Amid the allegations of “sudden unintended acceleration” against the Mitsubishi Montero Sport, TopGear editor-in-chief Vernon Sarne shared an email sent by reader named Allan Agati, who did his own comparison of the pedals of his Mitsubishi Montero Sport and Toyota Fortuner. Agati said he hoped what he observed would shed some light in the controversy. We’re reposting his letter below:
Thank you for your article on the Montero Sport and its alleged tendency to exhibit unintended acceleration. As a Montero Sport owner, I’m seriously concerned about the issue. I am inclined to agree that driver input has a lot to do with the accidents. Of course, I’d also like to be sure. I’m not an automobile expert and will not pretend to be one. I’m not sure if this e-mail will even make sense to you, but I’ll send it your way anyway.
I got a link from another forum about a video on left-foot braking, and how driver habits have a tendency to misapply pedals by basically swinging their right foot, causing the unintended acceleration. I’ll admit to being guilty of this, but more so with my Montero Sport. I also have a Fortuner but have always favored driving the Montero Sport precisely because of the ease of switching pedals, not to mention the better suspension.
So I went and compared the pedals on my Montero Sport and Fortuner, and this is what I noticed:
As you can see, the Montero Sport’s brake pedal is almost level with the gas pedal. This makes for ease of pedal-shifting, but brings you closer to unintended acceleration as there’s a greater tendency for one’s foot to step on both the brake and the gas, or to slip and step squarely on the accelerator and not the brake.
The Fortuner’s brake pedal, on the other hand, is far more elevated compared to the accelerator. So when I drive it and need to step on the brakes, I actually have to pull my foot and leg back a little to place it squarely on the brake pedal. I can’t just swing my right foot from the gas to the brake like I usually do with the Montero Sport.
Could this be why the Montero Sport is more prone to unintended acceleration? Again, I’m not an automobile expert. My Montero Sport’s pedals could even be non-spec now for all I know (it’s a 2012 model, while the Fortuner is 2015). But I’m sending you this e-mail anyway in the hopes it could help somehow.
Photos: Allan Agati
