January 20, 2006

CAA presents 2006 Pyramid Awards to GM, Volkswagen and Lexus


Montreal, Quebec – The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) has presented its CAA Pyramid Awards for Environmental Initiatives to General Motors of Canada and Volkswagen Canada, and its Safety Innovations to Lexus, during a special presentation at the Montreal International Auto Show.

GM received the award for the launch of its new ethanol-powered E85 Chevrolet Impala, which uses 85 per cent Canadian-made, cellulose-based ethanol; Volkswagen received its award in recognition of extending its warranty coverage on all TDI diesel engines to cover the use of B5 biodiesel fuel, allowing motorists to choose a blend containing five per cent biodiesel without voiding or affecting the vehicle's warranty.

Lexus received its award for its Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management (VDIM) system on the 2006 Lexus GS 430 sedan. The stability control system anticipates situations by comparing driver commands to vehicle performance, hundreds of times per second, and then automatically makes subtle adjustments to steering and acceleration, enabling drivers to reach performance limits without losing control.

source : canadiandriver

 

 

Now, if only Lexus can get a Tech Award for making an "off" button for the VDIM...

 

Well deserved award.

BTW, here's the link to the article:
http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/060120-1.htm

 

Nice, VDIM finally gets some recognition. Lets hope this is the beginning of a long list of awards for VDIM.

 

Nioce!!!

 

very nice indeed. i still think it's a bit on the sensitive side (the IS is an improvement). would love to see the new system on the new LS of course

 

Seriously doubt it. It's hardest bashed best idea I've ever heard of.

 

VDIM does get bashed, but only by racing/driving enthusiasts. As for the rest of the population (which greatly outnumbers the enthusiasts probably 20 to 1), they praise and prefer having VDIM.

 

They're only bashing the absence of an off switch, not necessarily VDIM itself . . .

 

exactly. no one bash about the vsc on lexus coz' there is a switch for it, where actually 90% of the people they don't switch it off at all. i think the system itself is very good, and it's there to protect people. it's only enthusiasts who want to drive aggressively and the lack of on/off button that created the very little bash

 

There IS an off-switch. Its called "the cheat code"

 

and VDIM is the world's first advanced stability system that can deal with it. It also lets the enthusiast drive a rear wheel drive high performance car in sketchy traction conditions. Try an off camber turn in the snow sometime and then try it again with it turned off if you're feeling lucky.......Better wear your helmet too, Sonny B.

Rock

 

you mean the start sequence to disable it? i am still wonder if it's disabling the vdim myself. there is no official document saying that. and the same sequence on the avalon will disable the vsc and trac i believe? i thought the avlon doesn't have vdim right?

 

Sorry I'm not specifically talking about you, rominl, but I think the argument of whether we should call the secret sequence a "VSC-off" or a "VDIM-off" is a silly and pointless one. The point is, with the code, a driver is allowed to perform just about any maneuver he or she wants without any intervention--there's no traction control, there's no stability control, there's no throttle cutoff, and there's no steering correction observed by anyone who's tried the code...there's simply NOTHING left besides perhaps the braking control system for VDIM to "seamlessly integrate" anymore, since that's what VDIM is all about. If there's nothing to "integrate", can the integration system function anymore? NO.

So can we end this "VDIM-off is not VSC-off" thing once and for all already? It's getting a bit tiring to see this brought up everytime the secret sequence is mentioned.