engine Lexus GS300 2006 Starting and Driving

STARTING AND DRIVING
399
Dynamic radar cruise control should not be used in the
following conditions, to avoid death or serious injury.
In bad weather (such as rain, fog, snow, sandstorms,
or when raindrops or snowflakes get in the millimeter
wave radar sensor or the cover), the
vehicle−to−vehicle distance will not be measured
accurately.
If the wipers are operated at high speed (including the
high speed operation with the wiper lever in the
“AUTO” position), dynamic radar cruise control is
automatically cancelled. (In the case of the low speed
operation and intermittent wiper operation, it is not
cancelled.) Dynamic radar cruise control is
automatically cancelled when the measurement is
extremely unstable due to bad weather.
On the roads in heavy traffic or at sharp bends:
As an appropriate speed cannot be maintained, death
or serious injury could result.
On slippery road surfaces (icy or snow−covered road
surfaces):
The tires will race and you will be unable to control.On steep downhill slopes:
If there is no vehicle detected ahead, the preset speed
will be easily exceeded because of inefficient engine
braking, resulting in death or serious injury. (In this
case, automatic braking will not work.) If there is a
vehicle detected ahead, the delay in deceleration
timing could cause death or serious injury.
When the warning tone sounds frequently (because
acceleration or deceleration was repeated or
sufficient vehicle−to−vehicle distance was not
maintained), an appropriate vehicle speed cannot be
attained, resulting in death or serious injury.
On roads with steep and short inclines and declines,
failure to detect the vehicle ahead will shorten the
distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead,
resulting in death or serious injury.

STARTING AND DRIVING
401 (b) Turning the system on
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To operate the dynamic radar cruise control, push the
“ON−OFF” button. This turns the system on. When the
“CRUISE” indicator light in the instrument cluster comes on
and “RADAR READY” appears on the multi−information
display, you can now set your desired cruising speed and
vehicle−to−vehicle distance. Pushing the “ON−OFF” button
again will turn the system completely off and “CRUISE OFF”
will appear on the multi−information display.
When the engine switch is turned off, the system is also
automatically turned off. To use the dynamic radar cruise
control again, push the “ON−OFF” button again to turn it on.
When the engine switch is turned off, all the preset data is
cleared. When you use the dynamic radar cruise control again,
you need to reset the data.The multi−information display will return to the
vehicle−to−vehicle distance screen about 6 seconds after the
vehicle−to−vehicle distance screen has been changed to
another screen.
CAUTION
To avoid accidentally engaging the cruise control, keep
the “ON−OFF” button off when not using the dynamic
radar cruise control.

STARTING AND DRIVING
404
3
Resetting to a faster speed
Press the control lever upward in the ”+ RES” direction and
hold it. The displayed speed will increase in increments of 5
mph (for the U.S.A.) or 5 km/h (for Canada). Release the lever
when the desired speed is attained. The vehicle will gradually
increase to the displayed speed.
Depressing the accelerator pedal and pressing the control
lever downward in the “– SET” direction will not reset to a faster
speed. At this time the set speed falls by 5 mph (for the U.S.A.)
or 5 km/h (for Canada).
CAUTION
When the vehicle−to−vehicle distance control is on (on
follow−up cruising), your cruising speed is regulated in
proportion to the speed of the vehicle ahead, so
increasing the preset vehicle speed using the control
lever does not accelerate the vehicle. However, if the
vehicle ahead leaves the lane, your cruising speed will
increase up to the preset speed because the preset
speed has been set higher using the control lever.
Confirm the setting on the multi−information display.
4
Resetting to a slower speed
Press the control lever downward in the “– SET” direction and
hold it. The displayed speed will decrease in increments of 5
mph (for the U.S.A.) or 5 km/h (for Canada). Release the lever
when the desired speed is attained. The vehicle will gradually
decrease to the displayed speed.
A quicker way to reset the preset speed is to depress the brake
pedal and then press the control lever downward in the “– SET”
direction.
If the control lever is released when the vehicle speed exceeds
the upper limit of the preset speed traveling downhill while you
are pressing the control lever downward, the system will
memorize the upper limit of the preset speed as a preset
speed.
Even if you downshift the transmission from “D” or “6” (sixth
range) to “5” (fifth range), or from “D” or “5” (fifth range) to “4”
(fourth range) in the vehicle−to−vehicle distance control mode,
engine braking will not be enabled because this mode is not
cancelled. To decrease the vehicle speed, reset to a slower
speed with the cruise control lever or depress the brake pedal.
If you use the brake pedal, cruise control is cancelled.

STARTING AND DRIVING
406(d) Changing vehicle−to−vehicle distance
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1
Long 2
Middle 3
Short
You can select one of the following vehicle−to−vehicle
distances: “Long”, “Middle” or “Short”. Each time you
pull the distance switch briefly toward you, the setting
changes from “Long” to “Middle” to “Short” and then
back to “Long”. You can confirm the setting on the
multi−information display.
It should be noted that pulling the “DISP” switch will change to
another screen.
Your vehicle speed changes in proportion to the speed of
the vehicle ahead, maintaining the selected distance.
However, if the vehicle speed is slower, the selected
distance will be shorter than the designated distance.
When the vehicle−to−vehicle distance control mode is
activated or the multi−information display indicates “RADAR
READY”, the vehicle−to−vehicle distance setting can be
changed.The vehicle−to−vehicle distance is always set to “Long” when
the engine switch is turned on.
CAUTION
Select the vehicle−to−vehicle distance
considering traffic conditions. The approximate
vehicle−to−vehicle distance based on time
interval when driving at 80 km/h (50 mph) is
shown below :
“Long” about 50 m (about 164 ft.). . . . . . . .
“Middle” about 40 m (about 132 ft.). . . . . .
“Short” about 30 m (about 100 ft.). . . . . . .
If the vehicle speed is slower than 80 km/h (50 mph),
the distance will be shorter than the above.
During long downhill driving, the vehicle−to−vehicle
distance will be shorter than the selected distance.

STARTING AND DRIVING
407 (e) Braking control
Dynamic radar cruise control is not a collision avoidance
system. If an approach warning is activated, depress the brake
pedal to decelerate to ensure an appropriate
vehicle−to−vehicle distance.
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1
Under the vehicle−to−vehicle distance control
2
Braking activated
Braking control is operating only when the vehicle−to−vehicle
distance control mode is selected and your vehicle speed
exceeds about 40 km/h (25 mph).
If you are getting closer to the vehicle ahead at relatively higher
speed than those of the vehicle ahead or if engine braking
cannot be applied properly, braking control is automatically
activated. At this time, “BRAKE” flashes on the
multi−information display, indicating that the brakes are being
used.
CAUTION
Braking control will not ensure that your vehicle will
reduce speed appropriately. Do not rely on dynamic
radar cruise control to prevent collision.

STARTING AND DRIVING
412
G13075
If the system malfunction is detected when dynamic radar
cruise control is in the “RADAR READY” mode or
operating, the above message appears.
If this message appears, stop your vehicle in a safe place, turn
the engine switch off, and then restart it to reset the system.
If the setting still cannot be made or the same message
appears again, the system might have malfunctioned.
Although it is no problem to continue driving, contact your
Lexus dealer.
NOTICE
While you are cruising with the dynamic radar cruise
control on, if the master warning light comes on, the
“CRUISE” indicator light flashes, “CHECK CRUISE
SYSTEM” appears on the multi−information display and
the warning tone sounds, turn the engine switch off and
then on again. If the function is cancelled again after
setting or if settings cannot be made, the dynamic radar
cruise control system may be malfunctioning.
Although it is no problem to continue driving, have your
vehicle checked by your Lexus dealer.
Conventional (fixed speed) cruise control
mode
This mode allows you to cruise at a desired speed over
about 45 km/h (28 mph) with your foot off the accelerator
pedal.
Cruising speed can be maintained, although a slight speed
change may occur when driving up or down a gradient, within
the limits of engine performance. On steeper hills, the speed
will change more radically so it is better to drive without cruise
control.
When cruise control is on, the driving pattern of the automatic
transmission is fixed in the normal mode, regardless of the
position of the selector switch.

STARTING AND DRIVING
413
CAUTION
In the conventional (fixed speed) cruise control
mode, an approach warning does not activate even if
you are too close to the vehicle ahead, as neither the
presence of the vehicle ahead nor the
vehicle−to−vehicle distance is detected. Pay special
attention to the distance between your vehicle and
the vehicle ahead. Always confirm the setting in the
multi−information display.
The conventional (fixed speed) cruise control mode
of the dynamic radar cruise control should not be
used in the following conditions, which could result
in death or serious injury.
♦To help maintain maximum control of your vehicle,
do not use fixed speed control mode when using
dynamic radar cruise control while driving in
heavy or varying traffic, or on slippery (rainy, icy
or snow−covered) or winding roads.
♦Avoid vehicle speed increasing when driving
downhill. If the vehicle speed is too fast in relation
to the preset speed in the fixed speed control
mode, cancel the fixed control mode and then
downshift the transmission to use engine braking
to slow down.
(a) Turning the system on
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To operate conventional cruise control mode, push the
“ON−OFF” button. This turns the system on. The “CRUISE”
indicator light in the instrument cluster comes on and “RADAR
READY” appears on the multi−information display. Push the
control lever in the “MODE” direction for longer than 1 second
to change to conventional cruise control mode. The indicator
on the multi−information display is as shown. You can now set
your desired cruising speed. Pushing the “ON−OFF” button
again will turn the system completely off and “CRUISE OFF”
will appear on the multi−information display.
However, once the vehicle−to−vehicle distance control mode
activates and is used, it cannot be changed to the conventional
(fixed speed) cruise control mode using the above operation.
To change the mode, push the “ON−OFF” button to turn the
system off and then push it again to turn it on. Next push the
lever in the “MODE” direction for longer than about 1 second.

STARTING AND DRIVING
414When the engine switch is turned off, the system is also
automatically turned off. To use the dynamic radar cruise
control again, push the “ON−OFF” button again to turn it on.
CAUTION
To avoid accidentally engaging cruise control , keep the
“ON−OFF” button off when not using dynamic radar
cruise control.
(b) Setting operation
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Each function is described below.
1
Setting the desired speed
The transmission must be in “D”, “6” (sixth range), “5” (fifth
range) or “4” (fourth range) before you set the cruise control
speed in the conventional cruise control mode of the dynamic
radar cruise control.
After bringing the vehicle to the desired speed, press the
control lever downward in the “– SET” direction and release it.
This sets the vehicle at that speed and the multi−information
display shows the preset speed. At this time, you may take
your foot off the accelerator pedal. If you need to accelerate
− for example, when passing − depress the accelerator pedal
enough for the vehicle to exceed the preset speed. When you
release the accelerator pedal, the vehicle will return to the
speed set prior to acceleration.

STARTING AND DRIVING
416
3
Resetting to a faster speed
Press the control lever upward in the “+ RES” direction and
hold it. Release the lever when the desired speed is attained.
While the lever is held upward, the vehicle will gradually gain
speed.
When the difference between the actual vehicle speed and the
set speed is less than 5 km/h (3 mph), the set speed can be
increased 1.6 km/h (1 mph) each time by pressing the control
lever upward in the “+ RES” direction quickly within 0.6
seconds.
A quicker way to reset the speed is to accelerate and then
press the control lever downward in the “– SET” direction. 4
Resetting to a slower speed
Press the control lever downward in the “– SET” direction and
hold it. Release the lever when the desired speed is attained.
While the lever is held downward, the vehicle speed will
gradually decrease.
When the difference between the actual vehicle speed and the
set speed is less than 5 km/h (3 mph), the set speed can be
lowered 1.6 km/h (1 mph) each time by pressing the control
lever downward in the “– SET” direction quickly within 0.6
seconds.
A quicker way to reset the preset speed is to depress the brake
pedal and then press the control lever downward in the “– SET”
direction.
Even if you downshift the transmission from the “D” or “6” (sixth
range) to “5” (fifth range), or from “D” or “5” (fifth range) to “4”
(fourth range) in the conventional cruise control mode, engine
braking will not be applied because this mode is not cancelled.
To slow down, reset the cruise control to a slower speed with
the cruise control lever or depress the brake pedal. If you use
the brake pedal, cruise control is cancelled.

STARTING AND DRIVING
418
TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM
The traction control system automatically helps prevent
the spinning of rear wheels when the vehicle is started or
accelerated on slippery road surfaces.
When the engine switch is selected in “IG−ON” mode, the
system automatically turns on.
CAUTION
Under certain slippery road conditions, full traction of
the vehicle and power against rear wheels cannot be
maintained, even though the traction control system is
in operation. Do not drive the vehicle under any speed
or maneuvering conditions which may cause the
vehicle to lose traction control. In situations where the
road surface is covered with ice or snow, your vehicle
should be fitted with snow tires or tire chains. Always
drive at an appropriate and cautious speed for the
present road conditions.
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Slip indicator light
Leave the system on during the ordinary driving so that it
can operate when needed.
You may hear a sound in the engine compartment for a few
seconds just after the vehicle begins to move. This means that
the traction control system is in the self−check mode, but does
not indicate a malfunction.
When the traction control system is operating, the following
conditions occur:
The system controls the spinning of the rear wheels. At this
time, the slip indicator light blinks.
You may feel vibration or noise in your vehicle, caused by
operation of the brakes. This indicates the system is
functioning properly.
GS430—The slip indicator light comes on when the engine
switch is selected in “IG−ON” mode. The light goes off when
the engine is started.