Performance Unlimited Blog

Auto manufacturers do a darn good job of putting cars, trucks and SUVs together for auto owners in Wonder Lake and beyond but there are still occasional problems you should be aware of. Things come up and, when they do, auto manufacturers will issue recalls so they can address whatever problem has arisen. It pays to watch for recalls to keep your vehicle safe and reliable.  No one in Wonder Lake does a better job of maintaining their car, truck or SUV. You have every right to expect reliability from your vehicle. You’ve left nothing to chance. And yet, you may have a ticking time bomb on wheels. Auto manufacturers do an incredible job of designing, building and testing the vehicles they sell, such as the car, truck or SUV in your Wonder Lake driveway. But problems still slip through.  Recent recalls that have been in the news include: 1.3 million Ford F-150 trucks recalled for dangerous issue with downshifting 235,000 Genesis, Kia vehicles recalled because of a fire risk Mo...

By all means, enjoy your time with family and friends this Memorial Day . But don't forget to reflect on the true purpose of the holiday. Today is Memorial Day here in Johnsburg and throughout the country. It’s time to light up the grill and enjoy the unofficial first day of summer. Of course, that’s not the actual purpose of this national holiday. Some seem to think Memorial Day is about veterans. That’s only partially true. We celebrate our veterans, specifically, on November 11 , each year, the anniversary of the day WWI ended. But Memorial Day is a somber event when we consider that it’s about the veterans who paid the ultimate price for the liberties we enjoy every day. Memorial Day is about those who gave their lives in the defense of America and our liberties. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t enjoy a barbequed meal and the company of friends. It even makes sense that we would enjoy some pleasurable outdoor activities, weather accommodating. But it does mean that we shoul...

It starts with timely auto maintenance The Indy 500 is a test of endurance, not just for the drivers but also for the cars. The same is true for you and your car. And the key in both cases is timely auto maintenance . This coming weekend, we’ll all have a chance to watch one of the premier sporting events in America each year. Of course, we’re talking about the Indy 500. The Indianapolis 500 race was first run in 1911 – 115 years ago. Of course, the cars go a little faster now than they did back then. The average speed of Indy cars in 1911 was 74.6 mph. Average speeds these days are more than 234 mph. These dramatic increases in speed demonstrate awesome technological improvements. The chief difference is that the engines in Indy cars today are vastly more powerful. In 1911, the Marmon Wasp , which won the first Indy race, had an engine with 110 horsepower. Today’s Indy cars run twin-turbocharged V6 engines that put out more than 700 horsepower. In other words, Indy cars today run m...

Summer is rolling into McHenry . That means hot days are ahead. Now is the time to have your car, truck or SUV's AC checked. What kind of summer can we expect this year in McHenry? Will we have a blistering-hot summer or a milder version of the season in the summer of 2026? Yes, it’s still more than a month away. But it’s still coming. Not only is summer coming to McHenry, it’ll be here before you know it. In fact, summer-like weather is likely to come our way before the official first-day of summer arrives Sunday, June 21. And when summer weather arrives, there’s something you want from your car, truck and SUV that you don’t so much need the rest of the year. AIR-CONDITIONING!!! Many people turn on the AC when the outside temperature tops 70 degrees. Some roll down the windows until the temperature approaches 80 degrees. Wherever you fall in that scale, when it gets hot outside, you’re probably going to want the air conditioning to do its job when you call upon it. The average t...

You've got all your standard Mother's Day gifts - flowers and candy. But you could give mom her car maintenance and a cleaning that will keep her safely and reliably on the road when she pulls out of her Wonder Lake driveway. Ask someone in the floral business and they’ll tell you that Mother’s Day is the busiest holiday of the year. After all, almost everyone has a mother. And, as Mother’s Day rolls into Wonder Lake, no doubt you’ll be buying some flowers and candy for your mom.  Another Mother’s Day ritual, whether in Wonder Lake or not, is to take mom out for brunch or dinner. Maybe you’ll swing by mom’s house and pick her up to take her out to a diner and maybe a ride in the country. Would you expect mom to push papers and empty coffee cups out of the way as she slides into the passenger seat beside you? You could sweep all that junk onto the floor of the car before mom gets in but then she’ll be looking for a clean spot among the garbage for her feet. Of course, you may...

Kentucky Derby horses have more in common with Richmond automobiles than you might think Horses running in the Kentucky Derby this coming Saturday receive the finest care. Your car, truck of SUV is running a different race, so to speak. And if you want it to keep running reliably, you want to give it the finest automobile maintenance. Look at those ponies run! Yes, even though this is a blog dedicated to maintaining automobiles, it’s timely to point out that horses will be running this coming Saturday, May 2. It’s a thrilling event to watch, even if you’re watching on your television in Richmond , and must be twice as exciting for those who are participating, whether a jockey, a trainer or an owner. Of course, there are some similarities between horse racing and auto racing . In auto racing, the amount of power produced by an engine is referred to as “ horsepower .” No doubt, this is a reflection of how automotive engines were compared to horses in the infancy of the automotive age....

It would be nice if your car would change its own oil right there in your McCullom Lake driveway. It's not likely and you may want to accept the responsibility of making sure it gets timely oil changes . Imagine someone who takes their car out of their McCullom Lake garage frequently to wash and wax the vehicle in their driveway. They bring it in for regular maintenance, have the tires, suspension, steering and brakes checked on a regular basis. You’d think they take their car’s maintenance pretty seriously, wouldn’t you? What if you found out they seldom or never had the oil changed? They pulled out of their McCullom Lake driveway, day after day, kept their vehicle looking tip-top but never changed the oil. Would that make any sense? Of course not.  Engine oil is the lifeblood of your car's engine It wouldn’t make sense to do all that other maintenance and not have the oil changed. There isn’t any other maintenance procedure that’s as important as having the oil changed. Engin...

You don't always have to drive off-road after winter to feel as though you're off-road. When  you leave your Johnsburg home, you're liable to see some potholes that will challenge your struts , shocks and suspension . You’re familiar with rumble strips on the roads, right. They’re the rough areas in a road designed to make the kind of noise that will wake sleepy drivers or those not paying sufficient attention to something ahead. In some places around America and the world, roads have been built with musical rumble strips . They’re designed so that, as you drive over the rumble strips, they create musical sounds. In fact, they’ll play a specific song. While that’s very interesting, and it would probably be fun to drive over musical rumble strips a while, the kinds of bumps and potholes thrown at you this late Johnsburg winter have hardly been music to your ears, or to your car, truck or SUV. The potholes and cracks in the pavement around Johnsburg and beyond, are almost...

You're liable to see new drivers on the roads of McHenry . Sometimes, you'll know because of the sign on the roof of their car. Other times, you may notice a novice driver by the way that they drive. In any case, cut them a little slack. We were all new drivers once. We see them on the roads each spring here in McHenry. No, I’m not talking about deer, racoons, wild turkeys or other denizens of nature that venture out as the weather warms. I’m talking about new drivers. Often nervous about the new experience of operating a vehicle on our roads, new drivers, often still driving on driver’s permits, can pose a challenge to us all. Due to their anxiety , they may be hesitant about maneuvers the rest of us (hopefully) take for granted. They may forget to properly signal their intentions, such as a planned turn on Route 120 in McHenry . They may accelerate suddenly, not intentionally but because they’re still getting accustomed to the gas pedal in the vehicles they drive. They may h...

As we shake off another winter, it's time to think about that post-winter checkup . The last days of March are approaching here in Richmond and that is reason to cheer and maybe do a happy dance. After all, this means the winter of 2025-26 is on its way out, into the history books and reaching the end of its ability to clobber us with snow and shiver our bones. Of course, this Richmond winter may throw us a curve or two – a late snowstorm or freeze. But whatever it has left in it will not last long. We know that. We’re generally better able to survive those surprises with smiles knowing that warmer sunny days are just around the corner. As winter fades, this is also a good time to check out your car, truck or SUV to see how well it survived winter. Here are nine points to consider when examining your vehicle to see what condition it’s in now that winter is passing. 9-Point Post-Winter Automotive Checkup Tires : how is the tread? Do they have any cuts or gouges? Do they need to be ...

Squeak! Squeak! Grind! Grind! Are your brakes trying to tell you something. Hearing some noises, you may want to have your brakes checked. Those are likely the sounds of brakes on your car, truck or SUV as you roll down the road leaving your McHenry driveway . It’s an important message your brakes are trying to communicate to you. Your brakes are trying to tell you that they may have a problem. Your brake pads may be getting dangerously thin. Even your rotors or drums may be showing signs of scoring where grooves that shouldn’t be there are cut into the metal. Brakes are remarkably resilient. You can drive on your brakes for a long, long time before they require attention. For instance, brake pads can generally last up to 70,000 miles . Considering that the average American driver drives 13,662 miles per year (about 37 miles per day), you may be able to drive for more than five years before you need to have your brake lines replaced.  Of course, how you drive is another factor. ...

Aye, laddies and lassies, that emerald day of craic (fun and enjoyment) tis near upon us here in McCullom Lake . Tis a time for frivolity and a tipping back a few cans of the black stuff ( Guinness ). While we wish you a grand Paddy’s Day, don’t count on the luck of the Irish alone to keep you from getting booted into priosún (jail) for driving while ar meisce (drunk). Such an event could cost you considerable airgead (money). But, otherwise, this tis the day to erin go bragh (show your allegiance to Ireland). Well, that’s probably enough of a hackneyed attempt at using the lingo of the Irish. While apologizing for anything that we’ve got wrong, we are very sincere about wishing you the happiest and safest possible St. Patrick’s Day . If you do intend to imbibe with significant gusto, you may want to arrange for someone else to do the driving. Having done so, you’re free to drink some Guiness, or some green beer to what, we hope, is a physically safe proportion. Of course, this is...

Hasn't your car, truck or SUV earned an oil change after all the heavy duty work it's done this Johnsburg winter? “Aaaaahhhhh!” Stop and take a big sigh of relief. No matter what the weather outside, no matter how long this Johnsburg winter will last, we know one thing for certain; we are on the downside of the winter of 2025-26. Worst case scenario, we’ll have another month of winter weather. But it’s going to come to an end. Spring is ready to spring even if it hasn’t quite sprung yet – even if winter has a surprise or two in store for us. And, so, you deserve to take a sigh of relief. You’ve earned it. You deserve some spring and then some summer. While you consider the well-deserved relief from the depths of winter, you might consider what your car, truck or SUV has earned. Your vehicle has fought its way through all the cold, ice, freezing rain and snow. On those cold, cold Johnsburg mornings or nights when you started the car, truck or SUV after it sat and got cold, yo...

McHenry winters can be tough on your car's transmission . What can you do to spare from really hard work? You’re trying to drive out of the snow but your tires are having trouble getting a grip on the pavement below. This is the kind of thing you’ve come to expect with a McHenry winter . But it doesn’t help your vehicle’s transmission any. Sitting in one place while the tires spin is hard on your transmission. Worse yet, going from an icy surface to clean pavement can be even worse. And we see plenty of that around here in McHenry when winter rolls into town. Think about it – there’s a patch of ice and then there’s exposed asphalt. If the tires are fighting to grab hold while you’re on that patch of ice, and then you finally hit the pavement, it can have a jarring effect on the car. While you may feel the transition from ice to pavement, your car’s transmission definitely feels it. From your transmission’s perspective, it’s like getting hit with something solid. Have you ever ru...

Those 4X4s are great for offroad and getting you started in the snow of a Wonder Lake winter. But they don't make much of a difference when you want to stop. The potential for adventure is resting in your Wonder Lake driveway waiting for your next offroad excursion. Of course, you drive that 4-wheeler on the roads and highways, too, right? And why wouldn’t you, especially when winter rolls through town. It doesn’t snow everyday of winter here in Wonder Lake. But it does snow often enough that your 4-wheel drive comes in handy (though we've had some warmer days lately, that doesn't mean we won't see anymore snow this winter). If you’ve got tires that will pull you through mud and over random trails, it’s certain those tires will do an admirable job pulling you through the snow. Then again, maybe you’ve got a 4X4 that isn’t built for that kind of adventure. You’ve got some reasonable meats on the four corners but nothing like those folks who see offroad trails as a ch...

Brushing up against your dirty car during this one reason to take your car to the carwash this McCullom Lake winter. But there are other reasons that a carwash will help to protect your vehicle. It’s winter here in McCullom Lake as you rush out to the car determined not to be late for that important date. You don’t notice until you get to your destination but, as you rushed to the car, you brushed up against it. Now, as you get out of the car, you notice that there is a broad patch of dirt on your overcoat and skirt. Over the course of a McCullom Lake winter, cars seem to take on a course coat of a semi-transparent grey. It’s actually a mix of residue from dried rain and snow, with a mix of dirt kicked up from the pavement, and roadsalt with a mix of other chemicals. If you brush against that chemically charged coat of dirt, you comes off easily on whatever makes contact. For the lady rushing to her car above, this is what she discovers on her clothes – an unsightly mess.  That’s...