Alot of new cars have radar guides cruise control so it maintians a set distance behind the guy infront of you.
To me it seems like a pretty simple system, a little program which constantly monitors teh radar output, if it notices the rate of you approaching/falling behind is too much it sends a signal to the throttle for more or less input.
Being as the LS 400 is drive by wire, to me it seems simple to install a piggyback style system to have adaptive cruise control. Just not hte best at coding.
ANyone ever attempt a retrofit of one of these systems?

 

Radar adaptive cruise is a complex and expensive system. We (i.e. our insurance company) just paid over $2,000 to have a radar sensor replaced - it was damaged in a collision so minor that it was hard to tell there was any damage to the car. The car has a steering wheel control button that toggles among three different following distances. Audible alarms sound in various situations. The adaptive cruise feature can be turned on or off with another steering wheel mounted switch.

There are all sorts of safety and radar alignment issues with adaptive radar cruise. The new radar sensor I mentioned had to be aligned just right using a software program built into the car before it worked correctly.

 

The Celsior (JDM LS400) came with radar cruise control so that might help you out.

 

thanks sc0pe, that would be a much better and safer option than making my own. I will look into it, thanks!

 

No problem haha, if you check out your preferred JDM auction site, you should be able to find a Celsior front bumper with the sensors built in. I'm not exactly sure of the particular characteristics of a radar bumper though, so I would wait for another member to chime in. The Celsior also came with laser-guided cruise control (I almost typed in cruise missile... ) so that could be another option for you.

 

ill soem some laser guides cruise missiles. bond style.

 

You can install it buying parts for your Celsior. The link below is all in Japanese but photos will help you how it should be installed. http://celsiorup.com/custom20/2096RadarCruise1.htm

 

I'm pretty sure that it was laser cruise control that was available as an option on the 98-00 Celsior. Even though the system used lasers, the documentation sometimes used the word "radar" to describe the system. Toyota stopped using laser cruise control technology in 2006 if I remember correctly. Toyota and other manufactures are all now using much more reliable radar based systems. The first U.S. vehicle on which Toyota first used a radar based cruise control system was the 2004 LS430 with the Ultra Luxury or Custom Luxury option with the Pre-Collision system. On LS430's without Pre-Collision, the cruise control was laser based.

 

Kansas is correct! I would just add that it was not only documentation that used the (erroneous) term "radar", but also the status display in the instrument panel - even when the laser-based system was installed.