The sudden, unexpected appearance of a hot water bottle was a source of confusion in our Slack channel, so here’s how this wonderful bit of kit works. Basically, it’s a flexible rubber insulated vessel. Unscrew the bung, fill the vessel with boiling water from the kettle, screw the bung back in, and the rubber construction will let you enjoy heat for a fair period of time. It’s great for winter wrenching, cramps, shoveling snow, staying warm during a nasty storm, and pre-heating unheated seats. According to Dacia, “The ‘Heated Seat Saviours’ will be available for drivers, who may not feel comfortable forking out additional costs for a feature already fitted in the initial purchase of their car.” Oh, the shade is real, and really fitting for the Dacia brand.
If you’re not terribly familiar with Dacia, it’s a Romanian carmarker that started out making Renault models under license before producing its own budget-oriented and seriously weird cars like the Lăstun city car. In 1999, the circle of life completed a full revolution as Renault acquired Dacia, and the Romanian brand was soon realigned as Renault’s budget arm. Since the Renault acquisition, Dacia’s made great headway in Europe because it turns out that a lot of people simply want a car.
Dacia customers don’t need something terribly fancy or fashion-forward, they just want something cheap, reliable, and offering good value, and are there ever a lot of these customers. British publication Autocar reports that in November, the Sandero hatchback was the second-best-selling car in all of Europe, just 388 units behind the Tesla Model Y. Given Dacia’s following and ethos, it’s not surprising that the brand is poking fun at subscription services from brands like BMW. In fact, here’s what Luke Broad, Dacia Brand Director for the UK has to say about this initiative. Of course, this could all backfire spectacularly if Dacia eventually pulls a U-turn on subscriptions, but for now I’m all for this fine example of trolling. So, if you’re in England and want a Dacia hot water bottle, you can pick one up on Feb. 1 or 2 from Dacia Staples Corner in London, Dacia Manchester in, er, Manchester, or Dacia Swansea in – you guessed it – Swansea. (Photo credits: Dacia)
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Are you talking about the ones with a button to dump the ashes to a larger receptacle below the initial “ash-catcher”? It has been forever and a day since I’ve seen one of those! Gotta love college campuses that don’t ever remodel.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52648986666_1fcd3bcf76_c.jpg
But calling it what it is – a bladder – might hinder sales a bit.
5 speed and a 1.5L diesel.
No turbo.
Power windows for just the front, via a common switch in the center console.
It did have A/C.
I was not impressed.
Next up: Trunk Monkey gets an upgrade to remote starter!
The new Mirage 😀
What???
