ES330 owners

I'd view all these discussions of "deliberatly adding delays" as rumors unless someone has hard info.

I've never heard that Audi put a "delay" in the shifting of the 5000. And it doesn't make any sense - what has delayed downshifting got to do with the sudden acceleration issue? It was pretty clear once the smoke cleared that the 5000 problem was pedal error, exacerbated by the side-to-side and height placement of the brake and throttle pedals in the 5000. How would delayed downshifting reduce pedal error problems?

And I've never seen any hard information that Toyota has deliberated engineered delays into their transmissions either. The hesitation issue seems an inherent problem in the 5-speed, VVTi, software bugs, and engine control electronics. I doubt it is put in deliberately. It is not even specific to any particular model - my 98 GS has it and the IS forums are filled with people complaining about it.

- Mark

Thanks for the specifics, but I'd view this as dubious. It doesn't make any sense on the 5000 and makes little sense on the Passat. Wasn't the 5000 problem almost 15-years ago?

I don't know what GIAC is.

- Mark