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Understanding car acronyms

Understanding car acronyms

There can be lots of acronyms used when talking about car features and specifications. Here are a few commons ones to help you understand and get the most out of your Suzuki.

ABS  Anti-lock Braking System Automatically engages when a car’s wheels start to slip during braking, stops the wheels from locking up and allows the wheels to grip the road.
ACC Adaptive Cruise Control A form of cruise control that uses sensors at the front of a car to monitor the distance to the vehicle ahead, automatically accelerating or decelerating as needed, to maintain a safe distance. When the road clears, your car will return to the set cruise speed.
AHB Automatic High-Beam Automatically switches between high and low beams when appropriate to ensure a clear field of vision for the driver, reduce inconvenient manual operation, and reduce headlamp glare for oncoming traffic while driving at night.
DMS Driver Monitoring System A camera built into the instrument panel monitors the driver’s eyes and face. If the system detects that the driver is drowsy, falling asleep, or looking away from the road, it sounds a warning alarm and displays an alert message on the information display.
DRCC Dynamic Radar Cruise Control Automatically maintains ample distance with the vehicle ahead and stops the vehicle when the preceding vehicle comes to a stop. When there is no vehicle traveling ahead, the vehicle travels at a fixed speed.
DSBS / DCBS / RBS Dual Sensor Brake Support / Dual Camera Brake Support / Radar Brake Support Dual Sensor Brake Support uses sensors to determine a risk of collision with a forward obstacle and warns the driver. If the driver doesn’t react, the system can brake the car automatically to avoid the collision, or reduce the damage from it.
Dual Camera Brake Support and Radar Brake Support work in much the same way as DSBS, but the former uses two cameras to spot potentially dangerous situations, whilst the latter uses milliwave radar to detect potential hazards in front of the car.
EBD Electronic Brakeforce Distribution Works with ABS to automatically vary the amount of force applied to each of a vehicle's wheels, based on factors such as road conditions, speed, etc.
EDSS Emergency Driving Stop System The EDSS, which functions while LTA is activated, prompts the driver to resume regular driving operations if the steering wheel or pedals are not operated for a predetermined amount of time. If the driver fails to react, EDSS slows and stops the vehicle in its lane while delivering emergency indication to neighbouring traffic.
ESP Electronic Stability Program A form of electronic stability control (ESC) that improves a vehicle's stability, by detecting when a car is starting to skid.
HID High Intensity Discharge A type of lighting technology that uses electricity and gas – usually xenon – to produce a brighter, more intense light.
IAWD Intelligent All-Wheel Drive The Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system can send the engine’s power to either the front of rear wheels, depending on which has more grip on the road.
ISC / ISA Intelligent Speed Control / Intelligent Speed Assistance Combined with Adaptive Cruise Control, ISC is designed to help drivers keep to legal speed limits. ISC will reduce the vehicle speed as it drives through lower speed limits as recognised by the Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR) system.
LDW / LDP Lane Departure Warning & Prevention When the vehicle is departing the lane without the driver indicating, the system alerts the driver by sounding an audio alert or vibrating the steering wheel. If necessary, steering assistance is provided to help the vehicle promptly return to the centre of the lane.
LKA Lane Keep Assist  When Adaptive Cruise Control is activated, LKA helps the driver maintain the vehicle’s position in the centre of the lane. In addition, if it senses that an adjacent vehicle or structure such as a temporary roadwork barrier or other obstacle is too close to the driver’s vehicle, it provides steering assistance to help maintain a safe distance.
LTA Lane Tracing Assist When LTA determines that unintended lane departure is likely to occur, it partially assists steering operation to keep the vehicle in the centre of the lane and prevent departure from the lane or road. It includes lane departure alert, steering assist, vehicle sway warning and lane centring features.
PCS Pre-Collision System Helps prevent collisions with other vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists by monitoring the road ahead with a millimetre-wave radar and monocular camera. It supports pre-collision warning, pre-collision braking assist and pre-collision braking features.
RCTA Rear Cross Traffic Alert Uses millimetre-wave radar sensors to detect and warn of vehicles approaching from the left or right when reversing.
RSA Road Sign Assist Monitors the road for traffic signs and displays them on the multi-information display when they are detected. The system is compatible with speed limit, no passing zone, residential area, end of zone and other European road signs.
RSA /  TSR Road Sign Assist / Traffic Sign Recognition Monitors the road for traffic signs and displays them on the multi-information display when they are detected. The system is compatible with speed limit, no passing zone, residential area, end of zone and other European road signs.
Icons of recognised signs are displayed on the information display. Speed limit icons flash on and off if the speed limit is exceeded, and an audio alert sounds if the posted speed continues to be exceeded.
SEA Safe Exit Assist Uses the same technology as BSM to warn occupants when it is unsafe to open a door or exit the vehicle, for example when a cyclist is approaching.
SHVS Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki is a mild hybrid system that uses an Integrated Starter Generator to help the engine when the car starts to move and during acceleration, while also generating electricity from regenerative braking.
SRS Supplemental Restraint System Supplemental Restraint System is another way to describe airbags.
TCS Traction Control System Prevents a loss of traction by the wheels that drive the car.