Performance Unlimited Blog

This isn’t the first time we’ve addressed the question of winter traction when driving on McHenry roadways. But, if you’ll forgive the redundancy, we think it’s worth bringing up again. When the snow flies, when rain and sleet freeze on the street, maintaining traction between your car’s tires and the road is challenged, to say the least. Unless you’re planning to move to a warmer climate, somewhere considerably warmer than a McHenry winter, there isn’t much you can do about the condition of the roads. What you can do is ensure that your tires have the best chance of getting a grip when the roads are slick. Traction starts with tread. Tread refers to the gaps in the face of your car’s tires. The tread is at its maximum the day the tires are first installed on your car. As you drive, day after day, the face of each tire wears away little by little. Over time, though you won’t see the difference daily, the tread will disappear. Literally, if you drive on the tires long enough, your...

For children, Halloween is a wonderful time of year: the costumes, the candy, more candy, the parties, more candy. All that fun, mixed with all that candy, may make children a tad hyper. Parents don’t mind, too much, since the hyper is generally followed by the crash where Wonder Lake children then sleep the sleep of zombies and vampires, not to mention X-Men and Princesses. But, for drivers, Halloween is a serious challenge. While Trick-or-Treating, children get excited. They’re anxious to get to the next house and some more candy for their bag of treats. They’re not always as careful as they should be when approaching the road. In fact, with children on both sides of the street, the event begins to take on the atmosphere of a party where, somehow, the rules of the road don’t seem to apply. For drivers, those rules certainly do apply. It’s always important for drivers to watch out for children darting into the road. But, on Halloween, the potential that a child will do so in front...

With the approach of winter, it’s time to winterize your car. You should have the charging system checked, the cooling system, change the oil, check your tires and make sure they have enough tread to propel you through the snow of another McHenry winter. But, one of the most overlooked things to do when winterizing your car is to check your wiper blades. Winter is hard on a car. But, it’s also hard on driving. Driving is more difficult in the winter because those McHenry roads are often slippery with water, ice and/or snow. Therefore, the aforementioned treadwear in your tires is a critical factor. You want tires that get a good grip on the road even in adverse conditions. You need good tires to help your car get going on snowy and/or slippery roads. Even more important, you need tires that can grab the same roads when you need to stop. The problem is knowing when you can go, and when you need to stop when reaction times are extended by road conditions. And, knowing when to stop ...

Been to a Hootenanny lately? When you read that question did you ask, “What?” Well, if you have gone to a Hootenanny in a while, or if you don’t know what a hootenanny is, we have an event for Oct. 20 that will clear up either question. From 6 p.m. to Midnight, Saturday, Oct. 20, MC3, the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce business networking group, is helping to host an inaugural Veterans R&R Wild Horse Hootenanny at Beyond Stable Farm (11129 Rte. 176, Woodstock). The event will benefit Veterans R&R Operation Wild Horse. Operation Wild Horse serves veterans with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Working with the horses has proven to have an incredibly calming effect on the veterans. And, it’s good for the horses, too, rescued wild mustangs. This means that the hootenanny is for a very good cause. But, it’s also a lot of fun. So, what is a hootenanny? According to a Google search, a hootenanny is “an informal gathering with folk music and sometimes dancing.” The V...

Living in the Wonder Lake area, we’re all familiar with the idea that driving on snow and ice is slippery. But, have you considered that autumn leaves can also create a slippery surface for drivers. With ice and snow, we know that, if the temperature drops, we can expect moisture on the pavement to create potential hazards. It comes with the territory. Wonder Lake drivers have experienced winter driving at its worst for decades. The truth is that they have also experienced the slippery effects of autumn driving for just as long, too. Fallen leaves create a blanket on surfaces where they fall, including the street. While they’re not so bad when it’s dry out, once the leaves get wet, drivers are driving on foreign matter that has dual slipper surfaces: on the tops of the leaves and on the bottoms of the leaves. To drive safely on autumn leaves, slow down when you see a carpet of leaves on the road where you will pass. That’s particularly true if the leaves are wet. And, by wet, it ...