The gear that lives in the boot.
Accessories are usually the least evidenced corner of a site like this one — a wall of star ratings and no numbers. It turns out they do not have to be. Inflators get timed to the second, jump starters get put on a load tester, and phone mounts get pulled until they let go. Where those figures exist we print them with their conditions; where they do not, we say so and talk about fitment instead.
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Cargo
The empty rack was the expensive part.
Measured at 65 mph: the rack alone, carrying nothing, cost a sedan 11 per cent and an SUV about 2. And a hitch carrier returned 4 mpg more than a roof box on the same car.
−11% with nothing on it
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Inflators
Four minutes, or fourteen
Six inflators, one tyre, timed from 10 psi. The quickest reached 30 psi in 1:34 and the slowest took 6:40 — and the figure everyone quotes flatters the small pumps.
1:34 – 6:40 to 30 psi
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Jump starters
Rated 800 cranking amps. It held 360–480 on a load tester.
A 2026 load test of nine jump starters: the pick held roughly 360–480 A at 7.5–9.5 V for several seconds, and the reviewer called its cranking rating still exaggerated, though closer to what was measured. And which of eleven started a dead car, and how many needed the override.
360–480 A sustained
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Ice scrapers
Two tests, and neither timed a scraper.
Car and Driver measured six scrapers and snow brushes before using them: reach runs 25.0 to 59.0 in, while the blades sit between 3.8 and 4.5. How well they scraped is written in words.
25.0–59.0 in of reach
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Phone mounts
“Tested for hold strength.” No strength published.
The top result is written by a mount manufacturer, ranks its own product first, and contains no hold-strength figure in any unit — we checked all six. What can be checked instead.
0 figures published
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Tool
How long will your tyre take?
Published times are measured on one 245/50R20. Enter your own size and the measured times scale to it — the ratio is honest even though the absolute volume is not knowable.
Any size, any psi span
What this section recommends
One product per page, each chosen on the measurement that page reports. Amazon holds the live price; we do not copy prices onto the site.
- Check price
AstroAI 46-inch 2-in-1 Snow Brush and Ice Scraper
Car and Driver's Best Overall after a winter's use; breaks down into three pieces
from Ice scrapers and snow brushes: what the tests measured was reach
- Check price
Gooloo GT4000S
Held 360 to 480 A for several seconds at 7.5 to 9.5 V, against 800 A cranking
from Jump starters: peak amps is not the number that starts your car
Check priceiOttie Velox magnetic vent mount
A genuine MagSafe mount, not a disc needing a plate stuck to your phone
from MagSafe car mounts: hold strength promised, never published
Check priceSlime Cordless Pro Power
Third fastest to 30 psi, at half the weight of the two quicker units
from Tyre inflators: the fastest is 4.3× the slowest, on the same tyre
Product photographs: Slime, iOttie.