Toyota battled back against hurricane of negative publicity, Congressional calls for action

Controversy takes new twist as Toyota and engineering consultancy Exponent Inc. demonstrated test results unlikely to happen in real-world conditions

Test conducted for Safety Research and Strategies Inc. by Dr. David Gilbert, associate professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

Exponent team also showed design of Toyota's wiring is engineered to prevent potential for kind of failure Gilbert's testing generated

Toyota also asked a mostly unrelated 3rd party to examine the evidence both Gilbert and Exponent presented

Done by Dr. J. Christian Gerdes, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University and director of Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS)

Gilbert's testing and testimony of Gilbert and Safety Research and Strategies founder Sean Kane significant at hearings

Repeatedly was invoked by members of House of Representatives in hearings last month

As strong evidence Toyota's electronically controlled throttle design could be compromised and explain years' worth of problems

Exponent engineers showed how a series of improbable conditions would have to occur to deliver wide-open throttle Gilbert's test was able to simulate

They also stressed that if such conditions did affect the wiring of electronic throttle pedal assembly, there would be visible evidence

Research conducted by Exponent convincingly refuted the testimony from Safety Research and Strategies' Dr. David Gilbert that was used in testimony