Yamaha to supply performance damper to Lexus IS

Yamaha Motor Co is to supply its chassis damping component – the Performance Damper – for use in the Lexus IS sport sedan (excluding HV and AWD models) which has just gone on sale.

The IS class is the fifth Lexus model to be fitted with Yamaha Motor's Performance Damper following its successful implementation in the Lexus CT200h (Version L/C, F SPORT), RX450h/350 (F SPORT), HS250h, and NX300h/200t (F Sport).

The Performance Damper is a chassis damping component that is set in the structural areas of both the front and rear of vehicles. It is a device is designed to control and absorb minute distortions and vibrations. The Performance Damper was first used in a mass-production model in April 2004, four years on from its basic concept development in 2000. Since then, the Performance Damper has been contributing to improvements in stability and comfort in a wide variety of vehicle types.

Normally, when a passenger vehicle is in motion, micro distortions of less than 1mm occur in the body. A metal vehicle body has elastic characteristics and lacks damping force, meaning that external distortion energy is accumulated and released almost unchanged, repeating the cycle of distortion at a natural frequency.
Performance Dampers add a damping element to the chassis, thereby absorbing the distortion energy and releasing it as heat. This curbs the chassis' excessive distortion speed, not only boosting driving comfort at normal speeds, but also achieving both high mobility and excellent stability at high speeds, which are accompanied by relatively major chassis distortion.