Lexus has significantly upgraded safety levels on its luxury 4WD wagon.

The year 2000 model Lexus LX470 has vehicle swerve control (VSC), 4WD traction control (4WD TRC), brake assist and ABS with electronic force brake distribution (EBD).

Lexus VSC provides optimal traction in cornering, complementing the way in which ABS maximises traction and stability under braking. VSC dampens strong understeer or oversteer, to ensure vehicle stability while four-wheel-drive traction control helps to provide optimal traction under acceleration.

.Lexus VSC has been provided in Australia for the last two years on Lexus LS400 and GS300.

Brake Assist is standard equipment on Year 2000 model Lexus LS400 and GS300, as well as the luxury 4WD LX470.

It is designed to assist in an emergency braking situation where the driver cannot apply the high pedal force required to obtain the shortest possible braking distance.

The new LX470 brake system has ABS with electronic brake force distribution (EBD), a sophisticated electronic replacement for the brake system’s load-sensing, proportioning and by-pass valve.

EBD uses the ABS control unit to achieve a more ideal brake force distribution between the front and rear wheels, according to road conditions (available traction) and vehicle load. It allows front and rear braking force to more closely match the ideal curve under all vehicle load conditions.

Lexus has also adopted 4WD TRC (four wheel drive traction control) on LX470. Traction control is now standard equipment on the LS400, GS300, IS200 and LX470 models.

The electronically controlled 4WD TRC system supersedes the need for a rear differential lock on LX470, providing added safety in off road 4WD conditions, particularly hill climbs and descents.

In a conventional vehicle, if a tyre slips (spins) while the vehicle is being driven on a snow-covered road or off-road, the differential gear causes a large amount of torque to be applied to the tyre that is slipping.

The 4WD TRC system helps restrain potential wheel slippage by controlling the engine’s power output and by applying brake pressure to the wheel that has broken traction.

It also distributes the driving force, which would have been lost through the wheel slippage, to the remaining wheels - thereby achieving a similar effect to a differential lock.

The Lexus 4WD TRC system can independently control brake pressure to the four wheels according to the extent of slippage detected by the ABS system’s four wheel-speed sensors.

Additional features on the 2000 year model LX470 include a polished wooden, leather combination steering wheel and polished wooden, leather combination gear-shift selector gear knob.