Enhancement Of Product Appeal
Enhancement of Product AppealAddressing Minor Collision Damage
A large number of structures that minimize damage to the vehicle as much as possible during minor collisions* have been adopted, and measures listed below that keep the cost of the repair or replacement parts have been taken.
*: Collision with off-set rate 40% and vehicle speed by 15 km/h
1. Front
^ The retaining stays for the headlights have been provided separately from the housing to make it less susceptible to damage during a collision.
^ The construction and the strength of the front side member has been optimized to restrain the amount of deformation during a collision as much as possible.
^ The number of brackets that secure the front bumper in place has been minimized to reduce the number of replacement parts.
^ A large number of bolt-on structures have been adopted for various parts in the front area so that the repair time can be shortened.
^ The A/C condenser, radiator, air cleaner, front height control valve, pipes, and wiring harnesses have been optimally located to minimize damage to the expensive parts during a collision as much as possible.
^ The center and side areas of the front bumper have been significantly extended to reduce body damage.
2. Rear
^ To achieve a construction that can efficiently absorb the impact energy during a collision, the following measures have been taken: the strength of the rear floor side member has been optimized, the construction of the rear bumper has been optimized, and the rear bumper reinforcements and rear bumper arms made of aluminum have been adopted.
^ The number of brackets that secure the rear bumper in place has been reduced in order to reduce the number of replacement parts as much as possible.
Seat
1. Front Seat
Magnesium has been adopted as the material for the front seatback frame. The areas where the spring, headrest adjuster, and headrest support are mounted have been composite-formed for reducing weight and the number of parts.
2. Rear Seat
^ CRS (Child Restraint System) lower anchorage for securing child seats, which complies with FMVSS225 (regulation concerning anchoring devices designed exclusively for securing a child seat), has been provided behind the seat cushion of both outer rear seats.
^ Three CRS anchor brackets for securing a child seat have been provided above the package tray trim.
Seat Belt
1. General
^ The front and rear seats are provided with an electrical sensing type seat belt pretensioner and a seat belt force limiter. In the beginning of a collision, the seat belt pretensioner instantly pulls up the seat belt thus providing the excellent belt's effectiveness in restraining the occupant.
When the impact of a collision causes the tension of the seat belt applied to the occupant to reach a predetermined level, the force limiter restrains the tension, thus controlling the force applied to the occupant's chest area.
^ In accordance with the ignition signal from the airbag sensor assembly, the seat belt pretensioner activates simultaneously with the deployment of the SRS airbags for the driver and front passenger.
^ The driver seat is provided with ELR (Emergency Locking Retractor) seat belt, and passenger seats are provided with ALR (Automatic Locking Retractor)/ELR (Emergency Locking Retractor) seat belts~
^ Seat belt pretensioner and seat belt force limiter of the front passenger seat will not operate with no occupant in the seat. Occupant detection sensor and seat belt buckle switch detect where or not the occupant is in the seat.
^ Illumination has been provided in the seat belt buckle for the driver and front passenger seats to improve their nighttime visibility.
^ Seat belt comfort guide for children are provided on the both sides of rear seats~
2. Seat Belt Buckle Illumination
Illumination has been provided in the seat belt buckle for the driver and front passenger seats, as well as for the rear passenger seats on the models with power seats, to improve their nighttime visibility. This illumination, which uses an LED (Light Emitting Diode), operates independently for the driver seat and the front passenger seat. They illuminate when the front doors are opened. Upon closing the doors, they remain illuminated for approximately 15 seconds and then turn OFF The belt buckles for both the right and left rear passenger seats illuminate if one of the rear doors is opened. After both doors are closed, they remain illuminated for approximately 15 seconds, and then turn OFF. However. after all the doors are closed and then locked, the belt buckle illumination for both the front and rear seats turns OFF even if it is less than 15 seconds.
3. Seat Belt Comfort Guide
Seat belt comfort guides for children have been adopted on the both sides of rear seats. With this device, the belt guide can be slid to reduce the discomfort when the normal seat belt position would be too close to the person who is wearing the seat belt.
Internal Trunk Release Handle
An internal trunk release handle is included inside the trunk in case a person inadvertently locks oneself within the trunk and needs to free oneself The handle is made of phosphorescent so that it is visible in the trunk for a while even after the trunk has been closed.
Luggage Door Hinge
Four-link type hinges have been adopted for the luggage door. These hinges, which eliminate the protrusion of the door hinges into the luggage compartment when the luggage door is closed, effectively increase the luggage compartment capacity and helps to prevent luggage from being damaged.
Windshield and Door Glass
^ Low-reflection glass has been adopted for the windshield to restrain the reflection of the dashboard on the glass as much as possible.
^ Door glass that is constructed of two layers of semi-reinforced glass is offered as an option.
Manual Sunshade
Manual sunshades for the rear door window are offered as an option. The one in front of the division garnish opens and closes vertically and the one behind opens fore and aft.
Paint
^ High-solid clear paint that has minimal volumetric shrinkage can give fit body paint finish appearance, especially gloss to LEXUS quality.
^ TSOP (The Super Olefin Polymer) has been adopted as the material for the front and rear bumpers, and a top-coat clear paint that has minimal volumetric shrinkage can give fit appearance to LEXUS quality. The baking temperature has been lowered to minimize the thermal shrinkage of the material.
^ The black solid (color number 202) has been made acid-rain resistant. As a result, outstanding acid-rain protection have been taken on all the paint colors.