Subaru has announced that the second generation of its EyeSight suite of safety technologies, as well as a trio of other new safety systems, will debut in the U.S. for the 2015 model year.
Like the original EyeSight system that hit the market in 2012, the new setup will rely on a pair of upper windshield-mounted cameras to monitor the road ahead and provide forward collision alert with pre-collision braking, lane-departure warning and adaptive cruise control functions.
What sets the new system apart is upgraded cameras with color recognition technology that increases Eyesight’s viewing angle and distance by 40 percent.
Those improvements allow the forward collision warning system’s automatic pre-collision braking feature to operate at up to 31 mph, while pre-collision brake assist – it primes the brake system to respond quickly to the driver – functions from velocities as high as 43 mph. Both figures represent increases of 12 mph over the original EyeSight system.
The second-gen EyeSight’s other advantages – both of which could help to pave the way for autonomous Subaru models in the future – are its ability to recognize vehicle brake lights and red traffic lights and automatically brake accordingly, as well as its Lane Keep Assist system’s to gently steer back into the correct lane.
As with the current system, the new iteration of EyeSight will be offered on the Legacy, Outback and Forester. Pricing will be announced closer to the one-sale date this summer.
Subaru will also use the 2015 model to introduce blind spot warning, lane-change assist and rear cross traffic alert systems to its U.S. lineup. Availability for these new safety technologies has not yet been detailed.
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