The New Lexus GS | Part Three

Exceptional safety comes as standard with the new Lexus GS, a car designed from the start to meet the highest Euro NCAP requirements for passenger protection.

All versions are equipped with ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), Traction Control (TRC) and Vehicle Stability Control (VSC).

Passive safety systems include 10 airbags, including knee airbags for driver and front seat passenger and front and rear curtain shield airbags. All models except the entry-level GS300 also feature rear passenger side airbags. Both front and outer rear passenger seatbelts have pretensioners and force limiters and there are ISOFIX attachments for the secure location of compatible child seats.

The GS430 model is the first in Europe to deploy Lexus’s Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management (VDIM), which co-ordinates the functions of the ABS, EBD, TRC and VSC together with the Electric Power Steering and Variable Gear Ratio Steering to ensure they operate as smoothly and effectively as possible, as the car reaches the limit of its performance.

Adaptive Cruise Control (standard on the GS430, optional on the GS300 SE-L) uses radar technology to ensure you keep a safe distance from the car in front and is linked to Lexus’s Pre-Crash Safety system. This uses the same network of sensors to determine when a collision becomes inevitable and prepares the seatbelts and the emergency braking system to deliver the optimum performance at the split second they are needed.

Pedestrian safety has also been carefully addressed, with the bonnet, engine cowl and front bumper having a crushable design. The bonnet is shaped to disperse impact energy over a larger area and also to lessen the risk of serious head injuries, by off-setting the angle of head impact.

Safer night-time driving is enabled, thanks to High Intensity Discharge headlamps with Lexus’s Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS). Standard on all GS models, AFS monitors the vehicle’s turning radius and moves the angle of the headlamp beams to improve forward lighting through bends in the road.