Performance Unlimited Blog

It’s hard to believe but we’re actually approaching the halfway point of the McHenry winter of 2021-22. How’s you car making out so far? Hopefully, you winterized your vehicle long before this. After all, we all know that McHenry winters can be brutal on a vehicle.  If you did winterize your car, you’ve probably come this far without too many problems. Things can happen. Parts can break. But if you applied due diligence and prepared for the winter ahead, now that it’s here, you’ve almost certainly avoided some of the issues you might otherwise have faced. Winterizing your car is like auto reliability and safety insurance for the winter months. Your vehicle needs to withstand the effects of bitterly cold temperatures. This includes ensuring the coolant/antifreeze doesn’t freeze. It includes ensuring that your car will start on that cold McHenry night. Your vehicle also needs to handle the slippery roads we tend to experience in the winter. This means that you need tires with tractio...

With supply issues, new car sales have fallen. This may mean you'll have to keep your used car longer than you intended. New car sales dropped in 2020 with COVID and have yet to recover. But it wasn’t just the pandemic that brought on the slump in sales; access to the essential computer chips have reduced production of automobiles, at least complete production.  If you drive past a new car dealer and take a gander at the lot, you’ll quickly notice that the lots are not as full as they used to be. This has a lot to do with the supply chain crisis, too, as parts are not arriving to keep assembly lines running. The net result is that a lot of people are making do with used cars they might have replaced with new cars, if not for the current state of affairs in the auto industry. Maintenance is more essential when you keep that car longer When you trade that used car in on a new vehicle, any problems with the old car are no longer your problems; those are problems the new owner of the v...

January 17 is Benjamin Franklin’s birthday. But why bring that up in an automotive-related blog? Well, have you considered Franklin’s contribution to the automobile? Franklin died in 1788. That was long before Ford, General Motors or Chrysler brought automobiles to America’s roadways. Even in Franklin’s time, there was the odd steam-powered wagon, but these were hardly comparable to what we consider modern automobiles – automobiles with internal combustion engines. This isn’t to suggest that Franklin invented the internal combustion engine. But he did contribute to it. In 1870, Siegried Marcus, an Austrian, invented what is considered the first gasoline powered automobile. He was followed by Karl Benz, of Mannheim, Germany, who created his first car in 1885. In America, George Selden sought a patent for his engine and four-wheeled vehicle in 1879. The Duryea brothers, Charles and Frank, founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company in 1893. And in 1901, Ransom Olds founded the Oldsmobile Moto...

When winter blows into McHenry it’s often brutal. It’s hard on people. It’s hard on their homes. And it’s hard on their cars. What can you do to protect your car from the McHenry winter of 2021-22? While you may feel that you’re at the mercy of weather conditions that’s not entirely the case. No, these isn’t much you can do about making the snow stop, or keeping the temperature from plummeting. But there are things you can do to help your car weather the storm better than you might have otherwise. The cold and your car One of the first things the cold does is to make it more difficult for your car to start. This is because the cold makes the oil in your engine’s crankcase thicker. The starter needs more of a boost to turn over the crankshaft and get the engine running. Checking your starter and charging system is essential to ensuring that you don’t find yourself in a situation where the cold has won and you can’t get your car started. Is the battery strong? Does the alternator produce...

Do you ever find yourself struggling to choose a New Year’s Resolution? You’ve done the fitness center resolution several times but that’s getting a little tired. How ‘bout a New Year’s Resolution that will put money in your pocket? Resolve to maintain your car, truck or SUV in tip-top condition. Auto maintenance is the kind of thing that, if you don’t stay on top of it, it can get away from you. Problems spread. For instance: You don’t change the oil on schedule and the engine starts performing badly. You don’t check the coolant/antifreeze and your engine block can crack when the liquid freezes. You don’t examine the hoses and belts and one or the other breaks while you’re out on the road leaving you stranded. You don’t maintain the charging and starting system and, some cold night, you can’t get the car, truck or SUV to start. You fail to replace a worn or broken part of your steering and/or suspension and, the next thing you know, your tires are wearing badly and other parts are sho...