Toyota Owed an Apology by Consumer Reports

And from the mainstream media as well. Enough is enough, now they are being picked on. Toyota has faulty accelerator pedals and floor mats that are being recalled, that has been established and explained in my article here. What must first be clarified is that the problems caused unintended continued acceleration, not unintended acceleration. The pedals did not apply themselves. Now Consumer Reports gives a "Don't Buy: Safety Risk" because the stability control on two different 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUVs didn't activate at an acceptable level during intended induced oversteer (fishtailing). But no rollover!

CR tries to put this in perspective by stating, "No other SUV in recent years slid out as far as the GX 460". Allow me to put this in real world perspective, "Millions of vehicles on the road don't have stability control at all." Whether this is a sensor calibration or software issue, it doesn't matter. It's good to bring it to Toyota's attention, but it does not merit a "Don't Buy" rating. Not in the slightest. Oh, by the way, Toyota didn't encounter the problem during the vehicle development. And oddly, CR didn't have the problem with the Toyota 4Runner on the same platform.

It's bad enough there are calls to 911 instead of taking proper steps like shifting into neutral while continuously applying the brakes and then turning off the car. Now an organization that has been discredited in the past has done it again. I've written about trucks that have been lifted beyond the stock height that should be lowered, but this is an abomination in the opposite direction.

The bottom line is any vehicle can flip over during a high speed maneuver and striking an object. Apparently CR discovered a Lexus SUV can be drifted. Now that is an SUV that is fun to drive.

___________

Have a question about cars you would like answered? Want to know about performance, racing, modifying, shopping, makes, models, events, etc? Ask me here: AskRobAboutCars@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer your question and publish it here on Examiner.com!

Comments

The Ford Mustang GT350 and GT350R review

It’s the exhaust system. It’s an eye widening, amazing mechanical roar, both exotic and muscular at the same time. And that is in the Sport mode. In the standard mode, it’s a quiet cruiser and an excellent grand tourer. Comparisons to the BMW M4 are immediate and inevitable, it is that dialed in. Ford took the already very good Mustang platform and enhanced the suspension and drivetrain, and based on past drives of the current the model, the some interior bits as well. The 2016 Ford Mustang GT350 is Ford’s flat plane crankshaft V-8 answer to the Camaro Z/28 but is absolutely street friendly and less expensive. The non-R version has a starting MSRP $47,995. It features a 5.2 liter V-8 rated at 524hp at 7500 rpm and a healthy 429 lb-ft. torque at 4,750 rpm. The 8000rpm redline makes for a long, hard pull to redline. With the exhaust in the quiet mode, and 80mph cruise is as silent as the BMW 3-series. Styling takes the great lines of the current GT and adds more aggressive touches withou...

Sixth generation Camaro V6 review

Chevrolet updated the chassis of the Camaro for 2016 with the new Alpha platform and by all accounts the approximately 250 to 300lb weight reduction was a huge improvement. Despite having a brilliant chassis and three powerful engine choices, the interior and outward visibility hardly improved at all. I wanted to like this car, I really did. It has some really good aspects but overall it’s only good for going in a straight line, not reverse or backing up out of any parking space, on public roads or modified into a track-only car. You decide if the interior justifies a $29,000 MSRP. The 2017 model is essentially the same. The 335hp V-6 is a great engine, responsive, sounds good and with the quick shifting 8 speed automatic, the car is capable of mid-high 13 second quarter mile ETs. It feels every bit as quick as the numbers suggest. It has no appreciable dead spots and has an excellent pull. The 8 speed auto is finicky on the highway though, downshifting at the slightest provocatio...

The Absurdity of Fastrak and the HOV lanes

The state of California continues with the ridiculous HOV or High Occupancy Vehicle lanes that are intended for Electric Vehicles, hybrids with limited issue permission stickers, motorcycles and multiple occupant vehicles. As you can guess, eventually these lanes won’t move any quicker than other full access lanes. That’s how stupid they are. They are so poorly thought out that there are multiple scenarios that the system can be foiled. Of course, not everyone can use these lanes which I covered in a previous article here: http://cartruthblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/abolish-wasteful-and-unfair-hov-lanes.html so they are patently unfair. Now in the infinite wisdom of CalTrans and others, the Fastrak was introduced in order to charge a fee for solo riders who want to use the lanes. This meant adding sensors to detect vehicles but still no cameras for reading license plates. Of course cameras came next along with a revised Fastrak that has a switch to indicate how many passengers are in the ...

Review Your Cars

Search This Blog