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Mitsubishi Recalls 68,000 SUVs Over Bad Software (consumerreports.org)

Mitsubishi is recalling 68,000 SUVs because of bad software in two different engine-control units (ECUs), according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Consumer Reports adds: In one of the two actions, the automaker is recalling 58,916 of its 2018 Eclipse Cross, 2017 to 2018 Outlander, and 2018 Outlander Sport SUVs because of faulty software in the hydraulic unit ECU -- the computer control system for the brake system. According to NHTSA, the software problem could cause some features -- such as adaptive cruise control (ACC); forward-collision mitigation (FCM), which is a combination of forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking; and antilock brakes (ABS) -- to not work as expected. In the second action, Mitsubishi is recalling 9,166 of its 2018 Eclipse Cross, 2017 to 2018 Outlander, and 2018 Outlander Sport SUVs because of bad software in the computer control for the FCM system. According to NHTSA, if the FCM system detects a pedestrian in front of the vehicle who could be hit, that ECU may activate the brake for longer than necessary, even when the obstacle is no longer detected. There's concern that when this happens, the driver may provide additional braking, making the SUV slow rapidly and increasing the risk of a rear-end collision, NHTSA says. Consumer Reports has also detailed the models that are affected and how customers could contact the manufacturer.

6 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Re:FYI If you read the article by oldgraybeard · · Score: 2

    Yes I screwed up!

  2. Re:FYI If you read the article by bobbied · · Score: 2

    Yes I screwed up!

    Not as badly as Mitsubishi did...

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  3. NHTSA quote doesn't make any sense by jgrimard · · Score: 2

    "According to NHTSA, if the FCM system detects a pedestrian in front of the vehicle who could be hit, that ECU may activate the brake for longer than necessary, even when the obstacle is no longer detected. There's concern that when this happens, the driver may provide additional braking, making the SUV slow rapidly and increasing the risk of a rear-end collision, NHTSA says."

    The second sentence doesn't make any sense to me. Am I the only one? Why would the drive provide additional breaking if the obstacle is no longer detected?

  4. Re:FYI If you read the article by sinij · · Score: 2

    Yes I screwed up!

    Not as badly as Mitsubishi did...

    Both had malfunctioning brakes.

  5. What? No OTA updates? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2
    When consumer reports uses a very severe process to test the brakes. Five consecutive full slam 60 mph to 0 mph, with one mile of driving to "let the brakes cool" between the slams. Tesla Model 3 stopped at 130 feet in the first slam and took 160 feet in the last slam. It was declared a failure.

    Tesla pushed an over the air update for its anti lock brake calibration and fixed the issue. All five slams were within 125 feet or so. Consumer Reports chief test engineer actually wrote that he has never seen such a critical component being fixed by OTA. In other vehicles it would resulted in recalls of hundreds of thousands of vehicles and still only those vehicles that were brought to the dealership would have been fixed.

    Now it looks like not having an OTA is a huge mistake by the legacy car makers. They should follow Tesla and enable OTA on all their cars. NTHSA should mandate all cars should have OTA, after some cut off year like 2022 or so.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:What? No OTA updates? by toddestan · · Score: 2

      Personally I consider OTA a bad idea, as it would the foster the "ship it now, fix it later" attitude towards cars that has completely taken over with just about anything else that can connect to the internet.

      I want my car's brakes to work properly coming right from the factory right from day one. If screwing this up means a costly and embarrassing recall, that means the manufacturer has a pretty big incentive to get it right the first time.