Performance Unlimited Blog

Summer! Barbeques! Picnics! Sporting Events! Vacations! Outdoor events! It’s all laying out before you with the passing of winter and the advent of wonderfully warm weather. But, while you’re enjoying the hot days ahead, don’t forget what the sun can do to your car’s interior. On hot days, the temperature inside your car can reach 195°. When the internal temperature of a smoked brisket reaches 195° it’s time to take it off the grill; it’s cooked. This means that everything inside your car is literally baking. Have you ever come out to your car on a sunny day and burned yourself on the car’s black-leather seats? Why wouldn’t you? It’s as though you took a seat in your oven. Clearly, you may find the interior of your car ‘mildly’ uncomfortable, at times, this summer. Never leave your children or dogs unattended in the car If you think about the interior of a car reaching temperatures, such as this, it’s no wonder that you shouldn’t leave your dogs or, OMG, your children in the ca...

The temperature is slipping above 80 degrees. How refreshing after the winter that would never end. And, how wonderful that you can slip into your car, flip on the AC and, almost instantly, feel the cool air washing the heat away. On a sunny day, a car parked in the sun can reach 195 degrees inside. At that temperature, foods cook. But, as long as your car has air conditioning, who cares. You’ll drive down the road enjoying the refreshing cold air that pours from the vents. But, is it cold enough; is it as cold as it should be? When you turn on the AC, you’ll also adjust the fan to the desired speed. If the fan works, you’ll feel air rushing out of your vents. It will probably feel cool. But, this doesn’t guarantee that your car’s air conditioning is working to its full potential. The AC in your car can lose its oomph after a while. Usually, this is because the charge of refrigerant in the lines loses its pressure. It still does its bit in sending cooled air out of the vents but ...

Have your tires inspected with your car’s next oil change They seldom complain. You can just about drive your tires off the rims and they’ll seldom make a peep. You come to count on them and with good reason. For thousands and thousands of miles, tires keep on rolling unhindered by the strain. But, they are not infallible. We know tires can fail because we see cars on the side of the road with drivers struggling to remove flats and replace them with spares. A tire often fails because something has punctured the rubber. But, there are other ways that a tire can lose its mojo, otherwise known as air. Sometimes, a tire will leak around the rim. This is frequently experienced in the late Fall/early Winter when the cold causes aluminum rims to lose their seal with tires. In these instances, an auto repair technician needs to remove the tire, clean the bead that should bond with the rim and the area of the rim where the bead bonds. Sometimes, they’ll apply a layer of tire glue to ensur...

In Illinois, it’s not just a good idea to use a hands-free holder for your phone, it’s the law. Since Wonder Lake is in Illinois, this means you could get a ticket if you’ve only just pulled out of your driveway while talking on the phone without a hands-free phone holder. Since you don’t want a ticket, or to have an accident, finding the best way to hold your phone for hands-free operation is time well spent. You want a hands-free mount that will securely hold your phone, is easy to use and is durable. Durability for a hands-free phone mount doesn’t just mean that the mount won’t break; it also means that the part of the car where it’s affixed won’t break. Here are some of the options when you consider a hands-free phone mount for your car: A vent-clipped mount: Vent-clipped hands-free phone mounts are very common. The back of the mount clips to the directional vents where the AC and heat enter the cabin of your car. The drawbacks are that the mount may block some of the coo...

The front-end broke while this car was taking a low-speed turn in Woodstock recently. The driver may feel that luck was against them. But, compared to what would have happened if they were driving at a higher rate of speed, they were actually very fortunate. This is a case where auto maintenance is critical. When do you know that auto maintenance is worth the effort? When you see someone dealing with a mechanical failure, such as in the photo here. This car came to an untimely stop for someone near The Woodstock Square recently. While making a left-hand turn, the driver had to notice that something didn’t feel right. Then, they must have felt the left-front of the car fall and would have heard a grinding noise as the car scraped to a stop. What happened and what could they have done about it? There are a number of things that can fail dramatically with the frontend and steering of a car: a ball joint can come apart, a tie-rod end can separate, bushings, control arms or bearin...