Performance Unlimited Blog

Don’t allow warm weather to lull you into a false sense of security Last weekend, the thermometer hit 92 degrees. So far this week, it’s felt more like August than September and we’re almost in October. Don’t let the warm weather fool you – another McHenry winter is coming and you’ll want your car ready for the cold and snow and ice and – Brrrrrrr! As warm as it has been lately, it’s likely we’ll see the temperatures as close to the opposite end of the thermometer in December, January, February and … well, that’s not a thought to dwell on right now. The point is that this warm spell has the potential to lull us into a false sense of security. What guarantee do we have that temperatures won’t plunge below freezing next week (not to worry, the forecast for McHenry calls for night-time lows of 44 degrees, at the lowest, through Oct. 6)? The point is, a precipitous drop in the temperature could happen at any time. Or, we could have weather remain unseasonably warm into early December...

Maybe it won’t snow this winter and maybe the White Sox still have a shot at the playoffs (if you haven’t been paying attention, the White Sox are in last place in the American League Central Division 31.5 games out of first place, as of Sept. 16, and, with 15 games to play, that’s a mathematical impossibility). So, let’s accept the inevitable; it will snow in McHenry this winter and you will drive in the snow … and ice. There are things you can and should do to adjust to winter driving that includes snow. If you have a pickup, SUV or a car, with rear-wheel drive, you can put some bags of salt in the back so the weight will help give you more traction. Most importantly, you can adjust the way you drive. Another option to consider, if you’re determined to lessen the hazards of driving in the snow, is to put some snow tires on your car, SUV or pickup. Driving with snow tires doesn’t mean you can ignore the snow: that your car will tame the roads as though it’s the middle of summer. ...

Reggie’s attitude is ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’ In terms of how he applies this principle to his 2003 Honda Accord, this means that, if the car starts, goes into gear, has some air in the tires and will eventually stop before he runs into the intersection at Route 31, not far from his McHenry home, he figures everything is just fine. Of course, even with Reggie’s overly optimistic approach, from time to time, his car has broken. Take, for instance, the time his car overheated on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago this summer. Had Reggie checked the coolant more frequently, he might have noticed that it was getting dangerously low. He might have been inspired to take a look to see where the coolant was going. The leak that Reggie didn’t notice wound up costing Reggie more than the simple replacement of his lower radiator hose; when he broke down in traffic, he paid the price of receiving the scorn of drivers who had to go around him for the hour and a half that he waited in the su...

When you purchase a new car, whether a new car from one of the new-car dealerships in McHenry, or a used car from a used-car lot or private owner, there is an acclimation period. You have to get used to the car. This doesn’t mean you have to learn how to drive the car, though there are areas where this applies. What it does mean is that, for instance, the nobs and controls are in different locations compared to your previous car, unless you’ve bought the same car. Even when you buy the same make and model of car, you may find significant changes in where the controls are in the new car based on differences in the years the cars were made. In your previous car, when it rained in McHenry, you found the wiper control arm mounted on the left side of the steering column. In the new car, you may find it’s on the right side of the steering column. And, where you would move the lever up to turn the wipers on before, now you have to pull the lever down. And, how does the intermittent wiper...