3M, NASCAR stars on how to tune up the savings (NASCAR.com)
July 6, 2009
Every car owner is looking for ways to save money on their vehicle and keep it running longer. The solution, you ask? Try a simple tune-up and maintenance program that can deliver a big savings of about $800 per year in fuel costs alone.
3M recently hosted a satellite media tour from a Charlotte, N.C.-based O'Reilly's Auto Parts to provide tune-up tips, project guides and product ideas to encourage car owners to get under the hood and do the cost-effective maintenance their vehicles need.
The tour conducted interviews and feeds to more than 20 network and local broadcast outlets and included an accompanying radio broadcast on Sirius Speedway. 3M products featured included 3M Do-It-Yourself Fuel System Tune-Up Kit, 3M Complete Fuel System Cleaner, 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System, as well as 3M line of performance, maintenance and appearance products.
Appropriately titled "The Great American Tune-Up," 3M—along with some help from three of NASCAR's classic car buffs—is helping Americans take charge of tuning up their vehicles.
"Most car owners are trying to cut their vehicle costs and keep their car on the road longer," said John Marmar, business manager, 3M automotive do-it-yourself products.
Who better to share some advice than the stars of NASCAR who spend thousands of hours behind the wheel of their race cars and under the hoods of their personal cars. Greg Biffle, Jack Roush and Ray Evernham offer their tips for tuning up and taking care of your car.
"Just like on the race track, it's better to monitor your car and do your tune-ups and regular maintenance than have an expensive part break or see your engine fail," says Biffle.
Biffle recommends daily and monthly maintenance to prevent problems:
• Monitor your gas mileage. If you see it decrease fill-up after fill-up, your car needs a tune-up. • Check your garage floor for spots. Dark puddles can be an oil leak, lighter colors can be transmission fluid or coolant. • Check your air filter each month to look for color and debris. • Check your fluids every month. Coolant should be green or orange not brown. • Check your lights every month. Make sure all of the bulbs are bright. • Check the windshield wipers each season. Replace them if they are streaking or leaving arcs of water on the windshield.
Jack Roush, owner of Roush Fenway Racing and legendary horsepower engineer, knows how to tune engines for maximum life and RPMs. He recommends keeping the engine clean and allowing it to breathe for ultimate performance.
"The engine is like the living, breathing heart of your car—you have to feed it right, keep it healthy and provide it plenty of air for it to perform," says Roush.
Roush recommends keeping an eye on the odometer as the guide for engine maintenance:
• Tune up the fuel delivery system every 30,000 miles. • Clean out the engine every 5,000 miles. • Clean the engine block every 30,000 miles. • Change the spark plugs every 100,000 miles.
Legendary NASCAR crew chief and team owner Ray Evernham has been tuning up race cars and street cars since his high school days. Today, he keeps his collection of classic cars and race cars running himself and is restoring several hot rods.
"It's all about preventing problems and keeping all of the moving parts in good condition," says Evernham.
Evernham offers the following tune-up tips:
• Change the oil every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Using the right oil for your vehicle. • Tune up the transmission every 12,000 to 15,000 miles. • Check the belts every 100,000 miles. Look for cracks in surface of belts and wobbling of belts when the engine is running, and listen for squeaking. • Replace your cabin air filter regularly. • Check the tires every 5,000 miles and rotate your tires regularly. • Clean the brakes.
With excellent advice from Biffle, Roush and Evernham, a few simple tools and some great product solutions from 3M Car Care, car owners across the country can celebrate "The Great American Tune-Up" today.
For more information on 3M Car Care products, visit www.3MCarCare.com.
3M Holds Industrial Adhesives Seminar for NASCAR Teams
The average person worldwide comes in direct contact with approximately 17 3M products on a daily basis. From small households to giant corporations, 3M products have infiltrated nearly every sector of society.
For more than 100 years, people around the world have looked to 3M for products and ideas that solve problems and make activities more efficient. Thousands of imaginative 3M products have helped companies—including NASCAR teams—improve product performance and appearance, and increase production efficiency. For those who work on NASCAR race teams, 3M products remain a must-have at the shop and in the garage for applications like instant bonding, plastic bonding and rubber bonding.
Products such as 3M POWER Line Adhesives are used to bond panels, 3M VHB is used to bond substrates and instruments that experience excessive vibration, 3M Vinyl Graphics wrap the entire car to create new and exciting graphics and 3M Paint Protection Film protects the nose of racecars against 100mph+ debris. These are just a few of the examples where you will find 3M products at work within NASCAR.
During All-Star Race week in Charlotte, 3M recently held an Industrial Adhesives Seminar—themed "The Science Behind Our Solutions"—on May 14 at Ray Evernham's Mooresville, N.C., shop and museum for members of NASCAR teams. Sponsored by Supplies for Racing and Industry, the one-day seminar provided an opportunity for NASCAR engineers to have direct contact with 3M scientists. Team members were educated about the capabilities of adhesive solutions to help them better achieve their engineering goals.
"3M has a very well-documented history of going directly to the customer with their solution driven technologies," explained Steve Stark, U.S. marketing manager, VHB and Foam Tapes—3M Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division. "With the ever increasing technological demands on all parties involved in NASCAR, it made sense to bring the scientists behind our solutions face-to-face with the team engineers. Charlotte and the week of the All-Star race allowed for teams to be in one central location, thus increasing the likelihood they could attend."
Team members from NASCAR's elite racing organizations—Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, Kevin Harvick Inc., Michael Waltrip Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Team Red Bull attended, along with several NASCAR personnel. 3M scientists Ted Steiner, Michelle Rookey and Christine Worms covered a wide variety of topics including:
• High-Bond Tapes: how viscoelastic properties absorb shock and distribute stress evenly for bonding power that eliminates mechanical fastening. • Structural and Non-Structural Adhesives: overview of the world-class selection of adhesives and innovative dispensing for many applications. • Polyurethane and Hybrid Adhesives & Sealants: powerful alternatives for bonding, filling, sealing, waterproofing and more.
Through unique product demonstrations, NASCAR team members discussed their challenges and learned how 3M products can make their job easier and help them gain that competitive edge.
Are you a car buff yourself? Want to learn more about the advantages of using 3M Industrial Adhesives for your own projects? Visit them at www.Shop3M.com.
3M is a primary sponsor of Roush-Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as well as a NASCAR Contingency Special Awards Program participant. 3M is proud to have many of its products designated as "Officially Licensed Products of NASCAR" and "NASCAR Performance Products."
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