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
|
