Toyota: Floor Mats Absolutely, Positively, 100% Certainly the Problem
Not taking a page out of Audi’s playbook, Toyota has decided that the best defense is a strong offense. The risk of the accelerator getting jammed is strictly a problem of unintended loose or ill-fitting floor mats, according to Toyota Bob Carter, general manager of the Toyota-brand division of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Letters are on the way to owners of certain Toyota and Lexus models warning them about the errant mats as part of a safety recall. More certainty after the jump:
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@ gimmeamanual .... because with all the input sensors modern vehicles have, I would expect there are other ways to combine the data to work out that positive control has been lost. No vacuum assist, maybe, but maximum brake pedal force can/is detected.
Am I the only one sitting here thinking that the brakes in these Toyotas are inadequate for the weight and power of the vehicles? I've built a lot of very fast/powerful cars, and first on the list of upgrades are the brakes. But I'm just a backyard engineer, my shit stops though...
@PeteMoran, No argument that it can't be improved, my comment was about singling out Toyota as having done something wrong with their brake system when other cars would react the same way. @KeithBates, It isn't the brakes themselves, it's the system and how it works. The brakes are adequate for the weight and power of the vehicle as long as there is sufficient vacuum. When the vacuum runs out, you'd need an oak tree for a leg and swept area the size of a trashcan lid to fight acceleration.
@gimmeamanual No, it's not the "system and how it works". The brakes are inadequate for the weight and power, period. The vacuum system should include a check valve between the source and the booster. That should allow you to stop the vehicle even with the engine off. The engine was running away, the brakes should have stopped it... Period.