Cordless Drills

January 2008

Cordless drills are now essential for the DIY mechanic, thanks to excellent performance and ever lower prices. With tools now available for around £20, there’s no need to dig out the extension lead each time you’re working on your car.

And, of course, there are lots of jobs where a drill comes in handy. They’re not solely for making holes to take new kit – add wheel cleaning balls or polishing pads and they can help take the strain out of valeting. There’s nothing like a drill-mounted wire brush for cleaning up rusted parts, while adapters can be fitted to 1/4-inch drive sockets to let you fit countless driver bits. But which is the drill to go for? We found out...

How we did it
Until recently, cordless drills have lagged behind mains versions in two areas: torque and maximum speed under load. To test low-down grunt, each tool had to drive a screw into a series of ever-smaller holes in a steel plate until it could turn no more.

For the speed test, we attached a polishing pad and used the drills on an old scrap panel, deliberately pressing hard to see how they coped. We also tested battery life, while features such as multi speeds, a hammer action, spare batteries, a fast charger, decent cases and a large chuck earned extra points.

Verdict

Draper’s 40765 is a brilliant package that’s ideal for frequent DIY use. Its sub-£50 price clinches it the top spot. Hot on its heels is Site’s Drill/Driver. It slightly outperforms the winner, but costs more and doesn’t have a hammer function. Draper’s capable 41426 is third. It’s the priciest tool here, but you’d easily pay double for the same performance from a professional drill.

Top 3

1. Draper 40765
2. Site 14.4V Drill/Driver
3. Draper 41426

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