Safety Prominent In New Suzuki Vitara Turbo Hybrid

The Suzuki Vitara Hybrid Turbo majors on the latest preventive safety technologies including lane departure prevention and weaving alert, brake assist, automatic braking and adaptive cruise control.

As one of the most enduring crossover style Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) models on New Zealand roads, the fourth generation Vitara was the first compact SUV to earn a five star overall rating in the Euro NCAP testing programme. The model scored above average results in adult occupant, child occupant, pedestrian protection and safety assist tests.

Comprehensive passive safety includes frontal, curtain side and driver knee airbags. The two front and two rear seating positions come with pre-tensioner pyrotechnic seat belts and the rear pre-tensioner units add to safety levels.

In the event of an accident the pedal release system is designed to prevent severe driver ankle injuries. ISOFIX child seat mounting is provided for the two outer rear seats and there are three top tether anchoring points.

As the pioneering compact SUV, the Vitara nameplate first appeared in the Suzuki model lineup 35 years ago and the current fourth generation car was four years in development.

Dual Sensor Brake Support (DSBS) ensures high levels of safety and convenience, utilising a laser unit and monocular camera mounted at the top of the windscreen. The camera references clever visual recognition software as part of the system’s operational parameters. There is also a radar unit mounted in the lower grille area to assist and implement the adaptive cruise control function.

Standard equipment on the new Vitara Hybrid includes the lane departure prevention system that uses the camera and visual recognition software to detect left and right lane marker lines. If the system judges the Suzuki is nearing the left or right line it will assist the steering operation to prevent lane departure.

Lane changing at speeds above 15 km/h is made safer by two rear mounted radar sensors capable of detecting vehicle located in or approaching the rear blind spots on either side of the Vitara. When a vehicle is detected a warning LED icon is illuminated in the exterior mirror. If the driver indicates to change lanes, a flashing LED icon is accompanied by an alert sound alert.

Rear cross traffic alert uses the same radar sensor, warning the driver of vehicles approaching from either side when reversing. If a vehicle is detected, warnings are indicated on the multi-information display and a warning indicator on the door mirror together with a sound alert.

Adaptive cruise control fitted as standard on the Vitara Hybrid is a further safety feature. It uses millimetre-wave radar to automatically maintain the Suzuki’s following distance depending on the setting selected and vehicle speed.

Weaving alert calculates the driving pattern and issues audio and visual warning if it detects any “wandering” due to drive fatigue.

The range-topping four wheel drive Vitara Hybrid comes with the proven ALLGRIP SELECT AWD feature with four driver selectable modes - Auto, Sport, Snow and Lock. The Sport mode improves cornering performance and engine response by optimising the accelerator and torque characteristics. Selecting the Snow mode engages permanent four wheel drive and optimises the traction control.

When exiting snow, mud or sand the Lock mode on the cutting edge AWD versions provides more torque to the rear wheels while ESP and other control technologies are optimised to free the car.

ALLGRIP’s Vehicle Dynamic Synthetic Control (VDSC) senses when the car is tending to excessive understeer or oversteer and works in synergy with the four wheel drive system and electric power steering to suppress these anomalies, all before the ESP function is activated.