EURO NCAP Awards Five Stars to the New Lexus NX 300h

Euro NCAP gives new luxury crossover a top five-star rating

The new Lexus NX 300h’s impressive sales momentum is set to gather pace with the news it is one of the safest cars in its class.

The independent crash testing organisation Euro NCAP has given the luxury hybrid crossover a top five-star rating for the effectiveness of its measures to protect adults and children inside the car, and pedestrians.

In the four elements in the test programme, the NX 300h scored 82 per cent for both adult and child occupant protection, 69 per cent for pedestrian protection and 71 per cent for safety assist – systems that help avoid or mitigate injuries in a collision.

In its report on adult occupant protection, Euro NCAP highlighted the maximum points score the Lexus achieved in its side barrier impact test, demonstrating the good protection it provides for all critical body areas.

Tests on the front seats and head restraints and geometric assessment of the rear head restraints indicated good protection against whiplash injury in a rear end collision.

In the child occupant tests, the NX 300h scored well for the protection given to 18-month and three-year-old children, and in the pedestrian protection category the front bumper provided “good or adequate” protection to the legs.

Where safety assist performance is concerned, the NX demonstrated “good performance,” thanks mainly to the Pre-Crash Safety system, Electronic Stability Control, and alerts for front and rear occupants to fasten their seatbelts.

The NX 300h benefits from many additional safety features that are not scrutinised under the Euro NCAP test programme, including option Lane Keep Assist, Adaptive High Beam, a blind spot monitor and 360-degree Panoramic View Monitor.

Lexus safety reaches new heights in the NX 300h.

• New Lexus NX 300h benefits from impressive preventive, active and passive safety features
• First UK Lexus to be equipped with Pre-Crash Safety system and Adaptive Cruise Control as standard on all versions
• Robust body structure designed to absorb and disperse impact forces
• Cabin equipped with eight airbags and whiplash injury-lessening seats
• New NX 300h available to order now, customer deliveries from October

Lexus takes its advanced vehicle safety technology to another level with the new NX 300h, which will be its first UK model to be fitted as standard with radar-controlled systems to help prevent an accident happening.

All versions of the NX 300h, Lexus’s first compact crossover, will be equipped with a Pre-Crash Safety system and Adaptive Cruise Control as part of a comprehensive array of active, passive and preventive safety features. Together these demonstrate the priority Lexus has given to securing the best protection for everyone on board.

Pre-Crash Safety system

The Pre-Crash Safety system uses a millimetre-wave radar sensor in the front grille to detect vehicles and other obstacles on the road ahead. If there is a high risk of a collision, PCS will alert the driver with a buzzer and visual warning, activate the Pre-Crash Seatbelt pretensioners, and, when the driver begins to brake, provide Pre-Crash Brake Assist to supplement the braking effort. If the driver does not brake and a collision becomes inevitable, the Pre-Crash Brake will automatically apply the brakes to reduce impact speed and lessen the consequences of the impact.

All-speed Adaptive Cruise Control

The NX 300h’s Adaptive Cruise Control uses the same front-mounted millimetre-wave radar sensor as the Pre-Crash Safety system and steering sensors to recognise a vehicle ahead and maintain a safe distance.  The latest development of Lexus’s technology works at all speeds, even down to standstill. Once on the move again, the system will automatically accelerate back to the pre-selected speed.

Active safety

The active safety package includes Lane Keep Assist, Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Cross Traffic Alert.

Lane Keep Assist with steering control sounds a warning buzzer if it judges that the vehicle is about cross lane markings without using the turn indicators. Appropriate steering assistance is initiated to help avoid moving out of lane.

The Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Cross Traffic Alert use millimetre-wave radars on each side of the NX that detect vehicles moving in the driver’s blind spot, or approaching from either side when the car is being reversed out of a parking space. Both systems warn the driver of nearby vehicles by triggering lights in the door mirror on the appropriate side of the car.

The NX 300h is equipped with daytime running lights, a rear-view camera and front and rear fog lamps, as well as numerous electronic safety and handling systems. These include and emergency brake signal, Vehicle Stability Control traction control, ABS with brake assist and electronic Brakeforce distribution and Hill-start Assist Control.

Automatic high beam

The automatic high beam function (standard on the NX 300h F Sport and Premier) uses a windscreen-mounted camera to detect both on-coming traffic and vehicles ahead. It automatically switches the LED headlamps to high beam when the road ahead is clear, and to low beam to prevent other road uses being dazzled.

Passive safety

In line with Lexus’s stringent car-to-car impact compatibility standards, the NX 300h has been created with the aim of achieving class-leading performance.

Front and side impact protection measures include the use of high tensile strength sheet steel (up to 980Mpa) in key areas, including the centre pillar hinge reinforcement, outer rockers and roof cross-members. In a collision, side impact load is direct to the floor through cross-members built into the rockers beneath the centre pillars.

The roof impact resistance structure disperses load when the roof is crushed, minimising cabin distortion. It includes front pillar reinforcement and high-strength steel reinforcements in the centre pillars, and reinforcement around the seatbelt anchors.

In the cabin there are energy-absorbing structures in the pillars and headlining and impact-absorbing pads in the front and rear door trims, alongside the occupants’ lumbar region. All models are fitted with Whiplash Injury-Lessening front seats.

Airbags

All versions of the NX 300h come with eight airbags, including a dual-stage driver’s airbag, dual-stage and dual-chamber front passenger airbag, driver’s knee airbag, front passenger cushion airbag, front side airbags and full-length curtain airbags.

Pedestrian Protection

Pedestrian protection provisions include an energy-absorbing structure for the bonnet and wing mounting bracket and an impact-absorbing structure for the cowl. Energy-absorbing material is used in the front of the bumper and beneath the radiator support, to reduce the risk of leg injuries.

Lexus celebrates the first NX of the line in Japan.

The arrival of the first NX with UK customers is a little closer following the official start of production ceremony at Lexus’s Miyata plant in Japan today.

Lexus has already taken 6,500 orders for NX in Japan, with many more globally. Over 350 UK customers have submitted their orders for NX 300h, and deliveries commence in October.

While the Miyata plant has responsibility for finished vehicle manufacturing, the neighbouring Kanda engine production plant has had a new lease of life thanks to the start of NX production.

Following the decline in the global car market after 2008, production was reduced at Kanda with the shutdown of one of its two production lines. Today the second line returned to life and will supply the new 2.0-litre petrol turbo unit for the NX 200t variant. Lexus expects this engine to be popular in the US and Chinese markets.