We wrote about the Car Cube two months ago, and promised a test of this useful new product. The Car Cube is almost a portable “wash bay” you can carry in your vehicle when you go 4Wheeling, and which has a myriad of uses, starting of course, with washing the mud off your vehicle and extending right through to washing the dog or having a bush shower! It consists of a robust plastic 13 litre tank which has its own 12 volt pump installed, and comes complete with a flexible kink-resistant 6 metre hose with a quick-fit fitting onto the base of the Cube, plus a 5 metre power cord to plug it into your vehicle’s 12 volt power outlet. And to keep it all neat and tidy there are mesh pockets each side to put everything in. The nozzle adjusts from a jet stream with 130 psi pressure for tough jobs to a fine spray for gentle rinse, and has a heavy-duty contour-fit handle. We had a nice muddy Mitsubishi Triton after our test to the King Country, so we decided this would be an ideal opportunity to see how the Car Cube copes. We put about a teaspoonful of liquid soap in the container before topping it up via the large filler cap, then lugged it to the Triton, plugged into the 12V socket, and started to clean. The sudsy water comes out in quite a good spray, and the first fill was more than enough to go around the whole vehicle, although we didn’t attack any of the thick mud at that stage. It took two more fills to get rid of the mud, and we had a reasonably clean 4WD, on top and underneath, although we hadn’t done any wiping at all. Adding a bit of muscle power to the operation would have got the vehicle really clean, and in all it took about 30 minutes. Quite often your 4WD’s windows get really mucky when you’re out in the wild, and it would be useful to take a Car Cube with you, ready filled, so you and your mates can clean the mud off so you can drive home safely. It’s also great for cleaning other muddy stuff such as dirtbikes and mountain bikes, as well as getting the salt off your surfing gear or your boat. Add some bleach into the water, and you could also use it to spray your fishing gear, your boat or kayak, or your vehicle underside, to kill Didymo. Retail selling price is just $199; for more info go to www.carcube.com.au or email info@carcube.co.nz *