Toyota E.S.V. to be shown

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33958, 26 September 1975, Page 12

Toyota E.S.V. to be shown

Now on display in Christchurch and soon in other South Island centres, is the Toyota experimental safety vehicle, the E.S.V. 11. One of about 100 such cars built by the Japanese firm for testing and demonstrations, it is worth between 830,000 and 860,000.

The Toyota E.S.V. is the same as cars which have already been crash-tested successfully in the United States. A two-seater, its features include radar-oper-ated air-bags, very heavy interior padding, an energy-absorbing frame and bumpers, safety seats, and headlights which automatically switch to main beam at 72 km/h. Some of the design features of the E.S.V. have been incorporated in the latest Toyota production models.

The construction of the Toyota vehicles arose from United States Government moves about five years ago. Heavier safety cars were commissioned from United States manufacturers for evaluation and testing, and overseas countries were asked to build lighter and smaller safety models.

The Toyota project started in 1971, and the cars took about three years to design, develop and build. Of the 100 cars made, more than 10 have been delivered to Governments for testing. When one of the Toy.otas was tested in the United States, it came through well. After an 80 km/h head-on collision with a pole, the doors could still be opened and “injuries” to the dummy passenger were negligible.

In a 50 km/h side-on crash ,with a heavier E.S.V., the vehicle was distorted about 10 cm, but the damage did not intrude into the protected passenger compartment. The bumpers proved capable of receiving a 15 km/h impact without damage.

The company says that I the E.S.V. is still several i years away from practical

commercial production, although features from it are already being used. The Toyota has a 1600 c.c. engine and automatic transmission. The large amount of heavy padding makes the interior a little claustrophobic at first, but less so than one might expect. Visibility is good and the over-all appearance of the car is surprisingly attractive. Unfortunately it was not possible to testdrive the car, but considering its weight and the power of the engine, performance would probably be fairly leisurely. The E.S.V.’s braking is an all-disc system with independent circuits and an electronic skid-control device. The brakes are power-assisted. The steering is rack and pinion — somewhat unusual on Japanese cars, which often have more vague systems — and the suspension is independent all round.

As well as the automatic high-beam system, the have transparent covers with built-in heating elements to prevent misting, and their own washer and wiper systems to keep them clear of mud and dirt. The car’s bodywork is designed to allow 60 cm of bodywork crush before the fuel tank can be damaged in a crash, and to stop the engine being pushed into the passenger compartment by more than 10 cm in an 80 km/h head-on crash.

The bumper shockabsorber systems are said

to take up about 13 per cent of the impact in an 80 km/h crash, and the passengers are provided with se 1 f-applying seat-belts which fasten around the occupants as the car doors are closed.

An air-bag is built into the dash in front of the passenger, and another is in the hub of the steering wheel for the driver.

Both are triggered either by a collision at more than 30 km/h, or when a radar sensor mounted behind the car’s radiator grille signals that the car is approaching a nearby solid object so rapidly that a collision is inevitable. Nobody, seemed quite sure whether the system would trigger the bags in a false crash situation such as that provided if a sheet of paper or cardboard blew towards the car on a motorway. However, the Toyota E.S.V. is the first car of its type to go on general display in New Zealand, and is an interesting guide to some of the features that may be seen in future cars. Golf GTI Volkswagen has just an* nounced a higher-perform-ance version of the Golf, known as the Golf GTI. The car has a 110 b.h.p. fuel injection 1588 c.c. engine giving a top speed of 181 km/h (113 m.p.h.) and excellent acceleration. Examples of the car may

appear in future Heatway rallies in New Zealand.