Car Design News: New Toyota Auris: In Depth

7: Safety

Safety and strength

Excellent active safety control
Up-to nine SRS airbags
Five star Euro NCAP rating
Strong, impact absorbing body structure

With many C-segment cars going to family motorists, the practical issues of safety,durability and care for the environment are high on the agenda. Auris has been designed from the outset with these cares and concerns in mind.

Auris is not only great to drive. As with all Toyota product, Auris durability, reliability and its core ability to keep occupants safe is paramount.

The all-new platform on which Auris is based is rigid and strong to provide the underlying structure for excellent driving performance and driver control. Active safety through excellent driver control, the ability to avoid the accident in the first place, is a major priority.

Active safety controls

More effective braking
Anti-lock with EBD standard
Vehicle Stability and Traction Control

Large diameter wheels and tyres (a choice of 16â€�'or 17â€�') not only suit the sports styling of Auris but also allow room for the large, effective disc brakes. Ventilated discs are available at the front with high-friction pads for excellent brake feel and minimal fade. The rear brakes are solid discs and the aluminium brake callipers are designed with an integrated parking brake for low maintenance.

Braking control under all road conditions is provided by the standard anti-lock braking system with electronic brake force distribution (EBD) and brake assist. This ensures that maximum brake pressure is applied when the driver steps on the pedal with high speed.

Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and Traction Control (TRC) are available either standard or optional depending on the market to provide safe, controllable handling in extreme conditions. The VSC and the traction control can be switched offas separate functions.

Passive safety features

Extra attention to pedestrian impact
Driverâ€™s knee airbag standard
ISOfix child seat mountings

Auris passive safety features have been carefully designed to offer maximum protection in a wide range of collision scenarios simulated in the safety studio and by analysis of available data from real world crash accident research. Auris was awarded a maximum five star rating for adult occupant protection, 4 star for child protection and 3 star for pedestrian protection in Euro-NCAP crash tests.

Particular attention has been paid to the frontal design to reduce the effect of pedestrian impact. Bumper and radiator mountings have shock absorbing qualities. The bonnet structure has been redesigned to absorb impact energy and the bonnet catch moved down and away from the design surface.

A crushable structure is adopted at the rear of the bonnet and the wiper pivot has sufficient space beneath it to drop away should it be struck.

Auris is available with up-to nine airbags including a driverâ€™s knee airbag which is a significant advance for C-segment models. This helps protect the driverâ€™s knee from collision with the steering column and lowers the stressing forces on the upper leg and the hip.

Other airbags available include front SRS airbags, side airbags for driver and front seat passengers and curtain shield airbags that will protect the head and shoulders of front and rear seat occupants from a side impact.

ISOfix child seat restraint mountings are provided in the rear seats with top tethers. Rear seat belts have individual belt guides to ensure accurate fitting.

Front seats feature an active anti-whiplash protection with specially designed head restraints and seat frames. The second generation Whiplash Injury Lessening (WIL) seat frame structure helps minimise harmful movement in the event of a rear impact.

Impact absorbing structure

Designed for minimal cabin intrusion
Collision tested for all directions

The Auris body structure is designed to be impact absorbing and has been developed with effective safety features for collisions from all directions. This includes front and side impacts at 55 km/h and a rear-end collision at 55 km/h.

The strategy with the crash protection is MICS (Minimal Intrusion Cabin System) where reinforcementsand structural members are placed to disperse impact energy around the passenger compartment and minimise the risk of injury to the occupants. Specific items include high tension sheet steel in reinforcements, cross members, tunnel bracing, and roof reinforcement.

Door impact beams help reduce intrusion in side impact and disperse energy around the body. In addition, impact absorbing material in the door panels and trim helps to suppress impact.

Environment

Environmental concerns take priority

Care has been taken throughout the design and build of Auris to use materials and techniques which will reduce the impact of the car on the environment throughout its life-cycle.

Recycling information and labelling is displayed on plastic parts, including the bumpers and instrument panel. The primary areas of the instrument panel are polypropylene which is fully recyclable and inorganic material which is used for the silicone coating on the weather shields.

Non-vinyl chloride materials are used in the roof moulding and side mouldings while further reduction of environmental impact has been achieved through the painting process, which has been optimized in terms of overspray and recirculation of residuals.