Technical Development

Chassis

Year
Month
Technology developed and applied
Applicable Vehicle
1947
 
Four-wheel independent suspension installed
SA compact passenger car
1955
 
Wishbone front suspension installed
Crown
1958
 
Ball joint suspension installed
Crown
1966
 
MacPherson strut front suspension installed
Corolla
1967
 
Radial tires, four-wheel double-wishbone suspension, magnesium disk wheels, four-wheel disk brakes, tilt steering wheel, and rack-and-pinion steering system employed
2000GT
 
Energy-absorbing steering column installed
Crown
 
Integral hydraulic power-steering system installed
Century
1971
 
Electronically controlled anti-skid brakes installed
Crown
1974
 
Drum-in-disk, four-wheel disk brakes installed
Crown
 
Speed-sensitive power steering installed
Crown
1976
 
Rear semi-trailing independent suspension installed
Mark II
1983
 
Toyota Electronically Modulated Suspension (TEMS) installed (a world first)
Soarer
 
Four-wheel electronic anti-skid control and progressive power steering installed
Crown
1984
November
Three-link front suspension with leading arms installed on SUVs
Land Cruiser
1985
 
Microcomputer-controlled tilt and telescopic steering wheel/system installed
Crown
1986
January
Electronically controlled full air suspension (spring constant, variable attenuation force) installed (a world first)
Soarer
January
Cast aluminum upper arm developed (a world first for mass-produced cars)
Soarer
 
Hydraulic-reaction-force, electronically controlled power steering installed
Mark II
1987
September
Traction Control (TRC), the first traction-control system by a Japanese manufacturer, employed
Crown
September
Motorized tilt/telescoping steering column installed (a Toyota first)
Crown
December
Subframe-mounted strut suspension installed
Corona
1988
 
Airbags installed (a Toyota first)
Crown
1989
May
Four-link suspension with lateral rod installed as rear suspension on SUVs
Hilux Surf
September
High-mount upper arm and double wishbone suspension installed
Lexus LS400, Celsior
September
Toyota Active Control Suspension (the first such suspension in the world) installed
Celica
September
Dual-mode four-wheel steering installed
Celica
October
High-performance twin-tube shock absorber developed (a world first)
First-generation Celsior
October
Piezo TEMS (Toyota electronic modulated suspension) developed (a world first)
Celsior
 
Electro Hydraulic Power Steering (EHPS) installed (a Toyota first)
MR2
1990
May
Chassis control technology receives the Technical Development Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan,. Later, the technology won the Medal for New Technology from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.
 
May
Double wishbone rear suspension installed on minivans
Estima
1991
 
Super Strut Suspension developed
Corolla
May
Full-active suspension and active rear steering comprehensive system developed (a world first)
Soarer
1992
October
i-Four comprehensive vehicle control system developed
Crown Majesta
1994
October
Toyota's first mass-produced gated automatic transmission shifter employed with the Celsior shift control system
Celsior
October
Sky-hook air suspension employed
Celsior
1995
August
Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system employed
Crown Majesta
1996
 
Automatic transmission column shift lever, with a passenger-car feel, developed
Noah
May
Coupled torsion-beam rear suspension installed
Ipsum
1997
August
Active Rear Steer (ARS) system installed
Aristo (turbo version)
May
Brake Assist offered as standard
Raum
October
Pinion-type Electric Power Steering (EPS) adopted
Prius
October
Coupled beam suspension with toe control link (inter-beam) developed
Prius
October
World's first regenerative braking system developed
Prius
1998
January
Suspension system combining Active Height Control (AHC) and Skyhook TEMS newly developed (a world first)
Land Cruiser 100
January
Variable brake-pedal ratio and small-bore, long-stroke master cylinder employed
Land Cruiser
1999
August
Antilock brake system with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) developed
Land Cruiser Prado, Fun Cargo, Celica
September
Electronically controlled air suspension combining nonlinear H-infinity control of damping force and roll-orientation control developed
Crown
2000
 
Forged-aluminum, high-mount knuckle developed
Celsior
 
Column-type electric power steering (brushed motor) adopted
Corolla
2001
January
First run-flat tires for a mass-production vehicle in the company's lineup employed
Soarer, Lexus SC 430
May
L-shaped lower arm made from 780 MPa-class high tensile strength steel developed
Ipsum
May
Full regenerative braking system using a brake-by-wire system (ECB) installed
Estima Hybrid
2002
August
Variable Gear Ratio Steering (VGRS) installed
Land Cruiser 100
August
Quiet Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system with gear pump adopted
Celica, Caldina, MR2
2003
January
Supplemental brake-force distribution and antilock brake system added to Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system
Yaris
August
High-performance monotube shock absorber employed. Exclusive designs for all structural components implemented by focusing on axial force characteristics in minute amplitude area, attenuation force characteristics with no delay from input, and smooth axial force characteristics.
Celsior
November
Mass production of the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS) starts (the first mass production of such a suspension system in the world)
Lexus GX 470
 
Automatic transmission shift-by-wire gearshift employed (a Toyota mass-production first)
Prius
September
Steering-assisted Vehicle Stability Control (S-VSC), which harmoniously controls VSC and electronic power steering, employed
Prius
December
Five-link multilink suspension installed
Crown
December
Rack coaxial electronically controlled power steering installed (a Toyota first)
Crown
2004
July
Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management (VDIM) first employed
Crown Majesta
2005
February
Pipe torsion beam developed
Vitz
August
VDIM integrated with active steering control employed (the first mass production of such an integrated system in the world)
Lexus GS 430
August
Electronically controlled, active stabilizer suspension system employed (a world first). Later, the technology won the Medal for New Technology from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Lexus GS 430
November
Core-based, run-flat tires (a world first for mass-production vehicles) offered as option
RAV4 (European models)
November
Trailing-arm wishbone suspension installed
RAV4
November
Column-type electric power steering (brushless motor) adopted
RAV4
 
Variable volume pump employed with hydraulic power steering (a Toyota first)
Century
2006
 
Pre-collision System featuring a vehicle-front pedestrian detection system and collision-avoidance steering support
 
 
Double-joint, multi-link front suspension developed
 
September
Electric Parking Brake (EPB) with shift-linked function (world's first), all-speed Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Pre-collision System adopted
Lexus LS 460
September
Variable Gear Ratio Steering (VGRS) integrated with electric power steering gears installed (a Toyota first)
Lexus LS
2007
September
Improved KDSS developed
Land Cruiser
September
Crawl Control off-road-driving system developed (the first such system in the world)
Land Cruiser 200
2009
May
Electronically-Controlled Braking-Regeneration (ECB-R) system for mass-produced cars adopted
Prius
2012
January
Lexus Dynamic Handling System, a four-wheel active steering system, installed (a first in Japan)
Lexus GS

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