Toyota’s long-lived Crown enters its seventh decade with a major mid-lifecycle update adding a new direct-injection turbocharged engine, new colours, and claimed world-first ‘ITS’ safety package.
The Athlete and Royal ranges will get the most significant changes while improvements will also be made to the Majesta. All three will be sold through Toyota dealers across Japan, with a combined monthly sales target of 3,700 units.
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The Crown will be the world’s first volume vehicle to offer a driver assist function that uses a dedicated ITS frequency. The package, named ITS Connect, uses Japan’s standardised ITS frequency of 760MHz to receive and share data transmitted by external infrastructure and other vehicles. This kind of data often cannot be picked up by onboard sensors.
Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication features include Right-turn Collision Caution, Red Light Caution and Signal Change Advisory.
Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication includes Communicating Radar Cruise Control which responds almost instantaneously to the acceleration and deceleration of other similarly vehicles.
Emergency Vehicle Notification allows an ambulance equipped with a compatible communication device, and sounding its siren nearby, to warn the car driver with an audio alert and displays the approximate location and distance of the emergency vehicle, as well as the direction in which it is moving.
The Majesta series will now also be available with ITS Connect, a self-restoring clear coat, and other improvements that include reinforced rigidity of body junctions and revised front/rear suspension settings.
