NHTSA Complaint #10245097 — 2005 TOYOTA COROLLA

I HAVE ENCOUNTERED WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE A MAJOR MANUFACTURING ERROR. MY VEHICLE'S ENGINE PRODUCES A VERY LARGE AND INSTANTANEOUS INCREASE IN HORSEPOWER (A 'SURGE') AT 6800 RPM (DUE TO A 'CAM SWITCHOVER'). I HAVE OBSERVED DYNAMOMETER READOUTS WHICH PLACE THIS JUMP AT AROUND 40HP. BECAUSE OF THIS STRANGE AND INSTANTANEOUS JUMP IN HORSEPOWER, DURING SLIPPERY CONDITIONS, OR ON ROADS WITH DEBRIS SUCH AS SAND OR GRAVEL, THE CAR WOULD, WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING, LOSE TRACTION WHEN IT HIT THIS POWER SURGE 'POINT'. I AM WELL AWARE THE XRS IS A PERFORMANCE TYPE VEHICLE, AND ENJOY IT WHEN ROAD CONDITIONS ARE PERFECT, YET IT CAUSES ME GREAT DISCOMFORT TO KNOW THAT MERGING ONTO THE HIGHWAY DURING RAIN OR SNOW (OR WITH SAND OR GRAVEL ON THE ROAD SURFACE) MAY MEAN AN ABRUPT LOSS IN TRACTION LEADING TO A CRASH, INJURY, OR WORSE. I HAVE PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED SOME VERY UNNERVING NEAR-ACCIDENTS DUE TO THE ENGINE'S BIZARRE POWER DELIVERY. STRANGELY ENOUGH, MY RESEARCH INDICATES THAT PREVIOUS ITERATIONS OF THE SAME ENGINE PRODUCED BY TOYOTA HAVE THE 'CAM SWITCHOVER POINT' PLACED MUCH LOWER IN THE RPM RANGE, LEADING TO A MUCH SMOOTHER POWER DELIVERY (WHICH I BELIEVE IS SAFER AND MORE PREDICTABLE). I HAVE CONTACTED TOYOTA A TOTAL OF THREE TIMES, ONCE THROUGH MAIL AND TWICE BY PHONE, ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. THE REPRESENTATIVES I TALKED WITH COULD/WOULD NOT ANSWER MY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, AS WELL AS REFUSING TO ADMIT TO A PROBLEM WITH THIS PARTICULAR SPECIAL EDITION CAR. WITH WINTER APPROACHING, I'M NOT WAITING TO HAVE AN ACCIDENT TO REPORT THIS MANUFACTURER ERROR, ESPECIALLY SO SINCE TOYOTA HAS REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM. *TR