2003 Lexus GS

large luxury car / 4-door sedan

2003 Lexus GS 4-door sedan
1999 Lexus GS shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Head restraints & seats

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 1999-2005 models built after November 1998

Tested vehicle: 1999 Lexus GS 400 4-door

The Lexus GS was redesigned for the 1998 model year. All 1999 and later GS models manufactured after November 1998 include structural changes to improve occupant protection in frontal crashes. (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door).

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of a GS 400 with the structural changes in a 40 mph frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the dummy's head hit the roof rail during rebound.

Intrusion into the driver footwell was minimal.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CF99006
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 8
Left (cm) 14
Center (cm) 16
Right (cm) 12
Brake pedal (cm) 5
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 3
Right (cm) 5
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 3
Rearward (cm) 1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 3

Driver injury measures

Test ID CF99006
Head
HIC-15 207
Peak gs at hard contact 44
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.6
Extension bending moment (Nm) 28
Maximum Nij 0.57
Chest maximum compression (mm) 32
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 4.8
Femur force - right (kN) 2.4
Knee displacement - left (mm) 12
Knee displacement - right (mm) 4
Maximum tibia index - left 0.65
Maximum tibia index - right 0.79
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.5
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 65
Right 62

About the original moderate overlap front test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: All seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type All seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 52
Distance below top of head (mm) 52
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 9.5
Head contact time (ms) 96
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 237
Max neck tension (N) 1,009

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.