Performance Unlimited Blog

Spring has sprung and with it we can expect the usual – warmer weather, the arrival of migrating birds returning from their Southern winter refuge and, of course, allergies. If you suffer from allergies, this is a particularly frustrating time of year. You want to escape the cabin fever that winter imposed but, to do so, you have to directly expose yourself to the pollen that is the primary assailant for those who suffer from allergies in the spring. There are remedies – medications you can take to reduce the symptoms of your affliction. But, nothing provides absolute relief. There’s just no way to completely escape the pollen and its effects, even in your home or your car. It seems the pollen is everywhere. One thing you can do is use a better filter in your home designed to remove more of the pollen from the air. And, it may surprise you to discover that there is also a filter in your newer-model car to clean the air in the cabin where you and passengers ride. It might be time to...

Did you set your clocks ahead today? Here in Richmond, we observe the coming and going of Daylight Savings Time and this is the weekend when it’s time to set our clocks ahead. Fire departments have used the weekends when we reset our clocks as a means of reminding us to check the batteries in our smoke alarms and CO2 alarms. That’s a very good idea. It could save your life. This is also an opportune time to remind yourself to change the oil in your car. No, it’s not enough to change the oil twice each year – once in October when the clocks fall back and once in March when the clocks spring ahead. But it’s still a good reminder. If you’re changing the oil appropriately, depending on the car and the type of oil you use, you’ll probably want to change your car’s oil five or six times each year. Some synthetic oils will hold up longer but, you want to keep in mind that, even if the oil is still good, over time, it’s carrying more and more particles suspended in the oil. Those particles...

You don’t look at that rugged terrain as a problem; you see it as a challenge and an opportunity. Your truck is up to the challenge and so are you. Well, hopefully, your truck is up to the challenge and, hopefully, your off-road suspension is up to the challenge, too. Off-roading isn’t for the faint of heart, whether we’re talking about the driver or the truck (or even a car modified for off-road use). Highways and roads beat the heck out of cars. This time of year, it’s a good idea for most people to start thinking about having their steering and suspension checked, considering all the potholes and such they’ve driven through all winter. But, if we’re talking about an off-road vehicle, the abuse is 10 fold and that off-road suspension better be tough. What that means is that, before you hit the undeveloped landscape for some serious off-roading, you’ll want to make sure your vehicle is up to the challenge. That starts with the off-road suspension of your vehicle. An off-road v...

If you track your car’s gas mileage, here in McHenry County, you’ve noticed that your mileage generally goes down; you just don’t get as many miles per gallon in the winter as you do in the summer. Why is that? One of the primary reasons that winter gas mileage drops for drivers bearing the full force of a McHenry County winter is that the cold affects a change in the way we operate a vehicle from the start. In other words, we tend to start the car and let it warm up before we drive. If you allow your car to warm up more than a minute before driving, you’ll probably notice that doing so has taken a bite out of your winter gas mileage. It’s not a bad idea to warm the car up before you drive. The engine likes this. It allows the oil to warm up and flow better before you start putting the engine under a strain. Some people, however, will start their cars and let them run outside while they go about getting ready to go inside. A car that idles outside for 10 or 15 minutes is burning ...