PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Yup.

Never saw the brake lights.

Only in the end...

LeX2K

This is the same old story, driver panics and their brain shuts down. Supposedly nothing works, can't take the car out of drive, can't turn the engine off. But mysteriously nothing can be found wrong with the car. Why? Because nothing WAS wrong. It says the cops had to disconnect the battery to get the engine to stop. Firstly will that even kill the engine? Secondly, why does no one seem to know how a push button start works?

Or maybe the button needs a label that says START/STOP. Push and hold 3 seconds to stop.

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

My brakes on my GS350 will not stop you if you were going 20mph and was to floor the gas pedal and then brake pedal. I got over 300 horse power and a 4 pot bbk in the front. So yea..................

IS350jet

Since the run-a-way Toyota debacle, it has been proven over and over again that the brakes, on any car, regardless of horsepower, in good working order can easily overpower a full throttle engine and bring the car to a complete stop in very short order. They tested a V6 Camry at 100MPH and full throttle and then slammed on the brakes and believe it or not, the Camry came to a complete stop in fewer feet than a Ford Taurus without any throttle input at all. It's been proven that HP is irrelevant.
I don't know what could be wrong with your brakes or that you would actually try that with your own car, but I'd feel unsafe with your almost non-functioning brakes.

LexFather

This is clearly Toyota's fault as they copied the recall

chikoo

The lady was looking for this

Lil4X

Disconnecting the battery will probably stop the engine, depending on how the system is wired. This works better on 20 year old or older cars without a lot of electronics under the hood. If the alternator can power the fuel pump, fuel injection, computer, and ignition, it could keep running with the battery out of the circuit.

If it doesn't shut down the engine, it will probably fry your alternator since it depends on your battery's impedance for current regulation. No battery, minimal load, current can go out of sight until something melts down. But there are other problems as well . . . without the battery, the alternator doesn't provide smooth DC voltage, but a rather spikey output that may damage the ECU or even your stereo. Disconnecting the battery is not a good idea if you have no other way to shut down the engine. Go for the ignition primary instead or pull the FI fuse?

LeX2K

Yea pulling the EFI fuse/relay will stop the engine right away, but not many people are familiar enough to do such a thing. I don't know about a modern car, but I've pulled the battery with the engine running on quite a few old (think 20+ years) cars and the engine kept running happily and didn't damage anything. I know you're not supposed to do this however...

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

I think dealers should now make it mandatory for the buyer to sign a release and demonstrate that they know how operate a START/STOP BUTTON before handing over the keys

I just heard a recording played on radio this morning and couldn't believe she was able to drive 59 miles at over 100mph without hitting anything.........damn she's a good driver

and she didn't even answer the operator when operator asked "have you used the brakes"?
(someone correct me on this)

I8ABMR

I know when I used to do burn outs in my G35 the brakes would keep the car pretty damn still even at WOT. I know there is momentum when the car is moving but I am pretty sure designers have made sure the brakes can stop the car at any speed

seanlee

and my theory is
this lady was obviously speeding
this lady saw a police car
this lady recalls a prius guy from last year who uses Toyota's UA as a excuse to fight his speeding ticket and get himself 5 minutes of fame.
this lady was inspired and encouraged

and rest is history.



seriously, she claims she put the car in Neutral and didn't work? does she even know what Neutral is? you got to convince me her 1. brake failed. 2. transmission stuck, 3. gas paddle stuck, 4, engine over ride fails. the chance for those 4 to happen at the same time is nearly impossible. as an engineer, i high doubt she was speaking the truth.

oh, by the way, if her engine was indeed wide open for this much time, her vehicle speed should have far exceed 100 mph.

My0gr81

^^ I don't believe her story either, but it is possible that the top speed limiter is set to 100mph.

I8ABMR

YUP she is full of crap. There was no sign that she even hit the brakes.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

In the Taurus's defense, it weighs some 500+ lbs over the Camry and has notoriously bad/spongy brakes

chikoo

She did go over 100mph. Watch the video plz.