It would not be difficult for someone to make floor mats that look just like genuine OEM floor mats. Some dealers do sell non-Toyota accessories, either because the markup is higher, or because they don't like the Toyota design. And, a lot of people buy floor mats from sources other than the dealer.

I would be very surprised if there are not some knock-off "genuine Toyota" floor mats out there that were not actually made by Toyota. I was offered a "genuine Rolex" watch, just last week, for only $59.

 

That's why the modified all weather mat has a much larger cutout under the gas pedal along with a molded in warning regarding proper installation.

 

I suspect.....physical = frictional

 

Good question, Eric.

As I posted earlier, the errant mats in m case (and other similar cases posted in these forums) were not the standard carpeted mats that hook into the prongs. The mat that caused my UA was a clear plastic mat intended to protect the carpeted mat. It was a genuine Toyota part, purchased from the Toyota Dealer in March 2009, and specifically designed for the 07 to 09 Camry. And it was installed exactly per clear instructions, and it fit really well.

The mat is designed to be installed over the carpeted mat, and is precisely the size and shape of the carpeted mat. It fits quite nicely and snugly. It comes with a binding clip intended to bind it to the carpeted mat, and it has hundreds of cleats to grip the carpet below. In that way it is intended to rely on the carpet mat being secured to its own hook prongs to keep the two bound mats in place.

It all seemed quite secure, but it proved out to be not secure enough, "in the field" as 007 used to tell Q.

Thinking back, I was wearing athletic shoes with very sticky soles at the times of UA.

 

Quick (amateur) test of my 09 TCH (purchased new July 2009..US built) ...roughly 3/4 pedal acceleration from stop, speed about 35mph, ICE on... I then applied brakes quickly as in a panic stop, while maintaining accelerator pressure, felt influence of brakes...car began to stop, then very quickly felt engine cut power...I then pressed harder on the accelerator, it felt like it wasn't applying any further acceleration. I believe car would have stopped completely in a "normal" distance with accelerator pedal depressed.

Further testing, (as others have noted) moving gear selector to Neutral, also cuts power, in fact, the accelerator pedal has absolutely no effect with selector in Neutral.

I, (and more importantly, my wife) am completely satisfied with this test that our car will stop. We never use anything but the factory carpet floormats, that are secured by the factory hooks.

With all this said, I wonder if there were any BTO system/calibration running changes in the prodcution cars of the 2009 year, as it was a very long run, perhaps 18 months? When I bought my 09 TCH, some 2010's were on the lots.

 

Jeff,

Thanks for that interesting thought. I may check into that, as my 09 TCH was an early production - on the dealer's lot in Feb. 2008.

 

Ya know you shouldn't be afraid to try a "full throttle" max brake application. Find a nice clear road, floor it, then stop the car with the brakes while leaving the throttle on the floor. I've done it on every car I've owned at least once.

It's better to know what it's like under a controlled condition than when you least expect it.

Two mistakes people make.
1) It takes quite a hard brake application to stop. More than you might think is normal.
2) Don't try to control the speed of the car. You can overheat your brakes quite quickly. Just get the car stopped as soon as you can.

Cheers!

Dang

 

Just suppose...

The "reflash" was not only a BTO upgrade but also a fix for a firmware bug that was/is resulting in UA incidents...??

How, who, would ever know...??

 

Please see picture in the new thread, "SSC 90L Recall work on 2009 Camry Hybrid"

 

Checked BTO on my 2007 TCH, and it appears to be there. Both break and throttle applied, engine did not rev, car stopped easily.