If your 'work day' extends past when you leave the office, I feel sorry for you. I am very clear with my employers about that issue and they are cool with that. So far as I am concerned, taking work home with you is okay *if* you are 'on call' or if they pay you for the extra time for 'working' after hours.

The 'American' work ethic is really fucked up. It is one of the things that is seriously wrong with America...

That's why I stopped flying as well.

Agreed.

As are you.

^c

Absolutely. I did a fair amount of rally driving with my Forester. Doing the ALCAN 5000 next year in my FJ40. I believe that it's the first FJ40 entered since the rally started many years ago. Of course, there is a VW 'Thing' entered next year as well. Too cool.

4WD systems include a (generally) manual shift transfer case that puts power to the front axle. In my case I also have manual locking front hubs (really old school here) The transfer case has three settings: 2WD (rear), 4WD high for driving in dirt and snow and ice, and 4WD low for when you need extra torque for steep hills or pulling. Because the power split is 50/50 front rear, handling can be a bit strange for the uninitiated.

In the AWD systems, you have a center differential along with the normal front & rear diffs. Some of them are electronically controlled to split the power asymmetrically and some are fixed. The asymmetric ones are more common. They provide excellent handling in pretty much all driving conditions and most drivers would not be able to tell if it was AWD at all.

The problem with the Subaru (and perhaps others) is that the tires need to be close to the same diameter on all four tires. Prolonged driving on an undersized spare can cause serious damage to the center differential. It is recommended to replace all tires at the same time. If you can not afford to, then 'shaving' the new tire down to match the older tires is recommended. I always rotated my tires through the spare so if I ever had a flat, the spare was always close enough to the driving tire diameter so that I had no worries. That being said, I only had one flat in the eight years that I owned the Forester. I have rolled the bead during rally races though.

  It is also pretty much instant death to the center differential to tow the car on a car dolly or with a conventional tow truck. The safest way to tow a Subaru (and perhaps other AWD vehicles) is on a flat bed. It is sometimes permissible to tow the Subaru with ALL 4 wheels on the ground (I.E. behind a motor home), you should consult the owners manual for your specific vehicle - there are differences between auto and manual transmissions..

Over the years, I have driven pretty much all types - rear wheel (VW's mostly), front wheel, all wheel (Subaru - Oh yeah!), and 4-wheel. (Yes, there is a difference).

The FJ40 is very much like the Volkwagons, excepting that they are way top heavy. It's a HEAVY 4WD for its size (over 4,000 lbs), and a relatively light rear end. It has a habit of breaking loose on wet roads in the turns (much like my '69 VW Camper. Have to be pretty careful. My 2004 Subaru Forester simply could not give a damn about the road conditions - it was just completely predictable (after I disabled the anti-lock break system). My old '69 VW Square Back was very predictable and drifted like a freaking dream. Believe it or not, it out handled many of the heavier American muscle cars. Not all that fast (top speed of about 100mph), but on mountain roads it was freaking awesome.

It's all old school for me now.

The golden rules:
Know your limits
Know your vehicles performance limits
Know your vehicles foot print on the pavement.

My Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser weighs in at over 4,000 lbs. 3,427 lbs stock curb weight + another 600 (+/- 50lbs) of off-road accessories.

41 years old and getting 16 city and 22+ on the highway. Best ever was 25mpg.

Perhaps it the batteries...

That's 125 stone. Not plural.

Fixed that for you.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with rear wheel drive. (unless you don't know how to drive to begin with)

will never be abused.

Fixed that for you.

I worked for a company the built medical diagnostic (EEG & ECG) and treatment (TENS) equipment. We had a few prototype stimulation units that one salesman had the bright idea of connecting up to his brain. It's output was really limited (on the order of a few micro amps) using electrodes attached to his ear-lobes. Turn it on with a low frequency sine wave (1 - 2 Hz) and watch the fun. It was interesting to watch his eyes scan back and forth like a Cylon. The sign wave was super-imposed on the normal impulses, so he could still direct his eyes, but really funny if he was trying to keep his eyes focused on one thing.

I have no doubt that he was doing damage along the way (but hell, he was only a salesman). He claimed that it made him feel high. The stupid bastard was even driving his car with the thing hooked up.

However, you can have all manor of fun with a good TENS unit.

Wow.