Now that winter is over, maybe (considering these wild fluctuations of heat and cold), and road crews are out filling potholes, you might want to consider taking a look at the suspension and steering on your vehicle. Midwestern winters are particularly rough on automobiles and, this past winter, probably more so than most.“Winters in northern Illinois can really play havoc on your car’s chassis,”

Business took me down from Woodstock to areas south of Chicago last week. For those down that way, if you’re not familiar with Woodstock, we’re just beyond the Sacred Elephant Graveyard. In other words, we’re a bit off the beaten track.While casually cruising southbound on Highway 355 in my father’s Lincoln I suddenly smelled something akin to burning rubber as I saw a sign for the Route 34

Most people in the area know Denny Norton as the owner of Performance Unlimited, the auto repair shop at 5415 Austin Court, Ringwood, that keeps their cars safely on the roads. A few years back, however, it was just as common to see Norton behind the wheel of a stock car or monster truck. Norton made a name for himself as a competitive driver in the region.April 23 and 24, Norton returned to competitive

Potluck is usually a term reserved for a dietary smorgasbord where everyone contributes. Pot luck, on the other hand, in terms of winter driving in these parts, refers to how well your suspension avoided the harsh pratfalls of potholes in the recently past winter. In fact, many of those dastardly road sores are still out there waiting for road crews to apply a little mix of asphalt road cure. The

These Merry Men don’t wear green tights and swing from tree to tree in Sherwood Forest. These Merry Men drive lemons and, April 16 and 17, at Gingerman Raceway near South Haven, MI, they’ll drive lemons for a good cause – to raise funds for the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Fund.March 11, the northeast coast of Japan was pounded by a massive Tsunami after a 9.0 submerged earthquake occurred

Joe Fischer, a fabricator working with chassis for Performance Unlimited, (address), Ringwood, laughed, “Once you get me talking about cars it’s hard to get me to stop.”It wasn’t just the incredible depth of knowledge Fischer brought to Performance Unlimited’s Tech Presentation Sunday where racers and fans of the sport learned the fine art of fine tuning suspensions and steering for maximum

Performance Unlimited is not affiliated with NASCAR, Richard Childress Racing or the No. 27 Menards Chevrolet currently ranked sixth in Sprint Cup with Paul Menard at the wheel. No one from NASCAR is expected to attend the event Sunday. However, Denny Norton, of Performance Unlimited shares one thing with the people who compete at the NASCAR level; he understands that competitive racing doesn’t

Denny Norton, of Performance Unlimited, 5415 Austin Court, Ringwood, knows cars. His team of qualified mechanics constantly attends classes to keep their skills up to date. There is no one in the area better prepared to ensure that your car is properly maintained and operating at peak performance. However, Denny and the men at Performance Unlimited also know a thing or two about high performance automobiles.“We’ll

You’re driving down the highway when the car hiccups. It hiccups again. Suddenly, though you’re depressing the accelerator further, the car is slowing. You turn the wheels to the right and coast through the slush until you come to a stop on the side of a quiet road in the country.This is no time to start making an emergency list. The answer to emergencies is preparation; you need a plan. And any

Before a pilot leaves the ground he or she is required to complete a safety checklist. It’s really a great idea as pilots generally prefer to notice a problem with the plane’s controls or a leaky fuel tank before they become airborne. But, for the pilots, completing the checklist is not optional. In a sense, it’s not optional for operators of automobiles.Consider what happens when you’re pulled