TR8 Car Cover

Inevitably you end up with more than one TR7/8 and then don’t have enough dry storage for them all, the obvious choice is an outdoor car cover.

So May 2022 I purchased a car cover for which ever car was outside at any time. The one I purchased came from a reputable TR7/8 company specialising in covers and seemed to fit well if a little large, but as you need air to circulate to keep the car dry I didn’t see that as a problem at the time.

Moltex (nappies are made of this stuff and it retains and or passes through liquid depending on manufacture as well as being breathable through multiple layers which means it is a thick heavy material) This is what my first cover was made of that fell apart and I can certainly testify to it holding water in the material. Had I known how that principle works I doubt I would have bought it.

We went away for a few days in May and when I came back and lifted the cover I found the car was still very wet see pictures below:

 

I complained to the supplier who said ”

 

“That is certainly not normal, the covers do need to get wet a few times for the fibres to expand back to

their normal form after manufacture etc which tightens up the breathe holes in the fabric.

The covers are never 100% waterproof or they would not be breathable but that is more than I would expect.

Keep an eye on it in the coming weeks and we will change it if necessary.”

 

The weather was pretty dry for the rest of 2022 so there wasn’t an opportunity to check again until we had some heavy rain in the early Autumn. It seemed to be doing its job then but there was still some condensation, so possibly the supplier was correct. For the winter of 22/23 it seemed fine when checked, but that was a fairly dry winter.

The winter 23/24 was heavy rain and high winds for a lot of the time. During the high winds even with both straps tight on underneath the front of the cover frequently blew off the front, so I wonder if too loose isn’t ideal given if the cover had been a more snug fit I doubt it would have blown off so many times. Being wet all the time caused green algae to grow on the cover and the wind and loose flapping cover eventually ripped the stitching on the cover at the rear.

Because it was heavy rain a lot of the time the front of the cover especially, started to hold water for a lot of time leaking through and the holding it against the paint particularly at the top of the windscreen and on the bonnet. Unfortunately the top of the windscreen will now need a paint job so this cover will have cost me another £500!

From March 2022 to December 2023 isn’t even two years before the cover was pretty much useless. Given it was a premium cover at £200 plus I did expect a lot better. I have bought another cover from a different supplier at a similar price and we will see how this one goes, early indications are it hasn’t blown off yet and no water has come through the cover despite the strong winds and rain recently. This cover only has one strap underneath but both ends are very strongly elasticated to hold the ends of the cover down. I tested the cover by pouring a lot of water over it and none went through. It just ran off which it never did with the other one.

Polypropylene (high heat and UV resistant plus chemical resistant as well as a waterproof and breathable a light material) This is what my second cover that I’m trying now is made of.

To be updated as and when.