Festive gift guide for car and bike enthusiasts plus petrol heads

IT’S that time of year again for me to roll out my Christmas Gift Guide for car enthusiasts. With 18 days to go until the big day, you have plenty of time to pick up that special present for your car-, truck- bike-mad loved one in your life. I’ve loads of gift ideas like an adrenaline-filled day at Mondello Park trying out their Ultimate Track Experience.

Or how about something from Road Racing Ireland’s merch and clothing range? Their December magazine would make a great stocking filler. I’ve plenty of cleaning product ideas for you from Autoglym and Naviwax to help keep your vehicle gleaming, which is always a mission at this time of year. You can never have enough tools and Ryobi have some cracking Christmas deals on their ONE+ 18v power tools.

And as we’ll all be over-indulging this festive season, a digital breathalyser from AlcoSense could be a real life-saver. But whatever you decide to purchase, just make sure you have a rally Merry Christmas. CHRISTMAS is a time of overindulgence — and not just spending money and eating too much food, it’s also tempting to have a bit more to drink with friends and family than usual.

But as you get behind the wheel the ‘morning after’, how can you tell whether you’re completely clear of alcohol? The AlcoSense Elite 3 (right) is a sleek personal breathalyser that takes the guesswork out of knowing whether you’re safe to drive. The Elite 3 is upgraded in almost every way, replacing the multi award-winning Elite 2, raising the bar once again for breathalysers. It’s easy to use and fits in the palm of your hand.

Just blow through the tube for about six seconds and it gives an accurate reading of your blood alcohol content. The results are colour-coded too — from green (no alcohol detected) via amber to red (near or over the drink drive limit). Designed in the UK by the award-winning team at AlcoSense Laboratories, the Elite 3 is priced at €83.

99 and available from your local Halfords and alcosense. co. uk IF you want to give the gift with added X-Factor then look no further than Arenacross tickets.

Following a thrilling first round at Bolesworth, Chester in September, the scene has been set for a heart-pounding seven-round tour of the United Kingdom in January and February. And as the Arenacross British Championship is back for 2024, reigning champion Tommy Searle and last year’s runner-up Conrad Mewse are set to battle for the title again. The Arenacross show is making a welcome return to Belfast in January, blasting back to the SSE Arena for a double-header with Round 3 held on Friday, January 19 and Round 4 on Saturday, January 20.

Arenacross is a high-octane mix of indoor Motocross racing and Freestyle Motocross that has to be seen to be believed, with the riders doing backflips and whips soaring high into the arena roof. And as the event is held inside you don’t need to worry about the weather putting a dampener on proceedings. Then throw in lights, lasers and lots of pyrotechnics, plus the smell of burning petrol, and Arenacross brings the heat like no other event.

Ticket prices range from £32. 98-£79. 94 (€38.

50-€93. 50). See arenacrossuk.

com to buy and for more event news. NATURALLY the exterior of your vehicle takes a beating at this time of year with the sub-zero temperatures and corrosive salt on the roads. But winter takes its toll on the interior too as you clamber in and out with muddy shoes on.

Those teas and coffees plus hot food are great at keeping you warm when driving when it’s cold. But spilt drinks and the smell left behind after fast food can leave your cabin in a sorry state. So Autoglym’s Essential Interior Kit makes a brilliant present for friends or family as it’s perfect for keeping your interior looking amazing.

The kit contains a safe but powerful Interior Shampoo that removes stubborn stains from fabric and plastic. There’s Fast Glass which provides a streak-free finish on glass and mirrors and there’s an Odour Eliminator that leaves behind a long-lasting fresh scent. Autoglym recommend using the products in the following order for best results.

First, clean your interior with Interior Shampoo, then apply fragrance with the Odour Eliminator and finish by cleaning your windows with Fast Glass. All three products come in a 500ml bottle with a spray nozzle for easy application, with full instructions found on individual packs. The Autoglym Essential Interior Kit can be bought directly from autoglym.

com or from your locals Halfords store, costing €26. 40. HAVE yourself a very Merry Driftmas by heading over to the Drift Games website shop.

driftgames. life and check out their excellent range of merchandise. They sell a large selection of Drift Games-branded merch and clothing, like lanyards, hats, T-shirts, hoodies, socks and stickers.

And for 2023, the Drift Games limited edition Christmas merch mystery boxes contain €200 worth of Drift Games merchandise for just €150. Not only do you get an extra €50 of goodies for free, but you will also get two free entries into their live draw, giving you two chances to win and own Dave Egan’s 1993 Nissan Silvia PS13 (pictured above). WE all know the classic Chris Rea festive hit — Driving Home For Christmas.

But what about giving the ultimate driving experience as a gift for Christmas? Mondello Park has a huge range of high- octane driving experiences on offer. You can try out your favourite performance car, like Porsche, Ferrari or BMW. But it’s not only road cars, there is also a Rally Driving Experience, or you can try your hand at drifting or single seater racing in the Formula Sheane Driving thrill.

For the ultimate adrenaline rush, Mondello also offer the Ultimate Track Xperience and for €799 you will get behind the wheel of a line-up that includes Formula Sheane, Porsche Cayman S, BMW M240i, Ferrari 430, and a Nissan 350Z drift car. On track you will get to experience five laps driving a race-prepared Saloon car with a professional instructor, then Safety laps followed by 10 timed laps driving a Formula Sheane single-seater race car. Then you’ll hop in a Porsche Cayman S for five laps round Mondello driving with a professional instructor, and then five more laps, this time driving a BMW M240i xDRIVE Coupé under the watchful eye of a professional instructor.

And to finish off, five laps driving a Ferrari F430 where you will hear and feel the power of its 490bhp, 4. 3-litre V8, and the professional instructor will be on hand to help you push this Italian Stallion to its limit. Or for something a little different, The Drift Experience, from the guys at Drift Games, will teach you how to powerslide and control a 280bhp Nissan 350Z like a pro.

The Drift Games Experience costs €229-€289, but you need to be over 18 and have a full driving licence. If you are unsure about which to go for you can also purchase Driving Experience Gift Certificates from €50-€500. See: mondellopark.

ie for more info and to book your driving gift, or call: 045 860200 IT’S nearly impossible for a vehicle to stay clean at this time of year so some products from Naviwax would go down a treat in the battle to keep your pride and joy sparkling. Naviwax is made from the finest Japanese Carnauba wax and is simple to apply. And unlike normal car polish that is only to be applied to the paintwork, Naviwax can be used all over, even on chrome trim, tyres and windows.

There is a huge selection of items like cloths, leather and glass cleaners, tyre shine and of course Naviwax. There are stockists all over Ireland or order it from nubawax. com FOR a rally cool present this year how about a visit to Rally School Ireland? You can enjoy an action-packed day at their multi-million euro facility in County Monaghan and choose to drive from the impressive selection of over 20 cars.

There are classic Ford Mk2 Escort rally cars, Subaru Imprezas, a MINI Cooper S and a Ford Fiesta WRC car. Or there are road cars such as their Nissan 350Zs, a Toyota GT86 plus BMW M3 V8s, Porsche 911 Carrera S and Ariel Nomad. There are also Gift vouchers available, see rallyschoolireland.

ie , call 047 89098 or email info@ rallyschool. ie FANS of motorsports will love a gift from Road Racing Ireland, the world’s only road racing mag. The December magazine is in shops now and makes a great stocking filler.

You can also order back issues. Or how about a yearly magazine subscription, or the new 2024 RRI Calendar. Plus you can purchase clothing like the Road Racing is Life T-shirt and the RRI beanie.

Order at: roadracingireland. com YOU can never have enough tools and the same goes for power tools — and Ryobi have a huge range of affordable goodies that are perfect for your garage and car maintenance. There’s over 100 cordless tools available so way too many to list, but I’ve picked out a few that are perfect for work on your home garage and car.

All Ryobi ONE+ power tools come with a three-year warranty and the drills always make a great gift. The new high-torque impact wrench has four settings and can deliver a 1,600Nm breakaway torque for working with stubborn, tight or rusty nuts, bolts or wheel studs. Or how about the Ryobi Cordless Inflator? There’s nothing worse than a flat tyre or slow puncture so because the Ryobi Inflator is cordless, it’s perfect to leave in the boot of your car.

There’s even a Ryobi radio that also has Bluetooth so you can stream music to it from your phone. For more, see the full Ryobi range at ryobitools. eu — and you can pick them up at your local Halfords or order them online at halfords.

ie DASH CAMS should be compulsory in all cars as they can be used as evidence in an accident to prove who was at fault, and they can also deter break-ins and vandalism to your vehicle. The Viofo A229 Pro 4K+2K Dash Cam supports up to three-channel recording, using Sony STARVIS 2 technology for both front and rear cameras. The A229 Pro’s front camera captures 4K Ultra HD videos at 30fps with a 140˚ viewing angle and the rear camera records 2K Quad HD videos at 30fps with a 160˚ viewing angle.

With Sony’s latest STARVIS 2 tech, the A229 Pro delivers excellent video quality and captures every detail, making license plates and road signs more visible, even when driving quickly or from a distance. The A229 Pro comes with an advanced voice control feature, which allows a user to start/stop recording, take photos, turn on/off Wi-Fi and more with simple spoken commands in multiple languages. It supports dual band 5GHz&2.

4GHz Wi-Fi so users can select which band to use based on actual needs. A229 Pro also comes with three parking modes (optional HK4 hardwire kit is required), auto event detection, time lapse recording and low bitrate recording, providing 24/7 surveillance while parked. If the built-in G-sensor detects an impact or significant movement, it triggers the dash cam to start recording.

It’s available from viofouk. co. uk , Amazon and other online stores for £299.

95 (€350). .