Price is a chief reason why lead/acid boosters are still popular. The Halford’s jump starter has a cranking power that only slightly falls short of our two award winners, yet its reserve capacity is better than both despite being significantly cheaper.
For a traditional unit, it’s fairly compact, and at 6kg it’s heavy but not as unmanageable as some others. Unfortunately, safety aids like low battery, incorrect correction, or dead short warnings are omitted, and you need to top-up-charge every couple of months.
Autocar says: 3 stars
10. Clarke Jump Start 4000
Price: £187.97
Buy from: Amazon or www.machinemart.co.uk
Manufacturer’s recommendation: Petrol up to 6.0 litres, diesel up to 4.0 litres.
This jump starter is a real heavyweight, and is complete with a whopping 40Ah battery, and a peak cranking current of 2200 amps.
There aren’t many engines that this booster won’t resuscitate. But, at 17kg, the Clarke is also inconveniently heavy, and the unit also feels short of features given its high price tag. There’s just a single a 12 volt cigarette lighter socket and the old-fashioned incandescent light is rather feeble.