Performance Unlimited Blog

Many cars today have aluminum wheels with openings through which you can see the disc brake rotors and calipers inside. You may have noticed that, if it rained overnight, when you came out to the car in the morning, there was a thin layer of rust on the brake discs. Morning dew can do the same thing to the discs. This is generally not a significant problem. You’ll get in the car and start driving. The first time you hit the brake, you’re liable to hear a scraping sound. That’s the sound of your brake pads rubbing the rust off your discs. But, if the car is left unattended for too long, the rust may take root and represent a real issue. With the coronavirus lockdown, it’s just possible that your car has spent more time sitting unused than usual. We’ve also had quite a bit of rain over that period of isolating at home. If you haven’t gotten out in the car for a while, the rust may have penetrated deeper into the metal. Brake discs have prescribed levels of thickness. Once they wear...

This weekend was the unofficial start of another McHenry summer. While, officially, summer runs from June 20 to September 22, most of us think of summer as running from Memorial Day to Labor Day. With the continuation of the governor’s ‘shelter-in-place’ order, this year, it may not feel like summer has really kicked off this weekend. Staying indoors for extended periods is something we do in the winter. But, with the coronavirus, most of us are spending winter-like hours indoors even as the weather warms. We have yet to escape from cabin fever staying indoors to avoid another kind of literal fever. Hopefully, you took advantage of some summer-like weather we experienced in McHenry this past weekend. With highs in the 80s, we owed it to ourselves to get outdoors. Many of us stoked up the barbeque. Maybe you did some gardening, played with the kids outside, and washed the car in the driveway. But, whatever you did, hopefully, you got out of the house a bit. Was one or two days in ...

Not to worry – you can have your car picked up and dropped off for service It happens this way about this time every year, and the coronavirus can’t stop it; weather in McHenry begins to warm and AC in your car becomes essential. Meteorologists have indicated that we will see evidence of the coming summer will start building up this week. The temperatures will build from a high of 56 degrees on Monday to 78 degrees on Saturday. Next Sunday, the mercury should top out at 81 degrees. Though most of us are ‘sheltering in place’ we still have need to get out in our cars – for trips to the grocery store, for gasoline, to just get away for a little while with a ride into the McHenry area countryside. Air-conditioning makes such excursions much more bearable. For older folks in the area, and those with other conditions that make them more susceptible to COVID-19, the trips are often essential, and the AC is more so. Enduring a hot ride in the car can put a strain on someone who is aged ...

On the news the other day, a reporter introduced a guest as a healthcare authority. While discussing the idea that passengers will probably be required to wear facemasks on airplanes for quite some time, the guest added that the air in an aircraft is actually quite good. Modern airliners have effective cabin filtration systems. With everything going on these days it’s nice to know that your car has a cabin filter cleaning the air inside your car, too. The automotive cabin filter was designed and included in the manufacturing of automobiles long before the coronavirus began its pandemic. They were not designed for COVID-19. Frankly, while driving in your car, the risk of coronavirus spreading through the air coming into your vehicle is probably minuscule. But, at a time when we’re all a bit more conscious of the quality of the air we breathe, there at least a small comfort knowing the filter is there. The reality is that a lot of people don’t know that their car has a cabin filter. T...

The governor of Illinois has imposed new coronavirus guidelines that include a requirement that we all wear facemasks when out in public. Do you need to wear one while operating your car, truck or SUV? Of course, that doesn’t make a lot of sense, unless you are stopped, with the window open and speaking with someone outside the vehicle. But in this day of the pandemic, people often just don’t know. The truth is that, when you’re alone in your car, truck or SUV, or with someone you live with, you’re about as safe behind the wheel as you are in your home. It’s very unlikely that the COVID-19 germs will make their way into your vehicle’s interior while you’re driving down the road. You shouldn’t feel any need to wear a facemask at that time. On the other hand, if you’re pulled over for speeding, you may want to wear a mask to protect yourself, as well as to protect the police officer who is coming up to your window. Chances are, the officer will be wearing Nitrile gloves so that you s...