Chevrolet’s remote engine start is what you need to beat the summer heat

Chevrolet wants you to know about a neat little party trick that some of its cars like the new Colorado has in its spec sheet. The capable SUV is capable of so much more, like freaking out other people while they stand next to your car. Kidding aside, the American company touts this feature as a way to combat the rising temperatures this summer season in the Philippines. 

Filipinos all around the Metro and beyond are clamoring for shelter from the heat of the sun. Naturally, a car is perhaps the most comfortable way to traverse roads under the sun since it sports a feature that no common motorcycle has, which is air conditioning. So there you have it, buy a car, be comfortable going to work. –End–. 

Actually no, the real battle with heat is when you are done with your work for the day and find your car baking in the heat of the sun. On a hot day, the interior temperature can reach up to 46 degrees Celsius, and surfaces such as the dash can exceed 73 degrees. We have to make it known that you should never leave any living thing inside a car even if it is cold outside. The cabin of a car acts like a greenhouse, recirculating the heat again and again as the sun beats down on the interior. If you absolutely have to leave something or someone in a car that is closed, you might want to leave the air conditioning on to promote the circulation of air. 

Leaving your air conditioning on wastes precious fuel, and if you are working a typical nine-to-five job, chances are you’d run your tank dry if you opt to leave the air conditioning on for eight hours at a time, not to mention the strain on the engine and the pollution that you will spew out into the atmosphere. Chevy offers its customers a solution to a hot interior. 

With the new Colorado pickup truck and Trailblazer SUV, you can start your car while you’re outside of it. The logic behind this is that, on a hot summer’s day, almost all surfaces of a vehicle would be untouchable and would be very uncomfortable to come into contact with. So when you turn on the engine, the climate control system activates at full blast in order to cool the cabin as quickly as possible. The key fob is also smart enough to put down all the windows to let the hot air escape so the A/C system pushes out the hotter air. 

To activate these features, we took the liberty of testing it out on the new Colorado High Country Storm. Simply press the lock button once and hold the remote start and stop button right under the lock and unlock buttons. Keep your finger on it for about 5 seconds or so and you’ll hear your starter motor bringing your engine to life. To access the remote window down feature, simply press the unlock button, and then hold it down until the windows are fully down. To put the windows up, press the lock button once and then hold it to let the windows up again. When all is said and done you can simply put the key into the ignition position, and drive away or you can hold down the remote start-stop button again on the key fob and be on your merry way. 

After you master this combination of buttons, play some tricks on your friends who don’t know about the remote start feature. Tell them to walk up to your car and as they reach for the door, input the start-stop combination and watch as they get shocked by the sudden cranking of the starter motor. To add insult to injury, slide the windows down and back up again and act as if you don’t know who or what is causing this wizardry.