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Winter Driving - Are You Prepared? ``How To Install Tire Chains'' and Other Automotive Tips Now Available in Edmunds’ CarSpace Guides

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--CarSpace, Edmunds’ popular automotive social networking Web site, today introduced the CarSpace Guides, user-generated “how-tos,” driving tips and other information for drivers and car shoppers. With snow on the ground in much of the country, CarSpace Guides’ “How to Install Tire Chains” is a particularly valuable resource for drivers today.

The “How to Install Tire Chains” Guide contains text, pictures and video that any car owner can easily review and use to prepare vehicles for a harsh winter. Among the illustrated, easily understood tips that “steve,” the creator of this Guide, offers are:

  • Drape the cable over the top of the tire. Cable connections or links should face away from the tire tread when the chain is installed to avoid having any sharp edges digging into the tire.
  • Drive slowly forward about a foot. (I like to plant a "marker" to help show me when I've gone far enough.)
  • Set the brake and redrape the chain on the tire if it falls to the ground. Some people like to lay the chains out in front of the tires and drive onto them, but I find that my hands stay warmer with the drape method.
  • You may need to adjust the fit of your chain by removing a link or two.

(See “How to Install Tire Chains” to learn the rest of the process. Edmunds’ CarSpace offers winter driving discussions and further suggestions in message boards such as Winter Driving - are you prepared? Also, Edmunds’ Inside Line provides expert advice in its article Cold-Weather Driving Tips.)

“CarSpace is a community where members share their experiences and help to educate each other,” said Sylvia Marino, Executive Director of CarSpace. “Our message boards have served this purpose for over ten years, and now the Guides provide another type of venue for the person-to-person interaction and real-world advice that is so sought after and appreciated.”

In preparation for the launch of this free educational service, Edmunds’ staffers have posted approximately one hundred Guides covering the following topics: Maintenance, Repair, Performance Modifications, Interior, Audio/Entertainment, Tech Gadgets, Driving/Safety and Buying/Selling. Any CarSpace member can review and post Guides covering any automotive topic. Members can also comment on any Guide, providing additional suggestions on the topic or asking questions of the Guide’s author.

For more information on CarSpace Guides, visit www.carspace.com/guides.

About Edmunds Inc. (http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/)

Edmunds Inc. publishes four Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its most popular feature, the Edmunds.com True Market Value®, is relied upon by millions of people seeking current transaction prices for new and used vehicles. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal and was rated "#1" in Keynote's study of third-party automotive Web sites. Inside Line launched in 2005 and is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. CarSpace launched in 2006 and is an automotive social networking Web site. AutoObserver.com launched in 2007 and provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.