Lexus RX Achieves 5-Star ANCAP Rating

ANCAP has released a five-star safety rating for the Lexus RX, which was introduced to Australia in February 2023, applicable to all variants. The award is based on testing by Euro NCAP in Europe.

“The Lexus RX is another of our top performers, achieving high scores across all key areas of assessment, resulting in a five-star ANCAP safety rating,” said Carla Hoorweg, Chief Executive of ANCAP.

ADULT OCCUPANT PROTECTION

ANCAP said the passenger compartment of the RX remained stable in the frontal offset (MPDB) test. Dummy readings indicated marginal protection for the driver’s chest and adequate protection for the lower legs, while protection was good for all body regions of the front passenger.

The front structure presented a moderate risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle in the MPDB test – which evaluates vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility ­– and a 1.36-point penalty was applied.

In the full width frontal test, protection was rated as adequate for the driver’s chest and marginal for the rear passenger’s chest.

Good protection was offered to all other critical body regions of the driver and rear passenger.

In the side impact test, protection offered to all critical body regions of the driver was good. In the oblique pole test, protection was adequate for the chest of the driver and good for all other critical body regions.

The Lexus RX is equipped with a centre airbag to protect against occupant-to-occupant interaction in side impacts, providing protection for the head of both front seat occupants. However, additional information to demonstrate that the performance was robust and symmetrical was not provided and a one-point penalty was applied. Prevention of excursion – movement towards the other side of the vehicle – in the far side impact tests was assessed as good for the vehicle-to-vehicle impact scenario, and adequate in the vehicle-to-pole scenario.

CHILD OCCUPANT PROTECTION

In the frontal offset and side impact tests, protection of the 10-year and six-year dummies was good and maximum points were scored in these tests.

The RX is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.

Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia showed all selected child restraints could be accommodated in all rear seating positions and full points were scored for this assessment.

VULNERABLE ROAD USER PROTECTION

The bonnet of the RX provided a mix of good and adequate protection to the head of a struck pedestrian over most of its surface, with some weak and poor results recorded along the front of the bonnet and on the stiff windscreen pillars.

The bumper provided good protection to pedestrians’ legs and protection of the pelvis was also good.

The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system is capable of detecting and reacting to vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. Testing of this system showed good performance in pedestrian and cyclist test scenarios, including in reverse (AEB back over) and turning scenarios. Maximum points were scored for both the pedestrian and cyclist AEB assessment.

SAFETY ASSIST

In addition to the AEB system, which is capable of functioning at highway speeds, the RX is fitted with a lane support system with lane keep assist and emergency lane keeping functionality, and blind spot monitoring.

Tests of the AEB car-to-car system showed good performance, with collisions avoided or mitigated in all test scenarios, including AEB junction assist where the test vehicle can autonomously brake to avoid crashes when turning across the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Tests of LSS functionality showed good performance, including in several of the more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios.

A speed assistance system (SAS), which identifies the local speed limit, allowing the driver to set the speed accordingly, is standard equipment on the RX.

A seatbelt reminder system with occupancy detection is fitted to all seating positions, and a driver drowsiness monitor system is fitted as standard.