More Bad News For Toyota -- CR "Do Not Buy"

This is bad.

Consumer Reports tests vehicles for emergency handling by running them through some high speed dynamic maneuvers, such as a lane change. When CR did this test to the Lexus GX 460 SUV (the luxury cousin of the 4Runner) the vehicle exhibited a very yaw angle. This is good for sports cars, where the driver is assumed to have enough control to manage oversteer. But on a high center of gravity SUV, a loose stability control tuning is dangerous. Says CR:

We believe that in real-world driving, that situation could lead to a rollover accident, which could cause serious injury or death. We are not aware, however, of any such reports.

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In real-world driving, lift-off oversteer could occur when a driver enters a highway's exit ramp or drives through a sweeping turn and encounters an unexpected obstacle or suddenly finds that the turn is too tight for the vehicle's speed. A natural impulse is to quickly lift off the accelerator pedal. If that were to happen in the GX, the rear could slide around far enough that a wheel could strike a curb or slide off the pavement.

Because of this behavior, CR has given Toyota another black eye, with a rare and embarrassing "Do Not Buy" rating. This puts the Lexus GX460 in the same company as the Suzuki Samurai.