And now, another blow:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lexus14-2010apr14,0,5710692.story
"Lexus GX is a 'Don't Buy' for shoppers, Consumer Reports says
The magazine, which for years has recommended most Toyota vehicles, says the Lexus GX 460 SUV is susceptible to a rollover accident. Toyota says it is 'mystified by the results' of the report."
Jeez, a tall SUV may roll over when being whipped back in forth like it's in a D1 competition? No berkeleying e36m3.
I hate the fact that most new cars are designed for the most incompetent drivers among us.
Oh, and in before another Toyota, "Won't somebody please think of the children!" campaign.
Thats dumb. Its an SUV. Of course its susceptible to rollovers. I hate consumer reports.
As much as I'm enjoying watching Toyota getting called to the mat for making crap that's gone on for far too long.....this is just retarded. It's a tall, heavy SUV. Heaven forbid you have to actually show some driving skill with it.
OMGz... it doesn;'t drive itself for you? Oh noez...WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
Whee, it's the Isuzu Trooper all over again!
I don't understand how Consumer Reports still has any credibility at all. Sheesh.
^ Geo Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick?
^ 2000 Ford Exploder (have one)
My apologies on the exlpoder... and it has nothing to do with the rollover part! 
The article said that they slid the SUV sideways several times. I'm thinking if you can slide the thing sideways on dry pavement it must do a pretty good job of staying shiny side up. They said you might flip it if you hit a curb or slide off the road at exit ramp speeds. Duh. I wonder what they would say about the Honda Civic I watched roll on a bridge the other day.
I can't see following Consumer Retarded recommendation on anything. Toyota probably just forgot to mail the kick back check this month.
^ Agreed. They're almost as big of scam artists as most of the 'tards in Washington.
Of course an SUV will rollover. Hell, they usually give you pictorial instructions on the back of the sunvisor.
What's interesting to me is that in the past, CR has been able to show footage of SUVs with at least a wheel lifted up. With the Lexus, they have "concluded" that it is a rollover risk just because it gets a bit tail-happy before the stability control kicks in. They state that the vehicle gets "almost" sideways. 
Doesn't sound like anyone even lost control.
While I might agree that Toyota should be (and is) investigating why one vehicle behaves so differently than another model built on the same chassis, I think there is more magazine selling drama here than anything else.
I'm watching the news last night and I see Toyota getting pummeled again. So I think to myself, it must be really bad... Then I see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T34fsDdVH8M
I don't know about you guys but this is the most impressive humungo SUV going sideways I've seen in a long time. WTF is CR talking about?! They have built so much credibility on knowing E36M3 about cars. They appeal to the person who knows even less than they do.
Please tell me if a single one of you watches that video and says "wow that thing is a danger to roll over". I hate the news and there pathetic witch hunts...
What, exactly, is the idea? That if you ease the rear out with the throttle, a "safe" vehicle will cut the power? Gary McCoy can do this on a GP bike.
The video they showed on the news here this morning showed someone trying like hell to roll one and all they were doing was making tire smoke. I guess if you were making alot of tight turns and had the throttle open itself it would roll, but atleat you would be stopped once it turttled, unless it rolled all the way and kept going until it rolled again or hit a solid object. Actualy that might be kinda funny if it kept rolling uncontroled until it ran out of gas or parts. Not if I was in it but certainly funny to read about afterward.
Total BS, show a video of it rolling or it didn't happen.
I think they should stop selling Corvettes. If you are going 100 mph out of control, slide sideways into a curb perfectly placed in the middle of the highway it MAY roll.
If fact, it is irresponsible for any manufacturer to sell any vehicle. It is theorized that they may roll over. PEOPLE GIVE ALL YOUR VEHICLES BACK! THEY ARE UNSAFE!
Man I'll bet all the people that bought Toyota's based on Consumer Reports are having mental issues right now. Their heads are probably on the verge of exploding. First taking the 8 models off the "Recommended" list and now this.
I can't stand CR for the record, but I can imagine most people that buy plain vanilla Toyotas love them.
I guess the logic is that if you understeer you will just drive straight off the road over the curb instead of clipping it with your rear wheel and rolling. I kept going back to the first view of the vehicle sliding and they conveniently left out the second or two before the slide. Hiding a Scandinavian flick maybe?
BTW-I was VERY impressed with the bit utes composure.
MrJoshua wrote: BTW-I was VERY impressed with the bit utes composure.
+1
But, I don't know if I would agree that a vehicle that understeers is any less likely to roll than one that oversteers. In an understeer condition/situation, wouldn't the face of the (front) wheel be somewhat parallel to whatever the driver is trying to steer away from? Wouldn't this result in an impact rather than the wheel rolling over a curb. If this is true, wouldn't the resultant impact be just as likely to roll the vehicle?
In reply to carzan:
I think in the understeering scenario you would be trying for flip the vehicle in a mostly end over end or cartwheeling fashion, during oversteer the vehicle would be more sideways and the force would be pushing it towards a barrel roll. A barrel roll should be waaaay easier to achieve. Whether over or understeer is safer, I am still not convinced that the truck is the tail happy vehicle they proclaim it to be. I am a bit surprised if Toyota's stability control allows the engine to see throttle during a slide on that particular vehicle. It is possible they intentionally entered a corner too quickly, manipulated the vehicle into a slide, and just slid to a stop with no throttle or brakes. I didn't see brake lights so maybe the stability control system doesn't mess with anything unless you are on the gas or brakes?
CR's whole point is that the stability control system should have taken control and prevented the slide. My only issue with that would be if they hadn't done the same thing with other SUVs ( I don't know whether they did ,or not). The system is there to protect people who can't control a vehicle like most of us think we can, and it didn't prevent the slide. I'm impressed that the big hulk actually slides, but that should only be happening if the stability control system is deliberately turned off. If my wife were driving I'd want it to intervene and it clearly didn't.
In some situations, the only thing you can do to stop a slide is unwind the steering wheel. Please dear god don't let the government grab onto that brilliant idea and decide the car needs to do it for us.
DeadSkunk wrote: If my wife were driving I'd want it to intervene and it clearly didn't.
I guess I'm just lucky that my wife knows how to drive and prefers (like me) to not have the expensive to maintain nanny devices. She's ofthe same opinion that people need to put the phone down, put the makeup away, stop yelling at the kids and LEARN TO DRIVE THE DAMM CAR.
Don't they still teach people to turn into a slide in drivers ed? I know they did when I took it.
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