Using technology successfully proven
in World Rally Championship (WRC) competition, Lexus will introduce the world's
first production application of the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS)
in the award-winning GX 470 luxury utility vehicle. The new suspension system
becomes available as an option next month.
KDSS brings new levels of handling, ride comfort and off-road capability to
the already highly capable GX 470. While these attributes are typically difficult
to improve together, KDSS allows a different suspension tuning approach that
provides notable improvements in each area.
"The benefits of this simple yet sophisticated system are really significant,
making the
GX 470 more capable and comfortable in a wide variety of driving conditions,"
said Lexus Group Vice President and General Manager Denny Clements.
By employing a simple hydraulic control system acting on both front and rear
stabilizer bars, KDSS varies the degree of roll stiffness provided by each of
the bars in response to changing road conditions and driver inputs. But rather
than increasing roll stiffness, the system reduces it as conditions require.
With its variable roll stiffness, a KDSS-equipped GX 470 is able to use much
larger stabilizer bars that help reduce maximum body roll angle by nearly 50
percent, significantly improving handling response.
Large stabilizer bars would normally mean a stiff ride over single-wheel bumps,
but with KDSS, the energy is distributed between front and rear so that ride
comfort is not disturbed. In some cases it's actually better. Larger stabilizer
bars also mean that shock absorber damping force can be better optimized to
improve ride comfort, without sacrificing handling.
The front and rear stabilizer bars, which have nearly double the standard torsional
stiffness, are supported by their own inter-connecting hydraulic cylinders.
In normal cornering, the bars work conventionally to resist body roll motion
and there is no fluid flow between the cylinders. But when unequal wheel loading
occurs in certain conditions, fluid can move between the front and rear cylinders,
helping to equalize loading.
The constantly changing and variable terrain that's typical of most off-road
situations highlights the benefits of KDSS. Stiff stabilizer bars can limit
off-road performance because the inside wheels tend to lift and lose traction
when outside wheels encounter bumps. But with KDSS, the hydraulic cylinders
allow the wheels on each axle to move with a larger degree of side-to-side independence,
minimizing any tendency for wheel lift. The increased suspension articulation
freedom helps maximize traction, even in the most challenging off-road driving
situations.
KDSS works in concert with Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS), which continuously
changes shock absorber damping in response to road conditions and driver input.
Combining these suspension technologies helps provide superior ride and handling
and maximum traction both on and off-road.
The GX 470 continues to provide high levels of luxury and convenience, and
now even higher levels of performance in a very competitive segment. Pricing
for the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System will be announced later this year.
