Effort-free
Technology gurus at Toyota went to great lengths to not only create a plush interior, but also to prevent its occupants from having to make unpleasant efforts.
One of the most talked-about highlights of the LS 600h L is the ability to automatically park itself. That's right: this Lexus offers an Advanced Parking Guidance System -- a first in the industry. I had the chance to try it out and assess its functionality during a media launch in Arizona, a few months ago. At first, I was impressed.
But then, during more recent tests in normal winter conditions, reality came back to bite me. True, you can virtually let the stately Lexus steer itself into the parking space; all you have to do is to control the speed and monitor the process both via the windows and on the dashboard-mounted ACL display of the rearview camera.
However, each time I tried to recreate my perfect parking maneuvers at Toyota's Proving Grounds in Arizona, I was humbly reminded of my own incompetence. I spent far too much time setting the exact location on the screen where I wanted to back up into, and each time, the car ended up askew or too far from my intended target. After multiple failed attempts, I quickly resorted to a good old-fashioned trick: engaging reverse, looking over my right shoulder and using a simple tool called a steering wheel to back up all by myself. Was that so hard? Not at all. Plus, it only took a few seconds and the car was precisely where I wanted it to be.
Bottom line: this system, which seems to take one's incompetence behind the wheel for granted, does not fare better than a good driver.
Avoiding collisions
Fortunately, the other safety systems of the Lexus LS 600h L prove a lot more impressive. Take the Advanced Pre-Collision System, for instance. It senses an impending collision and automatically initiates steps to reduce the potential for injuries. Using milli-wave radar sensors to monitor the area in front of the car and the behavior of the driver, this technology alerts the driver through visual and auditory signals when a collision is imminent. If the driver does not react accordingly, it will initiate automatic braking and pre-emptively retract the driver and front passenger seatbelts, among other things.
Technology gurus at Toyota went to great lengths to not only create a plush interior, but also to prevent its occupants from having to make unpleasant efforts.
One of the most talked-about highlights of the LS 600h L is the ability to automatically park itself. That's right: this Lexus offers an Advanced Parking Guidance System -- a first in the industry. I had the chance to try it out and assess its functionality during a media launch in Arizona, a few months ago. At first, I was impressed.
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| The Advanced Parking Guidance System requires some getting used to. |
But then, during more recent tests in normal winter conditions, reality came back to bite me. True, you can virtually let the stately Lexus steer itself into the parking space; all you have to do is to control the speed and monitor the process both via the windows and on the dashboard-mounted ACL display of the rearview camera.
However, each time I tried to recreate my perfect parking maneuvers at Toyota's Proving Grounds in Arizona, I was humbly reminded of my own incompetence. I spent far too much time setting the exact location on the screen where I wanted to back up into, and each time, the car ended up askew or too far from my intended target. After multiple failed attempts, I quickly resorted to a good old-fashioned trick: engaging reverse, looking over my right shoulder and using a simple tool called a steering wheel to back up all by myself. Was that so hard? Not at all. Plus, it only took a few seconds and the car was precisely where I wanted it to be.
Bottom line: this system, which seems to take one's incompetence behind the wheel for granted, does not fare better than a good driver.
Avoiding collisions
Fortunately, the other safety systems of the Lexus LS 600h L prove a lot more impressive. Take the Advanced Pre-Collision System, for instance. It senses an impending collision and automatically initiates steps to reduce the potential for injuries. Using milli-wave radar sensors to monitor the area in front of the car and the behavior of the driver, this technology alerts the driver through visual and auditory signals when a collision is imminent. If the driver does not react accordingly, it will initiate automatic braking and pre-emptively retract the driver and front passenger seatbelts, among other things.
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| I tested the Advanced Pre-Collision System at Toyota's Proving Grounds in Arizona. |