2006 V6 Throttle LAG - REPORT TO NHTSA

[PXLpainter]

Great - thanks!

Good description of hte problem too.

[Julez]

Dealership wouldn't do anything to fix this problem for me. Justified it by saying all Toyota's and Honda's are like this because of wire throttle?(I didn't listen carefully to why it lags because if it wasn't being fixed, I didn't care to listen)

[TW85]

"My 2004 Toyota Solara SLE V6 exhibits severe throttle lag at speeds lower than 50 mph. The lag is at its worst while decelerating and then accelerating, with a lag of up to 1-2 seconds. The lag is also severe from a stop or from a rolling speed of 10 mph or less; to compensate for the lag, it is natural for the driver to press the gas pedal even further and when the vehicle finally decides to respond, it responds with rapid acceleration. This is a safety issue and has nearly caused several accidents throughout my 3 years of ownership. Toyota issued a TSB for new programming for the ECU/ECT and it has failed to fix the problem."

BTW, I submitted for my 2004 just to show that the new programming does NOT fix the issue. Hopefully other 2004 owners will submit complaints. Contrary to what Toyota dealers tell you, this is NOT a trait of drive-by-wire throttles. The G35 is drive-by-wire and it has very good throttle response, rivaling a cabled throttle. I honestly do not care much anymore as I am getting rid of my POS Solara in November, just trying to get complaints against Toyota for known issues.

Now to submit my dealer complaint to Toyota...

[canuck101]

i have SE V6 .. no lag at all however i have CPE INTAKE which MAKES sure there are no problems.

I love the way car responds now. NO LAG a tall .. gear switching is as tight as donkey.


my old 99 solara sle had some kind of a lag so i feel for you people out there. it is a safety issue and IS VERY annoying.

[PXLpainter]

i have SE V6 .. no lag at all however i have CPE INTAKE which MAKES sure there are no problems.

I love the way car responds now. NO LAG a tall .. gear switching is as tight as donkey.


my old 99 solara sle had some kind of a lag so i feel for you people out there. it is a safety issue and IS VERY annoying.

What year do you have? Any lag before CP-e intake?

[dominoSLEV6]

that's the reason why my next car would definitely be not a toyota....

It's really too bad so many people think this way. They're doing something right, no one said the Solara is supposed to be a performance super machine, so why does everyone expect it to be? If their engine work is so poor nowadays because they don't care, it's really a wonder that a high end car like the lotus elise uses a toyota engine. They shut down IMSA back in the day because no one could beat them. So the car has a throttle problem, did you all not feel it when you test drove it? Must not have if you're going apeshit over it now. Or is it that somehow, in the far realms of possibility, that some of you test drove other cars in the same class, and Toyotas quality and luxery feel in an entry level coupe based off a top selling four door was that much better than anything else you drove.

Basicly I'm just finding it hard to believe that none of you noticed this when you drove the car. You see a lot of older people driving the car no? They'll probably never have a care in the world about the throttle lag, and I'm not saying toyota knew this and they intentionally made the car with huge throttle lag, rather pointing out that if this is that major of a problem for you, go drive a pontiac G6, it looks almost the same from the outside, probably doesn't have the lag problem, and the interior will look about as good as the Solaras for the first couple years, as will the engine run about as smooth, beyond a few years from getting it, you'll be crying to get into the seat of a Toyota again. Again, I'm not saying this problem doesn't exist, but ya'll that are hating on toyota are forgetting that they're the number one non domestic and number 2 overall for a reason. And comeon, they're a company that has 3 divisions with select models in each respectively and are still #2 behind a company that makes about 12 makes/lines of cars with about 3-15 cars each. That's impressive, and the numbers are that way for a reason.

If you're reading this laughing and thinking ha, he doens't know I'm going to get a Honda or a Nissan well that's great, but just know every car has it's problems. Some of the most expensive cars regarded generally as the best money can buy have the worst problems in the world, a la audi and mercedes electrical problems and more.

So go take your cars back and spend your money somewhere else. Somewhere where all the little problems will be entirely invisible and unapparant to you, and will bite you along the line, when most of the time Toyota wouldn't, but you still hate because you apparantly didn't notice the throttle lags when you bought the car.

-chris

[cartang]

Check toyota nation forun, I remeber rad some issue about the 2006

[TW85]

So go take your cars back and spend your money somewhere else. Somewhere where all the little problems will be entirely invisible and unapparant to you, and will bite you along the line, when most of the time Toyota wouldn't, but you still hate because you apparantly didn't notice the throttle lags when you bought the car.

-chris

Don't try to feed us that line of bull. I did test drive a Solara V6 before I bought one and yes, I noticed that I had to depress the gas pedal an unusual amount for the throttle to actually respond but I never associated it with throttle lag. Every car has a different throttle feel, even cabled throttled cars, and that is what I attributed it to. You simply CANNOT replicate everyday driving scenarios in a 15-20 minute test drive, though I have become far wiser because of my Solara. When I test drove two G35s yesterday, I made sure to put them through all of the same scenarios that create problems with my Solara and they passed with flying colors. Toyota just does not seem to know what the heck they're doing with drive-by-wire systems because plenty of other manufacturers implement such systems with minimal lag, if any.

Throttle lag with Toyota and Lexus models has been a very common complaint since at least the 2002 model year, 2 years before the new Solara design! They do nothing about it but say it is normal. You would think that after receiving countless customer complaints over the same issue that they would overhaul their drive-by-wire engineering. But no, Toyota seems to have the attitude that because the vehicles are Toyotas, the problem is in the driver's head. Blind loyalty will continue Toyota's success. I was blindly loyal until the past year when I decided I have had enough of being jerked around.

[PXLpainter]

When I called the Toyota Customer Satisfaction hotline the guy basically "read" to me off a sheet the canned response about the TBW - LOL!! I told him that I've had two other TBW Toyotas in the past and NIETHER of them had this issue whatsoever! Also - to please put it on record that if I get in an accident that's caused by this problem, then I will be filing a law suit against Toyota - and made sure he read it back to me word-fo-word.

[solaris]

that's the reason why my next car would definitely be not a toyota....

It's really too bad so many people think this way. They're doing something right, no one said the Solara is supposed to be a performance super machine, so why does everyone expect it to be? If their engine work is so poor nowadays because they don't care, it's really a wonder that a high end car like the lotus elise uses a toyota engine. They shut down IMSA back in the day because no one could beat them. So the car has a throttle problem, did you all not feel it when you test drove it? Must not have if you're going apeshit over it now. Or is it that somehow, in the far realms of possibility, that some of you test drove other cars in the same class, and Toyotas quality and luxery feel in an entry level coupe based off a top selling four door was that much better than anything else you drove.

Basicly I'm just finding it hard to believe that none of you noticed this when you drove the car. You see a lot of older people driving the car no? They'll probably never have a care in the world about the throttle lag, and I'm not saying toyota knew this and they intentionally made the car with huge throttle lag, rather pointing out that if this is that major of a problem for you, go drive a pontiac G6, it looks almost the same from the outside, probably doesn't have the lag problem, and the interior will look about as good as the Solaras for the first couple years, as will the engine run about as smooth, beyond a few years from getting it, you'll be crying to get into the seat of a Toyota again. Again, I'm not saying this problem doesn't exist, but ya'll that are hating on toyota are forgetting that they're the number one non domestic and number 2 overall for a reason. And comeon, they're a company that has 3 divisions with select models in each respectively and are still #2 behind a company that makes about 12 makes/lines of cars with about 3-15 cars each. That's impressive, and the numbers are that way for a reason.

If you're reading this laughing and thinking ha, he doens't know I'm going to get a Honda or a Nissan well that's great, but just know every car has it's problems. Some of the most expensive cars regarded generally as the best money can buy have the worst problems in the world, a la audi and mercedes electrical problems and more.

So go take your cars back and spend your money somewhere else. Somewhere where all the little problems will be entirely invisible and unapparant to you, and will bite you along the line, when most of the time Toyota wouldn't, but you still hate because you apparantly didn't notice the throttle lags when you bought the car.

-chris

if you have issues with a car you're driving and the car manufacturer doesn't give a crap about it, would you really be buying from the same company again? well, i guess that's you... ten minutes of test driving did not show any indication of the throttle lag especially on a highway in my experience. i didnt expect it to be a super performance car, all i want is for it to run normal like any other car without endangering me and my family.

[joebxr]

It's really too bad so many people think this way. They're doing something right, .....
-chris

Gee, thanks very much for the support and concern on your part that we feel there is a saftey issue here and want it addressed by Toyota!!!!! I test drove mine and 2 others, and was told in no uncertain terms not to worry about the lag that the car would "learn" my driving habits and then there would be no issue.

[dominoSLEV6]

Why is it that this lag is endagering lives?

-chris

[joebxr]

Why is it that this lag is endagering lives?

-chris

If you have to ask then you obviously are not impacted by the problem or actually aware of what occurs, so how can you make the statements you do? We didn't buy a sports car or expect sports car performance...that is not the issue. The problem experienced occurs in normal everyday driving conditions. The hesitation when trying to pull into traffic and the adjustment we have to make to compensate, does create a safety hazard. Just this morning I came to a full stop, made a right turn, and the accelerator momnentarily died...like I had lost the transmission. If you don't think that is scarey and a safety hazard when pulling into a 55mph traffic environment, then maybe you should experience it and then comment. We just want Toyota to step up and address it...

[Sebas007]

The main problem here...it is that it is not always the same...so you cannot anticipate well, all the time, when you have to start runnning...I was on "sportshift" once in 1st gear I stop on a red light on a 30 MPH street...I had room for 3-4 car (0-30 MPH is somehting around what 3 sec ? ) I push it up to get in 2nd gear but the tranny stays for 2 seconds on the cut-off...then a normal thing turns in a dangerous things for nothing...I've been afraid that time but it is just random...it never happen again to have THAT MUCH lag....but it will happen again someday...:S

I think the lag is even dangerous for any kind of driver...the lag is useless...yeah a normal time synchro to let the sequential tranny change the gear...but any extra lag is useless. The tranny is like spinning in the butter !

Why is it that this lag is endagering lives?

-chris

[FLUXEMAG]

that's the reason why my next car would definitely be not a toyota....

It's really too bad so many people think this way. They're doing something right, no one said the Solara is supposed to be a performance super machine, so why does everyone expect it to be? If their engine work is so poor nowadays because they don't care, it's really a wonder that a high end car like the lotus elise uses a toyota engine. They shut down IMSA back in the day because no one could beat them. So the car has a throttle problem, did you all not feel it when you test drove it? Must not have if you're going apeshit over it now. Or is it that somehow, in the far realms of possibility, that some of you test drove other cars in the same class, and Toyotas quality and luxery feel in an entry level coupe based off a top selling four door was that much better than anything else you drove.

Basicly I'm just finding it hard to believe that none of you noticed this when you drove the car. You see a lot of older people driving the car no? They'll probably never have a care in the world about the throttle lag, and I'm not saying toyota knew this and they intentionally made the car with huge throttle lag, rather pointing out that if this is that major of a problem for you, go drive a pontiac G6, it looks almost the same from the outside, probably doesn't have the lag problem, and the interior will look about as good as the Solaras for the first couple years, as will the engine run about as smooth, beyond a few years from getting it, you'll be crying to get into the seat of a Toyota again. Again, I'm not saying this problem doesn't exist, but ya'll that are hating on toyota are forgetting that they're the number one non domestic and number 2 overall for a reason. And comeon, they're a company that has 3 divisions with select models in each respectively and are still #2 behind a company that makes about 12 makes/lines of cars with about 3-15 cars each. That's impressive, and the numbers are that way for a reason.

If you're reading this laughing and thinking ha, he doens't know I'm going to get a Honda or a Nissan well that's great, but just know every car has it's problems. Some of the most expensive cars regarded generally as the best money can buy have the worst problems in the world, a la audi and mercedes electrical problems and more.

So go take your cars back and spend your money somewhere else. Somewhere where all the little problems will be entirely invisible and unapparant to you, and will bite you along the line, when most of the time Toyota wouldn't, but you still hate because you apparantly didn't notice the throttle lags when you bought the car.

-chris

I'm talking about a specific issue where my car is left in an intersection with no power at all, not about a generally sucky transmission. Because this has only happenned 4 times, the probability of capturing an intermittent problem at that rate during a test drive is lower than lotto.

Yeah, you should have known the transmission sucked in general the first time you drove it. But I got my car for the looks and value, along with decent power. I'm just not trying to get killed driving a car with a manufacturer's defect.

The good thing about all of this is that the guy who buys your car probably won't notice either issue.