crossing capabilities, but water-wading depth is exactly what you think it is. 

Ford is one such brand that is extremely proud of its water-wading capabilities, along with other brands like Nissan and Isuzu with their Terra and D-MAX respectively. According to these brands’ spec sheets, you can go up to 500mm with their pickups and SUVs, and of course, Ford’s quite proud that its Ranger or Everest can go up to 800mm of water, just saying. 

With electric and hybrid-electric vehicles becoming more and more commonplace in the market, V2L or Vehicle to Load systems are also seeing a bit of limelight. Brands like Nissan with its LEAF or Mitsubishi with its Outlander PHEV, have been getting some of the spotlight in recent years, and one of the benefits of going electric is the ability to power things such as a house or even something as simple as a coffee machine. 

Now, it seems that cars can be more helpful whether on the road or at home. Power outages are a common occurrence in the Philippines, so having something that will be able to accommodate your home’s electricity if a storm cuts the power supply can be immensely helpful. In a pinch, there are also cars like the Ford Everest and the Ranger that both have outlets that come in at a 240v output, but that will require you to run the car for an extended period.