Some researchers are now blaming radioactive cosmic rays for unintended acceleration. Sounds fake? Well, believe it or not, there is some evidence to back it up.
Researchers believe that the some cosmic rays make it to the surface of earth and affect electronics. They think that if electronics are the cause of the unintended acceleration, although Toyota says otherwise, than these rays could be causing the electronic issues.
This issue was discovered during the 1950s at high altitude. Aircraft and spacecraft manufacturers install safeguards against such interference. In the 1970s, more research showed that some rays reach the surface and could affect small electronics, such as cell phones and computers. So maybe it could affect car electronics. However, though says that their electronics “are not the same as typical consumer electronics. The durability, size, susceptibility and specifications of the automotive electronics make them robust against this type of interference.”
The only way to test the theory is placing moving vehicles in front of particle accelerators and spraying them with radiation. There are companies out there which can do this, but Toyota will have to lend them the cars, and also hand them quite a big wad of cash for the test. We’ll have to wait and see whether or not they’re willing to do so.
The Mitsubishi Triton is a compact pickup truck produced by Mitsubishi Motors. It was originally known as the Mitsubishi Forte in Japan from 1978 to 1986, when the name was discontinued in favour of the Strada. For most export markets the name L200 is used, while Storm was used for Malaysia during the early 2000s. It was previously known as the Rodeo in South Africa until 2007. Cumulative sales of the first three generations now exceed 2.8 million units around the world.
The Toyota Hilux and Toyota Tacoma are compact pickup trucks built and marketed by the Toyota Motor Corporation. The Hilux name was adopted as a replacement for the Stout in 1969, and remains in use worldwide. In North America, the Hilux name was retired in 1976 in favor of Truck, Pickup Truck, or Compact Truck, until it was renamed the Tacoma in 1995. One popular option package, SR5 (Sport Rally 5-Speed), also became synonymous with the truck, even though it was used on other Toyota models as well. In 1984, the Trekker, the camper version of the Hilux, was changed to the 4Runner in Australia and North America, and as the Hilux Surf in Japan. The 4Runner is now a full SUV, and the more recent models do not resemble the Tacoma.
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
Length x Width x Height
Strada: 5000 mm x 1800 mm x 1780 mm Hilux: 5255 mm x 1835 mm x 1810 mm
Wheelbase
Strada: 3000 mm Hilux: 3085 mm
Ground Clearance
Strada: 205 mm Hilux: 212 mm
Gross Vehicle Weight Strada: 2570
Hilux: 2790
Curb Weight Strada: 1850 kg
Hilux: 1880 kg
Minimum Turning Radius Strada: 5.9 m
Hilux: 6.5 m
Fuel Tank Capacity
Strada: 75 l Hilux: 76 l
Steering Capacity
Strada: 5 pax
Hilux: 5 pax
ENGINE
Model & Type
Strada: 2.5 Liter Intercooled Turbocharged Direct Injection Diesel (4D56)
Washington stands accused of launching a self-serving witch hunt into Toyota’s spectacular fall from grace — thanks, in part, to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who warned Americans to stop driving all recalled Toyota vehicles before facts forced him to admit his advice was unwarranted. Indeed, with support from the governors of Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Mississippi, which all house Toyota plants, more than a few observers now wonder if public ownership of General Motors and Chrysler influenced the decision to hold congressional hearings into Toyota’s product woes.
Whatever the case, attitudes toward Toyota are clearly harsher in the States than Canada. (In this country, sales actually jumped 25% last month, despite federal rumblings about the need for a political probe.) “When people were dying from tampered Tylenol in the ’80s,” says American business professor Scott Testa, who teaches at Cabrini College in Philadelphia, “Johnson & Johnson pulled the product and gave everybody money back. And they stopped advertising. But I am still seeing ads for Toyota minivans. That’s insanity.”
Toyota is desperate to convince a congressional committee that dangerous bouts of uncontrolled acceleration in its cars are the result of mechanical problems, not computer glitches. That’s because a faulty floor mat or a sticky gas pedal can be replaced. If the problem turns out to be electronic, Toyota is going to face a more difficult problem, both in the vehicle and in the minds of consumers.
The car maker understands this, which is why its worked long and hard to make this issue a mechanical problem. The company recently bragged that it saved over $100 million in 2007 by negotiating a recall of “defective” floor mats rather than thoroughly investigating electronic problems. Now the ghost in the machine has resurfaced, and those savings are coming back to haunt them.
From 2001 to 2005, Lexus offered the IS in a wagon variant, called SportCross. Sadly, the following generation didn’t inherit this variant. However, Autocar reports that the next generation IS will be offered in a wagon variant.
The IS needs something to fight wagon competitors from the likes of BMW and Audi. The loss of wagon variant has hurt sales in Europe, so this move makes perfect sense.
It is also being reported that the next-gen IS will only be offered in hybrid form due to Lexus’ push towards hybrid technology. It’s unknown how this will affect the prospect of an IS F successor. However, it doesn’t sound like a very good idea to me, IS F or not.
The third-generation IS is due in 2011, so we’ll find out the truth soon enough. Hopefully it won’t be hybrid only, but I’m definitely looking forward to the wagon. IS F SportCross anyone?
We’ve all seen the news stories. Many of Toyota’s models had what I guess one could refer to as defective carpeting. When drivers were holding the throttle wide open, it would stay that way when they took their foot off. 4.2 million vehicles were recalled to have the floor mats replaced, and another 2.4 million cars were recalled to have a shim installed behind the gas pedal.
What I’m finding annoying with this whole story is how people and the media are reacting. The issue is know as Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) and is nothing new in the automotive industry. Audi faced similar problems with the ‘82-’87 models of the Audi 5000. In the last decade, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received 24 000 customer complaints regarding SUA involving almost every manufacturer. Very few of these cases were actual mechanical or electronic issues. It seems stupid, but many cases were most likely caused by driver error. To put it in other terms, confused individuals pressing the gas when they wanted to press the brake.
The other thing that gets on my nerves in this whole story is people wanting to make some money out of Toyota’s unfortunate situation. You might have heard of Jim Sikes by now, the guy who allegedly experienced SUA in his 2008 Toyota Prius on an interstate in San Diego, California. Obviously, the media made a huge circus of this, immediately pointing fingers at Toyota. We now know that Mr. Sikes has a history of suspicious behavior. For example, he recently filed for bankruptcy and gave the house to the bank, but his entire kitchen just happened to have been stolen. He attempted to defraud his own insurance company of $60 000, tiwce.
Toyota and the NHTSA investigated and could not explain the events. The Prius has a double redundant accelerator system, and if any irregularities pop up, they register in the onboard computer and the check engine light will come on. Yet in Toyota’s investigation report, they state “There were no diagnostic trouble codes found in the power management computer, nor was the dashboard malfunction indicator light activated.” When Sikes was on the phone with the 911 operator, she instructed him many times to put the car in neutral and apply the brakes, or to push the engine on button and hold it for three seconds to automatically cut the engine. All of these systems worked on Sikes’ Prius when tested, and as seen in the video below, applying the brakes should stop the car. It’s now been declared a hoax by just about every party involved, except Mr. Sikes himself, who still stands by his story and says he’s not after a lawsuit. Yeah…
Rocky walked out to his Lexus Sunday morning and discovered that all four windows mysteriously opened overnight. This posed a problem because an overnight monsoon left the seats, carpet and dashboard badly soaked. Even the cupholders were holding water (without cups).
“Unintended acceleration gets all the attention, but unintended ventilation is far more insidious,” thought Rocky as he diligently wiped the seats with a trove of Trophy Wife’s dish towels. “At least with unintended acceleration, you can shift into neutral or turn off the engine.”
Since the outside temperature was in the high 30’s, Rocky did not open the windows intentionally. And because he keeps the passenger windows in “locked mode,” he could not have accidentally confused the door-lock and down-window buttons when exiting.
Other than an electronic problem, the best explanation is that Rocky sat on his key fob in an odd way. Rocky knew that if he pressed the key fob “unlock button” for 5 continous seconds, all of the windows opened. How could this happen? Rocky did not wear his trousers to bed, nor did he engage in any contortionist exercises. The only explanation is that Rocky “bent over,” as he occasionally must do.
[Disclosure: Rocky intends to contact the National Highway Safety Administration and lodge a complaint. Perhaps then Toyota will issue a key fob safety recall -- which will prevent unintended ventilation from ruining more fine wool suits and silk jackets -- as these fine garments are pressed against soaked leather seats.]
Recently Drove my Jza61 MK2 at a Private track night, came home on a tilt tray and rolled in to the back yard which accidentally set it up for some team shots of the Obscurity crew.
There running a similar paint scheme atm. Bumper black bumpers and silver paint, although the supra is still its factory color and in need of a new paint job bad! Once I build some steel fenders and straighten some dints out.
The daily of the team, the K11 Micra. If only this thing was FR!
Some future Projects in the background. My C110 Yonmeri skyline and a B110 Datsun sunny sedan.
With every good automotive blog there should be some cool cars behind it. These might not be complete just yet but are slowly getting there.
The first in a continuing series about the ongoing Toyota recalls.
Orange County DA Tony Rackauckas
California Orange County’s District Attorney, Tony Rackauckas, has sued the U.S. sales department of Toyota Motor Corp. for deceptive business practices earlier today. Rackauckas, in the suit, alleges that Toyota sold thousands of cars when they knew the vehicles had problems with the accelerator and hid the defect from consumers. Filed under the Unfair Business Practices Act, the suit is asking for a fine of $2,500 per breach. The suit also seeks to keep Toyota from selling further defective cars.
“We demand to know: Did Toyota, in their relentless pursuit to become the No. 1 carmaker in the United States, put profits over people?” Rackauckas asked in a USA Today article.
Toyota has been hit by dozens of civil and class-action lawsuits over the past several months since the company recalled over 8 million cars worldwide due to faulty accelerators. CBS has estimated the total cost of the lawsuits may total over $3 billion.
However, this action represents the first time a county or state has filed suit against the troubled car company, and could be the most dangerous suit yet. A successful lawsuit by Orange County could open up possibilities from lawsuits from other states.
Because of the California suit, Toyota may face even more legal pressure from Connecticut, where earlier this week three Toyota Camrys sped out of control and crashed in separate incidents. An elderly man was killed in one of the accidents.
Two of the vehicles, both 2007 Camrys, were under recall, while the third vehicle is reportedly a 2006 Camry.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has already begun an investigation into Toyota’s response to the crashes. Depending on that investigation, Connecticut may be the next state to press charges against the world’s number one car manufacturer.
Toyota is also under investigation by the House Oversight Committee and a Federal Grand Jury for it’s response to car crashes.
NEW YORK (AP) – For the want of a better two-second picture of a tachometer, ABC News has called into question its reporting on acceleration problems with Toyota vehicles.
The network’s handling of a Feb. 22 “World News” story about potential problems with computer systems in Toyotas has created ethical questions and intensified bitter feelings the besieged automaker already had toward ABC.
ABC has admitted to a misjudgment and swapped out the brief dashboard video in its report, which continues to be available online. Its story illustrated a report by David Gilbert, a Southern Illinois University professor who suggested that a design flaw in Toyotas might leave a short-circuit that could cause sudden acceleration undetected by the car’s computer system.
Correspondent Brian Ross’”World News” report showed him driving a Toyota with Gilbert that was rigged to quickly accelerate. Even though he knew it was coming, Ross said the incident left him shaken, and he had a hard time getting the car to come to a stop.
Briefly during the drive, ABC cut to a picture of a tachometer with the needle zooming forward. The impression was that the tachometer was documenting the ride Ross was taking. Instead, that picture was taken from a separate instance where a short-circuit was induced in a parked car.
ABC said that editing was done because it was impossible to get a good picture of the tachometer while the car was moving because the camera was shaking. The camera shot was steady when it was taken in a parked car.
“The tachometer showed the same thing every time,” said ABC News spokeswoman Emily Lenzner.
Toyota spokesman John Hanson disputes that, saying tachometers react much more dramatically when short-circuits happen in a parked car than a car that is moving. Tachometers measure engine speed.
It all points to problems that are created when visual journalists try to alter reality in order to get a better picture.
“Anytime you give the audience any reason to doubt the honesty of the piece, that’s a serious problem,” said Charlotte Grimes, a Syracuse University journalism professor who specializes in ethical issues.
“Do they honestly think that a company like Toyota, with all the resources that it has, would not be looking at these things?” Grimes asked.
Toyota recognized the differences right away: the shot showed the car’s speedometer was at zero, the parking brake was on and no one was using the seat belts – while Ross wore one on the test drive, Hanson said. Online discussion of the differences began almost immediately, and the Web site Gawker.com wrote about it last week.
ABC edited the online version of its story shortly after that story appeared and wrote a note on its Web site explaining why.
“This was a misjudgment made in the editing room,” Lenzner said. “They should have left the shaky shot in. But I want to make clear that the two-second shot that was used did not change the outcome of the report in any way.”
The inserted tachometer shot still didn’t specifically illustrate Ross’ ride. It was from another ride made in order to create different camera angles. A camera person could not have captured the tachometer shot with Ross and Gilbert both in the car, Lenzner said.
Toyota’s Hanson said it was next to impossible for the short circuit detailed by Gilbert to happen in real life. The automaker, which had to recall many of its cars because of problems associated with a depressed gas pedal, held a news conference on Monday to try and refute Gilbert’s study. It depicted similar short circuits in other cars, none of which were detected by the vehicles’ computer system.
Gilbert did not return phone or e-mail messages for comment, and a woman who answered the phone at his home said he was unavailable.
Hanson said he wished Toyota could have been invited to see the simulation conducted by ABC. “Simulation” is a word that brings back tough memories for TV networks: NBC’s news president lost his job in 1993 after it was revealed that for a “Dateline NBC” study about alleged safety problems with General Motors trucks, the network rigged a truck with small explosives for a story. Lenzner said it was ridiculous to compare a two-second tachometer shot to the NBC case.
She said Toyota was given a chance to comment on the story the day it was aired.
“It was not like ABC was trying to alter the footage,” she said. “There was no staging. There was no dramatization. It was an editing mistake.”
Even before this report, relations between Toyota and ABC were on edge. More than 100 Toyota dealerships in the Southeast had agreed last month to pull advertising on local ABC affiliated because they were angry with Ross’ aggressive reporting on the automaker’s problems.
The car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show last week, but until recently the company insisted that the compact hybrid would only be sold in Europe. According to Automotive News, Lexus executives pleaded with Japan to bring to the car to the US—partly in hopes that the smaller Lexus would appeal to a younger demographic. “When the all-new Lexus CT 200h enters the market it will be the only hybrid vehicle in the emerging premium compact segment,” said Mark Templin, Lexus Division group vice president and general manager.
“There are no plans, at present, to bring this vehicle to the U.S.,” said Toyota spokesman Curt McAllister in response to an e-mail query from IL.
The hybrid is expected to go on sale in Europe, but Lexus has yet to spell out a timetable for launch of what it calls “a new gateway model” to Toyota’s upscale brand.
Few details were released about the CT 200h, with Lexus only saying that it will be equipped with second-generation Lexus Hybrid Drive technology. The teaser image shows a vehicle that seems to put a premium on curves and high style, at least judging from the rear-end shot.
CT 200h will make its US debut at the 2010 New York Auto Show later this month. Production begins in late 2010. The car could go on sale in the US sometime in 2011.
The company has not published performance details, but they do say that the motor is “powerful.” Nickel-metal hydride is used for the high voltage battery. Power is sent to the front wheels via a electrically-controlled contiuously variable transmission, or E-CVT for short.
The car remains a sleek five-door, just like the concept. It has sporty overhangs at the front and back, and a well-placed rear spoiler. The car looks to have LED rear lighting. At 4,320mm long, the car is 140mm shorter than the Toyota Prius. The Lexus is 1,765mm wide by 1,430mm high; 20mm x 50mm less than the Prius. It rides on 17-inch alloy wheels, and features McPherson/front- and double wishbone rear suspension.
Lexus wants to use this car to prove that full hybrids do not have to be boring drives. They claim the car has “superior handling agility” to suit their customers’ wishes, and three driving modes (Eco, Normal, and Sport) to adjust to different situations. Again, Lexus remained vague about sprint times, overtake ability, and top speed.
Crack the secret code of how IT departments really work and what makes IT professionals tick.
Why can’t operational managers ever get what they really want from IT? Why is the relationship so fraught with frustration from all parties? IT managers and business leaders simply don’t understand each other, the way they think, the pressures they face and the goals they are trying to achieve. Enter Susan Cramm, the prospective Deborah Tannen of the Business-IT relationship.
Personality-wise, if men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then the IT people are from Microsoft and their business partners are from Apple. In spite of great effort to become more business-smart, line and IT managers have very different backgrounds and experiences which make it difficult to communicate what they do and why and how they do it. Different pressures and incentives further increase the difficulty of forming positive IT-business relationships. While line managers need to ‘get ‘er done now’ to support the needs of their function or units (or pay the price in terms of near term business results and bonuses), IT managers need to ‘get ‘er done right’ to support the longer term needs of the enterprise (or pay the price in terms of fragmented, fragile systems.)
The key to reconciling these and other differences is to figure out how to manage the paradox. If you want to get what you want from IT, you need to shift your perspective and look through the eyes of your IT partners. Doing so will allow you to develop a single version of ‘truth’ and give you the insight necessary to change the relationship for the better.
Similarly, this book will help dispel the notion that managers can ‘hand off’ their IT responsibility to the IT organization and will provide the tools to incorporate the management of IT into their daily leadership agenda and repertoire. Business leaders should assume accountability for IT, much as they have assumed accountability for the management of the financial and human resource asset and build the necessary capabilities into their organization.
The core ideas in this book also promise to have applicability to managing other relationships between business units and specialized service providers. Think supply-chain management, or better yet, graphic design.
About the Author
Susan Cramm is the founder and president of Valuedance. Susan Cramm is a recognized industry expert on information technology leadership. She has helped pioneer the field of IT leadership coaching through her passion and gifts for developing others, as well as her keen insights regarding IT leadership, which are derived from extensive research and years serving in executive level positions. She has worked with executives from a number of Fortune Global 200 clients, including Toyota, Sony and Time Warner. Susan’s experience makes a difference and her clients describe her as ‘insightful’, ‘motivational’, ‘practical’, ‘tough’, ‘committed’ and ‘invaluable’. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and, since 2000, has authored the monthly “Executive Coach” column for CIO magazine.
Susan is the former CFO and executive vice president at Chevy’s Mexican Restaurants. She joined Chevy’s in 1994 to assist in the development of a nationwide Mexican ‘cantina style’ restaurant concept and assumed responsibility for finance, business strategy, restaurant development, franchising and legal functions. Prior to Chevy’s, Cramm worked with the Taco Bell Corporation and held the positions of CIO and vice president of the Information Technology Group and Senior Director for Financial and Strategic Planning.
Susan received her master’s degree in management from Northwestern University, specializing in finance, marketing and quantitative methods and her BA from University California, San Diego, summa cum laude, specializing in management and computer science.
Mace Engineering Group was started in 2006 .MACE Engineering Group are an aftermarket performance parts company designing performance parts for holdens,fords,nissans and toyota’s. And now distributes to major companies and sells all around the world.
At Mace Engineering Group we pride ourselves on quality aftermarket parts and the excellent service that we provide to all of our customers. We understand that all of our customers have different needs and we strive to provide them with exactly what they need.
Toyota and Exponent have provided Professor David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University with the results of their thorough evaluations of his demonstration of apparent “unintended acceleration” in Toyota and Lexus vehicles as described in his Preliminary Report and in his testimony at recent Congressional hearings. In evaluating Professor Gilbert’s claims, Exponent also analyzed the footage of Professor Gilbert’s appearance on ABC News on February 22, 2010.
Toyota has also supplied the results of these evaluations to the appropriate Congressional Committees. The analysis of Professor’s Gilbert’s demonstration establishes that he has reengineered and rewired the signals from the accelerator pedal. This rewired circuit is highly unlikely to occur naturally and can only be contrived in a laboratory. There is no evidence to suggest that this highly unlikely scenario has ever occurred in the real world. As shown in the Exponent and Toyota evaluations, with such artificial modifications, similar results can be obtained in other vehicles.
Toyota Evaluates Unintended Acceleration Complaints in Remedied Vehicles
Brake Override System Operation Explained
TORRANCE, Calif., March 4, 2010 – Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., has received verifiable information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about some vehicles whose owners have reported unintended acceleration after receiving the accelerator pedal recall remedies. As soon as Toyota received the vehicle owner information from NHTSA, it moved quickly to evaluate the vehicles and interview the owners.
Although most of these reports have yet to be verified, Toyota has been and remains committed to investigating all reported incidents of sudden acceleration in its vehicles quickly. Toyota wants to hear directly from its customers about any problems they are experiencing with their vehicles.
The results of the evaluations have been submitted to NHTSA for review. Though these reports involve a tiny fraction of the more than one million vehicles dealers have repaired to date, Toyota takes them extremely seriously.
As NHTSA is now reviewing the results of our evaluations, it is inappropriate for Toyota to provide specific information about the company’s conclusions. However, the evaluations have found no evidence of a failure of the vehicle electronic throttle control system, the recent recall remedies or the brake override system.
It is important to note that many complaints submitted to NHTSA either are unverifiable or lack the vehicle owner information required to facilitate follow-up. Nonetheless, Toyota is quickly investigating verifiable complaints of unintended acceleration and doing everything it can to ensure that our customers are confident in their vehicles and the remedies.
About the Brake Override System
The brake override system is designed to stop the vehicle when the brake pedal is firmly pressed in cases in which acceleration is caused by mechanical interference with the accelerator pedal.
However, if the brake pedal is released, while there is still mechanical interference with the pedal, the vehicle may again accelerate. Therefore, once the vehicle brought to a safe stop, the transmission gear selector should be put into neutral or park position before turning off the engine. In this case, drivers are asked to contact their nearest Toyota dealer.
For practical reasons, the brake override system does not engage if the brake pedal is pressed before the accelerator pedal. For example, this allows for vehicles starting on a steep hill to safely accelerate without rolling backwards. Also, while the brake override system is engaged, if the brake pedal is released or if the accelerator pedal moves more than a certain amount, the brake override system will disengage in order to give precedence to the driver intention.
The brake override system does not engage when the vehicle moves at speeds less than approximately five miles per hour, at which point the vehicle can be stopped safely.