Posted by TBR (IP: 152.163.206.202) on November 14, 1999 at 09:44:43:
In Reply to: What's the 'Horizon fiasco' ??? posted by T.L. on November 14, 1999 at 04:47:28:
...where they rated the car "unacceptable" based on a goofy test procedure. They drove the car down a runway at 45mph, cranked the steering wheel 45 degrees and LET GO! Needless to say that car spun out. Because of that, and only that, they decided the car was unacceptble due to it's "inherent" instability. Hello...who the hell cranks their steering wheel 45 degrees and lets go? Consumer Reports got a lot of press about that, but also lost a lot of credibility. They also did a similar unscientific test on the Suzuki Samurai where they mounted outriggers for a test of it's rollover tendency. Those little units had an unintended consequence in that they affected the car's center of gravity and made it MORE suceptible to tipping over! Again they rated a vehicle "unacceptble" based on bad scientific method. Well that's my soapbox for the day;-)