Consumer Reports sees what happens when your floor mat sticks

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Filed under: Recalls, Safety, Technology

In the wake of Toyota's huge floor mat recall, theorists have come up with several survival strategies designed to overcome a throttle that's stuck wide-open. Putting some of these theories to the test - and debunking several myths in the process - is the team over at Consumer Reports.



With a large test track and a fleet of vehicles at their disposal, the magazine's engineers initially focused on the "just step hard on the brakes" method of bringing the car to a halt. Interestingly enough, CR tested a Mercedes-Benz E350 and a Volkswagen Jetta Wagon - both fitted with drive-by-wire "smart throttles" that are designed to ignore conflicting inputs (throttle and brake at the same time). CR reports that these cars simply shut down to idle and came safety to a stop. The story was a bit different with a Toyota Venza and Chevrolet HHR, however. When the brakes on those vehicles were firmly applied, their transmissions downshifted to fight the deceleration. The vehicles were both eventually brought to a stop after the first test. However, when the test was repeated on brakes that were already hot from the earlier test, both vehicles quickly suffered fade from their overheated brakes and were unable to come to a complete stop.



Consumer Reports' test proved that in these cases, the vehicle's braking system is stronger than the engine, but the advantage quickly fades as the brakes overheat. Their suggestion is to simply slide the transmission lever to neutral - removing the engine from the equation - and apply the brakes firmly. It was an action that was equally effective on all four vehicles. The CR team also explored shutting off the engine (turn the key or hold the Start/Stop button down for more than a few seconds). This method also worked well, but doing so killed the power steering pump and brake booster, making maneuvering much more difficult.



[Source: Consumer Reports | Image: George Heyer/Getty]]

Consumer Reports sees what happens when your floor mat sticks originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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