Various new details today in the continuing story of the Lexus GX 460 & Consumer Reports—here’s some articles of interest:
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By way of TTAC, Japan’s Nikkei Daily is reporting that Lexus has a solution has been found to the oversteer exhibited by the GX 460 in the Consumer Reports test, and involves a reflash along with unspecified changes to “other aspects of the vehicle.” It’s also been reported that Toyota is retesting all of their SUVs to ensure the upmost safety.
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Edmunds made this statement in regards to the Consumer Reports testing procedure:
Edmunds continues: “Is this CR test realistic? That looks a very fast — a deliberate high-speed approach to a corner that’s more akin to high-performance track driving than driving a few miles per hour over the speed limit on public roads. And it looks like no brakes were used by the driver at all (no brake lights). I’m not sure how realistic that situation is in the context of a luxury SUV.
“That said, I would have expected stability control intervention in that situation. But I also would expect a driver to apply the brakes if he or she were surprised by the tightness of an unfamiliar corner, too.”
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Worldwide sales of the GX 460 have been suspended, and production has been halted until next Wednesday.
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Consumer Reports has put out a FAQ about their test, which includes the following:
Most vehicles can negotiate the corners of our handling track at about 50 mph. During the testing, however, we will drive faster before and after the corners. In the video, the GX was traveling approximately 60 mph when the throttle is lifted in order to slow the vehicle to make the corner.
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Not content to be on every news channel worldwide, Consumer Reports has resorted to using Google Ads to promote their GX coverage.
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