PCS Pre-Collision System
 

A couple of weeks ago, I drove a NX200t. I was very positively impressed by the car.
I have a question related to a statement made by the sales guy.
He said that the PCS works when the cruise control is engaged, ONLY.
This does not make sense as you need this safety feature at all times.
The MB GLK and the Volvo XC60 they have the feature all the times on.
Please clarify if the sales guy was correct or not
Thanks

Dynamic Cruise is one piece of the PCS, stomping on the breaks to deter a crash is another...

from http://www.lexus.com/models/NX/safety

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...470096390f.jpg

I don't want to test it for obvious reasons ;) but the sales rep is misinformed. Here are the operating instructions on the PCS. There is no mention anywhere that DRCC must be enabled or is a pre-requisite (i.e p305). :thumbup:

I have a 2013 ES300H with PCS. The PCS does work without engaging the cruise control. One day I ran a red light and almost rear ended a vehicle in front of me. The PCS itself activated by slamming the brakes (the instrument panel turns bloody red with "BRAKE!"). For a few seconds that follows, the vehicle did not respond to my throttle/gas pedal (computer resetting?) because the traffic was moving again. It sure saved me from paying the repair bills and insurance premium increase.
On YouTube I seen people tested their Prius with PCS by putting together empty cardboard boxes in the middle of street. Hope this information helps!

Here is an interesting video showing a test of the PCS. Doesn't answer your question specifically but interesting nonetheless.

Thanks for posting the manual pages Corrado - as usual, you are the man!! Another reason having the full electronic manual would be nice. Easier to cut and paste posts on here :)

Manual shows that you don't need to have the radar cruise engaged for the PCS to work. Kind of the point of having it. I have it on my current car and love it. It can be a bit disruptive at times but never dangerous. Definitely worth the peace of mind and the cost of the option is more than covered with one single deductible from a rear ender


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I couldn't get the PCS to activate on its own while driving my new CPO 2015 NX200t AWD back from Ft. Myers, FL. The Adaptive Cruise Control worked like a champ though. In bumper to bumper traffic in Atlanta it allowed me to never have to put the brake on. If you do put the brake on you have to reactivate cruise control. When traffic slows ahead of you your NX matches that speed. To go faster you have to change lanes to a clear lane with faster moving traffic.

I believe it would take driving straight at an object with PCS on to get it to slam the brakes on. I'm not willing to do that, but hope it is working as I can't always drive with cruise control on.

Lexus/ Toyota disappointingly only use a very basic collision mitigation system that is radar based. Like virtually all manufacturers they source these systems from companies such as Delphi or Bosch. This is a multifunction radar and takes responsibility for the active cruise control as well.

Car manufacturers can then set the inherent characteristics of their radar unit. Mercedes tend to set their radars more aggressive for crash avoidance compared to Toyota which focusses on crash mitigation.

Manufacturers can augment the basic radar unit with their own systems. Volvo adds a laser for the 'city brake' feature. Subaru adds cameras in their 'eyesight system' and Tesla adds cameras and ultrasonics to their 'Autopilot2.

Good to know. With a few exceptions, I know that Toyota/Lexus has implemented their safety suite on most 2017 vehicles. Just a bit disappointed that they choose not to be as proactive/aggressive on crash avoidance but more on crash mitigation.

Maybe it's better for Lexus if your crash, survive, and buy a new Lexus vs. not crashing and continuing to drive your 15yo Lexus.

I don't think the less aggressive set up by Toyota is necessarily a bad thing. Mercedes and Subaru have been criticised that their systems are too aggressive.

I often get the red flashing warning on my HUD to 'brake'. The brakes however are rarely primed or activated. The one time the brakes were primed by the system, a touch of the brake peddle caused a quite unexpected aggressive jolt of braking. The braking was a bit of overkill. There was little risk of me rear ending the guy infront but I was lucky no one was behind me or I may have been rear ended.

I think that Toyota learnt from the 'unintended acceleration' beat up and didn't want to be hounded for 'unintended deceleration'.