Performance Unlimited Blog

Is there ever a good time to find yourself stuck on the side of the road miles away from your Wonder Lake home? If there is, it certainly isn’t in the middle of winter. Of course, cell phones help. But what if you’re too far away for a family member or friend to come to the rescue? What if it’s late at night and no auto repair shops are open to respond to your emergency? For that matter, what if it’s bitterly cold out? What if you went off the road into a snowbank where passing cars won’t even see you, if there are any passing cars on that backroad you were taking? The unmitigated truth is that you could find yourself in a precarious position. If not that, at the very least your vehicle could leave you inconveniently stranded. The first solution to this problem is timely auto repair and maintenance. If you take care of your vehicle at a trusted Wonder Lake area auto repair shop, your vehicle is far less likely to leave you stranded miles away from home. But even a well-maintained vehic...

It’s late and you’re in a hurry as you cruise north on Route 31 out of McHenry. That wintery day has morphed into a hard, cold night. Clouds are blocking the moon so that there’s no way to detect the sheet of black ice up ahead. Your mind is wrapped up in things you have to do when you get where you’re going. You’re not thinking about that 8-point buck that is stepping out into the road. As you approach, that majestic stag is caught like a deer in the proverbial headlights. The shock is mutual. He freezes. You hit the brakes. This is the point where you discover the black ice as your vehicle careens out of control. In years gone by, the prescribed reaction to losing control on ice was to pump the brakes. The goal was to stop without inducing ‘the slide.’ But with advanced technology, auto manufacturers introduced ABS brakes far more rapidly than any human could do. This night, those ABS brakes are your only hope. The ABS brakes are the only hope that you won’t smack that deer or that y...

The lights on your car, truck or SUV are more important now than ever. The days of winter in McHenry are shorter. The nights are longer. Cloudy days are more frequent. The net effect of all this is that you’ll spend more time driving in darkened conditions during the winter. Additionally, the spray of road salt on your car, truck or SUV tends to spread a blanket over the vehicle that blends in with the road. At the same time, it hinders your vision on the windshield and windows. These conditions make it more difficult to see while driving and for others to see you. As stated above, the lights on your car, truck or SUV are essential anytime you pull out of your McHenry driveway and head on down the road. Of course, it helps if your lights work. It’s good to see when driving. Whether you’re in McHenry or you’ve left town, you want to see where you’re going. You don’t want to hit other cars, pedestrians, trees, fences … well, anything. The headlights are the key tool for vision when you d...

Well, it happened. The snow has finally come to McHenry. It was unlikely we’d go through this entire winter without it but still, somehow, after dodging the flaky-white bullet as long as we have, somehow we were surprised when it did come. Now the question is how to safely remove the snow from your walkways and driveway. The sobering truth is that safely removing snow from surfaces around your McHenry home is not something you can assume to do without risks. People die removing snow every year. Most of those who die shoveling snow do so because they have coronary events brought on by the exertion required to clear all that snow away. People are also hurt shoveling snow because of falls and muscle injuries. The National Safety Council has outlined some tips on how to reduce the risk of a heart attack while shoveling snow: Do not shovel after eating or while smoking (probably don’t want to eat while you shovel snow either) Take it slow and stretch out before you begin Shovel only fresh, ...