Toyota FJ Opinion? Ask Rob About Cars

Brandon from Brandon, FL writes:
I am always in the market for a new ride I like the Accord. But I really enjoy a Crossover-SUV with the higher up feeling. But there are none that are in my price range so for the past year I've been stuck. But with my warranty now up I am back to searching for a good weekend deal in the paper. What do you think of the Toyota FJ Cruiser, black on black with dual exhaust? It has a good sporty look to it. I also am not really worried about gas I don't drive much at all. My current ride gets about 16/21 mpg city/highway.

Brandon,
The Toyota FJ is a nice beefy, ride. Toyota reliability and distinctive, retro styling are nice touches. In fact, my sister really wants one! It definitely has off-road intentions so that part might be wasted in your neck of the woods. There is nothing wrong with that if gas consumption isn't a concern.

I suggest two things though. If you tend have rear seat passengers or cargo, try climbing in and out and see what you think in terms of access. Second, take the car into a crowded parking lot and park it between cars and back it up a few times. See if the visibility is acceptable for the daily driving you'll be doing. Good luck in your search!

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Have a question about cars you would like answered? Performance, racing, modifying, shopping, makes, models, events, etc? Ask me here: AskRobAboutCars@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer your question and publish it here on Examiner.com!

Toyota Owed an Apology by Consumer Reports

And from the mainstream media as well. Enough is enough, now they are being picked on. Toyota has faulty accelerator pedals and floor mats that are being recalled, that has been established and explained in my article here. What must first be clarified is that the problems caused unintended continued acceleration, not unintended acceleration. The pedals did not apply themselves. Now Consumer Reports gives a "Don't Buy: Safety Risk" because the stability control on two different 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUVs didn't activate at an acceptable level during intended induced oversteer (fishtailing). But no rollover!

CR tries to put this in perspective by stating, "No other SUV in recent years slid out as far as the GX 460". Allow me to put this in real world perspective, "Millions of vehicles on the road don't have stability control at all." Whether this is a sensor calibration or software issue, it doesn't matter. It's good to bring it to Toyota's attention, but it does not merit a "Don't Buy" rating. Not in the slightest. Oh, by the way, Toyota didn't encounter the problem during the vehicle development. And oddly, CR didn't have the problem with the Toyota 4Runner on the same platform.

It's bad enough there are calls to 911 instead of taking proper steps like shifting into neutral while continuously applying the brakes and then turning off the car. Now an organization that has been discredited in the past has done it again. I've written about trucks that have been lifted beyond the stock height that should be lowered, but this is an abomination in the opposite direction.

The bottom line is any vehicle can flip over during a high speed maneuver and striking an object. Apparently CR discovered a Lexus SUV can be drifted. Now that is an SUV that is fun to drive.

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Have a question about cars you would like answered? Want to know about performance, racing, modifying, shopping, makes, models, events, etc? Ask me here: AskRobAboutCars@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer your question and publish it here on Examiner.com!

Toyota 4Runner Driving Impression

Recently I had the opportunity to drive a 2008 Toyota 4Runner for a few days while my daily driver was being repaired due to running over debris. While familiar in some respects from previous ownership of three Toyotas ('95 Camry XLE V-6, '94 Supra Twin Turbo, '99 Solara SLE V-6), I also found some aspects objectionable even compared to a 14 year-old model. First the circumstances of the accident which is another lesson I learned that I can add to previous articles, "Accidents - what I've learned" and "What Traffic School should teach - lessons for all of us".

While in heavy traffic I was changing lanes from right to left to avoid the slower traffic from merging lanes. I ran over some debris left in the road by a landscaping company pick-up truck. I chose to swerve back into my lane rather than have my momentum carry me too far, possibly into the other lane. Regardless it probably wouldn't have mattered. Obscured by the cars in front of me, I caught a brief glimpse of green leaves and the handle of a wooden tool and yelled an expletive as I ran over some items.

I called CHP and saw that the suspect truck and another vehicle were on the side of the road. Lessons for recourse: Pull over too and inspect the damage before it's too late. Don't believe CHP will make it to the scene on time prior to the offending vehicle leaving. Don't count on fellow motorists to report items falling off of vehicles.

Anyway, the initial impression was one of familiarity with the interior. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But the seats were the big objection. Being cloth covered was okay, but they were very shallow and when the seat bottom tilt was adjusted all the way, it still didn't seem to enough. The material and design seemed as if they came from a Corolla from the early eighties. Totally unacceptable in any vehicle that costs over ten grand. The problem with the support only in the small of your back is the bumpy ride. The swaying motions meant your upper moves around while your lower back stays supported. Not very comfortable if you have back pain or even if it's tender or sore. The floor is also very close to the bottom of the seat so your feet are out in front of you, instead of down. However, this seemed to be a result of the high floor height for increased ground clearance. Truly truck-like.

Speaking of truck-like, the ride definitely gave the impression of off-road capability. More "jiggly" than harsh, the driver is acutely aware of what each each corner is doing. Impacts are absorbed well, you just know they are there. It wants to go off-road.

The interior has similar designs from Toyotas of the past. Another example of sticking with what works. The climate controls were unique 5-spoke buttons which worked fine and were intuitive. But what I did notice is the text on the buttons was too dark and combined with a dark interior, didn't stand out enough. Sunglasses just made it worse. Despite the good feel of the controls, the dashboard is too far from the driver. Keep in mind, with you legs out in front of you, it creates a greater distance than if they go down a bit. So reaching for the dash controls requires leaning forward if have long legs. Even if you have long monkey-arms like me.

Acceleration however is effortless. Seemingly aggressively geared and with a lightly sprung pedal, speeding seemed easily, even in inappropriate places like parking lots. It was fairly fast with WOT (wide open throttle) to 60mph being quite satisfactory. In fact, it was downright quick and effortless. Gas mileage suffers as a result, however. Alright, did I open the hood? No I didn't. I acted like my non car- DNA brother and didn't even bother. I'll take an educated guess that it was the V-8 because it scooted!

The 5-speed automatic responded well but I am not sure I'm sold on the multiple detent shifter gate. I did get used to it after a while but the first few times shifting to and from reverse I would look down to see why it seemed jammed only to find it was a matter of moving it side to side.
The rear hatch offered spacious cargo capacity which doesn't hide anything from prying eyes. However the door was excessively hard to close, basically requiring both hands. I doubt "they are all like that" - as in all SUVs. When you've got your laptop and lunch bag in one hand, your keys and whatever else in another, even a tall male who spends time in the gym will frown, or get frustrated, with the effort.

Consider the daily usage when buying any used car. Every car has it's quirks, and for my use, sitting high up isn't all it's cracked up to be sometimes.
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Got a question about cars you would like answered? Want to know about performance, racing, modifying, shopping, makes, models, events, etc? Ask me here: AskRobAboutCars@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer your question and publish it here on Examiner.com!

High Mileage Tires - Test Results on the Toyota Prius

The Tire Rack recently tested six environmentally friendly tires designed for low rolling resistance for higher miles per gallon vs. the original tire equipped on the Toyota Prius. The results were surprising and quite promising. See the report here, "When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green"

It was always an interesting dilemma regarding tires and how they perform. Get more tread life from your tires and sacrifice performance or emergency maneuver capability (braking distance) due to hard compounds. Achieve better performance and suffer from faster tire wear and higher cost of ownership.

I never understood why low rolling resistance tires would wear out quickly. The assumption was always a hard tire would have less rolling resistance and therefore would last longer. Instead, as explained by Matt Edmonds, Vice President of Marketing at The Tire Rack, the low rolling resistance tires in the past would "give themselves up" to the road, hence wearing faster. But due to advances in tire compound technology and tread design, this is no longer the case. These modern tires now show advantages over the same model that comes on the car, in this case a Toyota Prius, from the factory. Check out the Test Result Charts here.

An interesting observation is that the original Goodyear Integrity tires perform the best in the dry, but not by a large margin. However, they were rather poor in the wet. Especially in wet braking distance, inexcusably worse than the rest. Of course, when the tire was first introduced, it may have been the ideal choice for cost and performance.

Tread wear would be the final aspect that a 550 mile test loop cannot show. However, looking in the "warranty" link for each tire, most have very good tread life warranties. Contrast that with more expensive (albeit larger/wider) high performance tires that last 20,000 miles if you're lucky. and the appeal of lower operating costs and less waste looks very attractive. One thing about all-season tires, they don't react negatively to cold temperatures like high performance tires. Here is my idea for a tread temperature measurement feature.

Take a look at the test results and you'll see not all tires are created equal. The variance is not just the tread pattern. The Tire Rack is an excellent resource for information including tires and equipment. Even if you don't buy from them, when shopping for new tires many retail outlets will have a price matching policy to within a certain amount so you always know you're getting a good deal.

Now when shopping for tires for your daily-driver, a low rolling resistant tire is no longer a compromise in safety or tread life. As technology advances with a continued emphasis on safety and miles per gallon, tires continue to be another avenue of improvement as well.

Got a question about cars you would like answered? Performance, racing, modifying, shopping, makes, models, events, etc? Ask me here: AskRobAboutCars@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer your question and publish it here on Examiner.com!