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Innovation
No4:
In most cars
the air conditioning/heater unit is a bulky component, housed
behind the dashboard in front of the front seat passenger.
Toyota engineers recognised that if they could make it smaller,
it could be repositioned, freeing up valuable leg and knee room
in the front section of the cabin.
They
succeeded in their challenge, not only reducing the unit’s
dimensions by 20 per cent overall, but also maintaining its
performance quality. Rerouting the internal passages improved
airflow and a more compact filter was used, alterations which in
turn meant a smaller blower fan could be adopted.
As a
result, the passenger side of the dashboard is slimmer than that
in front of the driver, and is positioned further forward and
towards the centre of the windscreen. This gives the dashboard
an asymmetrical shape, a feature that will be the subject of the
next iQ innovations bulletin. |
