[shovel]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

This is just wrong. Large, high-centered vehicles are not safe. See for instance here: Are S.U.V.’s More Dangerous Than Minivans? - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com Nor is 4WD safer in winter - ever watch some flatlander in their shiny new 4WD hit the brakes on a snowy road, and do 360s until they're out of sight?.

He already bought it. Berating his decision is not productive.

Also I have driven supposedly "dangerous" SUV's such as a ford bronco2, a mitsubishi montero, and two isuzu troopers - more than a combined million miles in every possible kind of condition in North America and not once did any of them roll over or even put me in danger. Maybe luck? Much more likely is that I keep the nut behind the wheel tight and don't drive them the same way I drive a sports car. 'tis a poor musician who blames the instrument.

Zjrog - as you probably are already aware, the A4LD is a failure prone transmission. To prolong its life, install an aftermarket transmission cooler and an auxilliary transmission filter. - plumb the cooling lines from the transmission to the filter (fluid still hot from trans so it goes through easy), then to aux cooler (so it looses a lot of heat) then to in-radiator cooler (so it doesn't get TOO cool, and so it warms up faster at startup) and then back to trans.

Increasing line pressure to shorten shift duration should help fuel efficiency a bit, with the reduced overlap.

I can't say enough good about synthetic ATF.. mmmmmmm damn i wish it was less expensive.