Performance Unlimited Blog

Situations, such as this, are easily avoided for McHenry revelers New Year's Eve. Don't drive. Hire a cab, an Uber or a limo and focus on the celebration without worries. It’s 1 a.m. and the neighbors, those who went out to parties on New Year’s Eve, are safely arriving at their McHenry homes in taxis, Ubers and limos. But that’s not how it’s worked out for you. Over your wife’s objections, you insisted you could drive yourself. Now, red lights are flashing and you’re anxiously trying to see if your wife is okay after you lost control and ran into a tree. But you’re having trouble looking after your wife because an officer is insisting that you take some tests while an ambulance is anticipated. The tests aren’t usually difficult. In fact, any other day, you would probably call them simple and easy. There’s this bit about doing the alphabet. Then there’s the part where you touch your nose. Finally, you have to walk a simple line. But it’s not so simple now with the influence of ...

One way to celebrate the season as Christmas comes to McCullom Lake is to watch a Christmas movie. Here's a list of movies to  help choose the movies you and your family can watch. There are only a few nights left until Santa sweeps into McCullom Lake on his reindeer-powered sled. Hopefully, while you eagerly anticipate the gifts he’ll bring you and the family, you’ve completed your Christmas shopping (if not, and you’ve got someone on your list who is impossible to shop for, you might consider a gift certificate from Performance Unlimited - contact us and we'll be happy to help). Assuming, however, you’ve got your shopping done, by this time, you’re probably thinking of kicking back and relaxing until the big day arrives. One great way to do that is to make some hot chocolate and, maybe, some popcorn and stream a Christmas movie or pop in a Christmas DVD. Once you’ve decided to enjoy a festive film about the holiday season, the next question is which Christmas movie to watc...

Timely safety check and maintenance can ensure trouble free trips Last year, according to the AAA , more than 119-million Americans traveled for “year-end holidays.” With a population of approximately 330-million Americans, that means that more than one third of us left home for the holidays. Quite a few people from McHenry will do some traveling this holiday season. For those who do, it's important to make sure your vehicle is reliable before you go. Of those who traveled in previous Decembers, 10.3% of them traveled by air or some other form of travel other than automobiles. That means that nearly nine out of ten holiday travelers used the roads to get to their destinations. That’s about 107 million. And, even those who travel by air, train or boat, probably have to drive a little to get to their points of embarkation.  That’s a significant commitment, all that driving and such. Why would people do that?  They do it because they want to be with loved ones for the holidays....

More important than ever to have timely oil changes with proper oil What would happen if your drove your car, truck or SUV without oil in the engine? It’s unlikely you’ll find anyone in McHenry who doesn’t know the answer to that question. But, for those who aren’t as familiar with how motor oil works in an engine, they may not know about the additional challenge that oil faces in the winter. The cold of a McHenry winter makes timely oil changes all the more important. One website suggested that an “engine can run without oil for less than 30 minutes.” But that’s not really true. It depends on a lot of factors, such as the air temperature, the amount of load placed on the engine and more. But, what is true is the remainder of the quote above: “but it will suffer severe damage in a very short time.” In a relatively short amount of time, the engine will lock up meaning that medal parts will weld together because of the heat and high degree of heat-causing friction. The level of damage...

As winter rolls into McCullom Lake, you can find the bitter cold deflating for your car's tires. Have you ever had a morning when you wake up feeling great. You’re happy and excited to get on with the day. But then you see the weather report and it’s telling you that it will be frigid outdoors in McCullom Lake. You may find the news a tad deflating. Did you know your tires may react the same way? Yes! Your tires can find cold weather deflating.  It’s not that they’re emotionally distraught. Rather, there is a perfectly rational reason your tires may go flat when the thermometer dips outside in and around McCullom Lake. On the one hand, cold will naturally reduce the air pressure in a tire. According to one report, tires lose approximately one pound of air pressure for every drop in outside temperature of 10-degrees. Of course, when you start driving, and the tires warm up, the pressure will increase. But there are other reasons tires can lose air pressure due to cold air temperatur...

Forty-three years ago, Performance Unlimited opened its doors and began providing quality auto repair and services to to automotive owners in and around the McHenry area. We are very proud of our commitment to quality and the evidence of that quality offered by how long we’ve been in business. But we have never lost sight of all that we owe to those who have trusted us with their cars, trucks and SUVs. The undeniable fact is that we have been in business since 1982 because automobile owners have trusted us enough to give us a chance to work on their vehicles. Given that chance, it has been up to us to earn that trust. Understanding that trust is much easier to lose than it is to regain, it has served us well to recognize the value of our reputation all these years. We are deeply thankful for these many opportunities and, over the course of 43 years, we have had many, many such opportunities.  From the beginning, we have realized that our customers have made a choice to bring the...

Maybe you're out visiting friends but the car won't start when you want to return to  Wonder Lake. What are you going to do and how can you avoid this situation? The weather outside is brutal as a harsh, frigid wind, the kind that seems to cut through any exposed skin, whips through Wonder Lake. Maybe you don’t want to go visit Aunt Muriel. Maybe you’d rather not run out to pick up logs for the fireplace on a cold night such as this. Maybe you’d rather stay in and watch the latest episode of The Walking Dead. If the car won’t start, you have an excuse to stay home, maybe … Then again, if you call Aunt Muriel and tell her the car won’t start, she may suggest that you get someone to help jumpstart your car or call roadside service. Now you’ll find yourself standing out in the cold trying to get the car to start. The reality, however, is that we seldom wish our vehicles won’t start. When we want to go somewhere, we count on the convenience of a car that starts. That’s particularly...

They are among us everyday though we don’t often notice and may seldom think about them – veterans of the US Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. One online site puts the number of veterans in the United States today at approximately 17.6 million. That represents approximately 7% of the population. Who are these veterans?  American veterans are men and women who served in the different branches of the U.S. military. Some of them saw combat. Some served in the rear areas supporting the front-line troops. All of them donated years of their lives based on a commitment to defend America and Americans. Many paid a high price for their service. We see some of them around us with missing limbs, lost eyesight and other grievous injuries. Some carry their wounds silently inside. All of them have experiences that are beyond what we think of as day-to-day life. What did they pledge to protect? They all made the following oath when they signed up to join the military … "I, _____, d...

As winter rolls into Johnsburg, you're going to want the heater in your car, truck or SUV to work well. It'll keep you warm but it will also defrost your windows. It’s cold out here in Johnsburg – really, really cold. You can just imagine how cold you’ll be out there scraping the ice and frost off your windshield and windows. Then, you’ll get in the car and shiver violently until the engine warms up enough to provide you with a little relief-giving warmth. If you have a remote starter, or a way to run out and start the engine while securing the car while it warms up, that’s a great way to alleviate the situation. Of course, that assumes your vehicle is operating properly and will provide the heat you seek. But what if it isn’t? If the heater inside your car, truck or SUV doesn’t work properly, the discomfort of a Johnsburg winter may become an inconvenience or even a serious problem. You’re counting on that heater to ensure that you’re not freezing the entire trip, wherever you...

Halloween is an exciting holiday for the children of McHenry. This means that drivers need to pay extra attention on the roads to avoid accidents with distracted monsters and ghouls.  What are you thinking about when you pull out of your McHenry driveway? Are you thinking about all the items on your shopping list as you head to the store? Are you thinking about the Bears chances against Bengals in Cincinnati next Sunday, or the Packers chances hosting the Panthers? Are you thinking about the costumes for your children as Halloween approaches? As long as we’re talking about Halloween in McHenry, maybe this is a good time to mention defensive driving as the holiday approaches. Halloween is the one day of the year when little ghouls and goblins (or Spidermen and Princess Belles) venture outdoors en masse. There is something about the disposition of these children that is worthy of our consideration, too They’re generally happy. No, that word won’t do. They’re downright excited. Their ...

In the midst of a Richmond summer, you need that fluid in your car's engine to serve as a coolant . When winter rolls around, it needs to serve as an antifreeze, too. All summer long, you’ve counted on the coolant in your car, truck or SUV to keep your engine from overheating. As winter comes to Richmond, you still want the coolant to do that job. After all, once you’ve been driving a while, even on the coldest nights of winter, temperatures inside your engine can get extreme. But winter brings another consideration, and another job, for your coolant. On a cold winter night in Richmond, you’re counting on your coolant to serve as antifreeze for the engine in your car, truck or SUV. This is a duty you’re relying on before you start the engine. In other words, your vehicle’s coolant has to do double duty. The problem with coolant/antifreeze is that its capacity to cool the engine when it’s hot, while its ability to avoid freezing when it’s cold, diminishes over time. The older the ...

It's always good to be able to see where you're going when driving. But, you'll find there are some serious challenges to clear vision when driving on a cold, snowy night in McHenry. Have you ever seen drivers pull bonehead moves as you drive down the road having left your McCullom Lake home? Chances are you have and probably with an uncomfortable frequency. Hopefully, you’ve managed to avoid any hazardous conditions their mental lapses have created. Now, imagine that it’s winter, the McHenry roads are slick, it’s nighttime and, for some reason, you’re wearing a thick pair of sunglasses. Of course, no one in their right mind would wear sunglasses while driving in the dark but, just for the sake of argument, let’s suppose that you are. How safe will you feel? Suddenly, the ability to see where you’re going, and where other people are driving nearby, is fully appreciated. Clear vision is the first defensive measure when driving any time of the year. But, in the winter, it’s m...

Snow and ice of a McHenry winter offer a serious challenge to traction when you're driving that could land you in trouble. But there are things you can do to improve your traction and adjust your driving. You walk into the kitchen of your McHenry home, unaware that someone in the family has washed and waxed the kitchen floor and it’s still wet. What’s going to happen? In one scenario, your feet slide out from under you, and you land flat on your back. In another scenario, as your arms windmill frantically, your feet and legs splay out wildly in every direction as you struggle to stay upright. What you lack in the scenario above is traction. Merriam-Webster dictionary describes traction as: “the adhesive friction of a body on a surface on which it moves.” We count on traction with nearly every step we take. And no one likes to be caught by surprise without traction when they need it. Well, traction isn’t just something we enjoy when walking; it’s also something we want when we pull ...

There are a few people who anxiously anticipate the arrival of the next Wonder Lake winter. But few are eager to find themselves stuck on the side of the road. The time to start thinking about winterizing your car is now. Doesn’t it seem that summer arrives to slowly in Wonder Lake and gives way to winter too quickly. And here we are, welcoming October of 2025 into our lives. Where did the summer go? Of course, winter isn’t here yet. We still have autumn to enjoy before the temperature precipitously drops and the snow begins to fall. We’ve got time, right? Don’t kid yourself. When it comes to preparing your car, truck or SUV for another Wonder Lake winter, time will pass before you know it. And, besides, you don’t want to wait until the last minute, do you? Preparing your vehicle for winter means preparing it for the worst winter may throw at you. The last few winters were fairly mild. Is that a guarantee that this winter will be mild, too? Hardly. The Farmers’ Almanac has predicted th...

CLUNK!       GRIND!            SQUEAL!                 ROAR!                     SLAP!                          GROAN!                               SCRAPE! These are some of the noises you’re liable to hear when you pull out of your Richmond driveway. Unless they’re coming from some unusual musical rendition on your stereo, they are sounds you don’t want to ignore. Richmond area auto repair shops are where automotive detectives diagnose problems. Among the clues they look for are sounds. Auto manufacturers are getting better and better at creating systems in your vehicle to warn you when something is wrong or something is due for maintenance. But those...

Depreciation starts its insidious attack on the value of your car, truck or SUV as soon as you bring it home to your McCullom Lake home.  Remember the day you pulled that new car, truck or SUV into the driveway of your McCullom Lake home for the first time? No doubt you were proud of your new vehicle. There’s a good chance that good feeling was dampened a little bit, too. Most likely, you had a car loan to think about each month when you sat down at your desk in McCullom Lake. Those are substantial monthly payments you’ve assumed. And how long will you make those payments? 60 months? 72 months? Whatever it is, it’s nothing to sneeze about. As with any car, truck or SUV you buy, one thing is certain – Depreciation Some say that the biggest chunk of depreciation happens the moment you drive your new car, truck or SUV off the dealer’s lot. But there is always more depreciation to come. Bit by bit, depreciation eats away at the value of your vehicle. Every time a rock nicks your hood o...

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

You probably won't have a dust storm blowing across Wonder Lake like the one in the photo above, but there is still enough dust in the air in and around town to  create a challenge for your car's filters. Have you taken a trip away from Wonder Lake this summer? Perhaps you drove on summer gravel roads in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, Michigan or Minnesota. When doing so, you may have found yourself behind another driver, in which case you were probably driving in a cloud of dust kicked up by their tires. Even if you haven’t left the area and have stayed fairly close to your Wonder Lake home, you’ve probably driven through some construction zones this summer. Once again, you probably found yourself driving through air rich in dust particles that surround and seek to invade your vehicle.  Cars today are fairly well sealed up. But driving through a cloud of dust is a serious way to challenge your car’s ability to keep the dust out. Inevitably, a percentage of the dust is going to ...