FirstToy

where "suv's are no more prone to rollover crashes as any other vehicle... SUV's scored as well or better than a compact station wagon and seveal pickups..."

Pic of a 3rd gen on the test too.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...2-04-suv_x.htm

96LtdYota

jerks used a 4runner as their image vehicle... any car has the capability of rolling. I first hand witnessed a 2000 mitsubishi eclipse gt lowered 2" roll going 45mph... of course it hit a curb sideways, but still. it rolled.

i swear that this country is at an all out attempt to remove the suv from the market.

Bigkahuna808

I too have seen my share of lowered cars flip overnad kept rolling a total of 4 times. My friend fliped his turbo 92 civic hatchback. He would have been killed if it wasnt for his racing seat, harness, and roll cage. All of which are illegal to have on the streets of hawaii. Stupid, it save his life, but is illegal to use on publie streets.

I too have had a almost flip experince. I got almost side swiped by a eighteen wheeler on the freeway. So I swerved into the next lane to avoid him. but there was a car there in the next lane. I swerved again, the front right wheel came off the ground and we ended up almost sideways. I didnt flip, I think if I didn't have my bilsteins I would have. Thank god for Bilsteins.....

wvuviv30

wow in Hawaii its Illeagel to have "racing" equipment in a car. Here in MD you can have it all in, BUT you have to keep the stock seat belt in place.

X-AWDriver

That's because most SUVs are based on cars anyway;I'm certain my Runner would roll long before my Eclipse would have but sporty cars are designed with more control than your average car.

My99

You can't have the best of both worlds. A good offroader will have high clearance and thus a high center of gravity. It's gonna roll easier obviously. Deal with it, and learn how to drive it, or get yourself something lower to the ground. Can't stand these soccer mom's who claim how safe the SUV's make them feel and that it's the manufacturer's fault that they rollover. This is some sort of childish reasoning that everyone's out to get "ME." I'd say the 4Runner would be one of the more tempted to roll than any other SUV out there, given its ground clearance, but that's nothing I consider when I buy it, because I know the nature of the beast, and if I do roll it, so be it. I definitely won't hold it against anyone but myself, especially in a 1 car accident.

And X-awdriver is right, all these small and mini-utes (aside from the heeps) are based off car platforms, even the mercedes M class, Pilot, and these larger vehicles have independent rear suspension and lower clearances which make the chance of rollover much less. That's okay, I like the fact I can load my truck down and tow a trailer and not be overloaded with massive negative camber on the backend. ...now who's safer?

ianshoots

Not that I'm about to give the tacoma up, but I read an article about the difference between passive and active safety (among aother things) in which the most dangerous and safest cars/trucks were listed. It was based on the number of people killed driving the vehichle for every million (or maybe it was 100,000) on the road. We're number two (the tacoma that is)! I believe the ford F150 was number one. Of course it probably has more two do with who drives what, in large part, than the car/truck itself (the two safest were the accord and the camry)......

Just wanted to share.

EDGE

No wonder they can flip an SUV, duh with the added height and speed making a hard left and then over correcting for what sounds like their trying to U-turn thats like leaning to the right and then throwing all the weight to the right, I've done that in the snow but would never attempt to do it on dry ground.

My interpretation on SUV roll overs or anything that is obvious for a vehicle is like this, you go to a restaurant and the waiter brings you your food and it's something they serve you on a metal plate, the food is sizzling and the waiter says don't touch the plate it's hot, waiter puts the plate down in front of you and the person touches the plate "AHHHHH" waiter looks at you and says why did you touch the plate, it's the circle of life but that circle includes no common sence and they can't help being stupid.

Why is it we live in a society of people who don't see or understand the obvious when it all around you :pat:

I don't know if anyone saw it but several years ago their was a Dateline NBC special where they did roll overs, of course they showed SUV in the junkyard that where in rollover accidents but what made me laugh is their where just as many or more cars in the background that looked like they rolled over, 1 of the owners they interviewed was a middle age woman who rolled her 2nd Gen 4Runner and her husband went out the sunroof, of course she was suing Toyota cause they lied about the 4Runner and she was told it handles like a big Camry but what it came down to was the guy was not wearing a seat belt and she was speeding in wet conditions, all her fault but not how she see it.

Another rollover story about 2 years ago was some guy driving his Explorer, thing had under infalted tires, he was doing 90mph in FLorida during a heat spell and had 7 people in his car, do the math and 2 where sitting in the cargo area, they died and he was suing Ford cause of his dumbass

Noone wants to be responcible for their own actions, look in the owners manual and the things have double if not tripled in size from all the red warnings of things not to do, freakin mawn lowers have warnings on them not to cut grass around little kids cause you could roll over them and not to use them sideways to cut shrubs, just remember someone can sue you for their mistake

kyle_22r

my truck has something in the manual that says "this vehicle is designed for use on and off road, and handles differently than a normal vehicle"

wish you'd see stuff like that today, instead of having everybody scream and cry that 4wd trucks and utility vehicles are unsafe. drive a car if you want to make sharp corners.

Tacoma Dude

kyle, my truck came with a little reminder booklet attached to the gear shifter. It essentially read, "you're in a truck - drive like it, dummy"

kyle_22r

good to know...maybe i should rephrase what i said. people should expect a 4x4 to handle like a truck when they buy it...it ain't a friggen sports car

jimbo74

99.99999% of the time rollovers happen because of stupid drivers......

i have rolled my explroer on 2 different occassions, none the fault of my truck, i was a doofus and didnt know how to drive the first time, and the second time, i piloted onto a tabletop that was too narrow for it.... both my fualt....

ianshoots

My 97 tacoma has almost that exact same warning message plastered onto the drivers sun-visor. I've actually been thinkg of copying it and having it made into big window or bumber sticker. A little warning to those around that they better watch out lest they find themselves in the path of my out control truck!

Fahrenheit 451

SUV's ride higher than the average vehicle. This raises the stupidity of the people driving them
IMO, 75% of the people on road shouldn't be allowed to drive anyway. When you see how stupid they in parking lots the thought of them moving at higher speeds is terrifying.
"Beware the marching morons! " C. M. Kornbluth<--the guy knew what he was talking about

bike4miles

I hear that.

bulldog-yota

just to stir the pot

we should probably look at what they describe for rollover, first even race cars roll so that proves nothing. Hitting a curb doesn't count as there is very little that can be done in a car's design to cater for it accept maybe wheels on the sides

My understanding is that what is intended that at speed a vehicle should rather skid than roll when driven in various situations, like a slalem test for instance. SO the grip of the tires should not exceed the capability of the suspension to handle lateral forces. In SUV's they have improved suspensions andalso added electronic nanny's that will actually use the braking system to avoid these. You can probably take a new 4Runner, disable the electronics and you will find it skidding before rolling.

SO center of gravity is just one part of the equation, suspension, tires, electronic aids, etc all need to be factered in.

Bottom line is that any comercial (edit meant consumer) passenger vehicle should not roll, under any normal road circumstance. Most cars today this probably true, SUV I'm not so sure. I know at some of the offensive driving course they actually give normal cars to students on a skidpad and tell them to try and roll it, and they are not able to. The cars just slide, would be good if we can go test that with 4Runners (obviously Toyota's not our own).

My99

Well, the truth is very seldom does a vehicle roll if it's not being struck or is not striking another object AND is staying on the road's surface. Lots of variables come into play... type of tire, inflation of tire, age of suspension components, load in the vehicle, etc. You get 5 or 7 people in an SUV and it will be MUCH more inclined to roll than one with just 1 person in it.

What are you calling a "normal road circumstance" ?

bulldog-yota

Normal refer to staying on the road, not htiing a curb or anything for that matter, not trying to do handbrake turns at 100mph. Basically refer to emergency manuvers, slalom test is a good example.

Two vehicles comes to mind that failed, the Mercedes A class (not sold here), the Mitsubishi Montero (see consumer reports test on it) both of which started to roll or rolled on a slalom test. Most other vehicles including SUV's just slide at the limit of their capability, which is ideal.