(March 5, 2021) Honda has announced that it will begin leasing in Japan of the Honda Legend EX equipped with Honda SENSING Elite today. Striving to realize a collision-free society based on its global safety slogan, “Safety for Everyone,” Honda has long been at the forefront of the research and development of safety technologies. The introduction of the Legend equipped with Honda SENSING Elite represents the next step forward in the area of advanced safety technology.

Honda SENSING Elite is a variation of Honda SENSING, a suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies currently available on Honda vehicles around the world. The name “Elite” represents the outstanding and “elite” technologies included in this latest variation.

One of the “elite” technologies featured is the “Traffic Jam Pilot” function, an advanced technology qualifying for Level 3 automated driving (conditional automated driving in limited area), for which Honda has received type designation from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). Traffic Jam Pilot technology enables the automated driving system to drive the vehicle, instead of the driver, under certain conditions such as when the vehicle is in congested traffic on an expressway.

For vehicle control, the system determines the position of the vehicle and road conditions using data from 3-dimensional high-definition maps and the global navigation satellite system (GNSS), while detecting the vehicle’s surroundings using several external sensors that provide 360-degree input. At the same time, the system tracks the condition of the driver using a monitoring camera mounted inside the vehicle. Based on this wide range of information, the main electronic control unit (ECU) recognizes current conditions, anticipates future conditions and applies a high-level of control to acceleration, braking and steering inputs to assist the driver and achieve high-quality and smooth driving.



Placing the highest priority on safety and reliability, approximately 10 million patterns of possible real-world situations were simulated during system development, and real-world demonstration tests were conducted on expressways for a total of approximately 800,000 miles. Moreover, the system incorporates a redundant system design to ensure safety and reliability in the event of a problem with any of the devices.

With exterior styling befitting a flagship sedan, the automated driving sensors are subtly integrated into the body panels, producing a clean design while discreetly highlighting the vehicle’s automated driving capability.

Interior equipment exclusive to this model includes Honda SENSING Elite indicator lights, which feature carefully selected and visible positions, sizes, colors, brightness and other details, as well as a 12.3-inch full-LCD graphic meter. This equipment was adopted to provide an intuitive understanding of system operation status, current driving situation and any requests to transfer control back to the driver.

Key features of Honda SENSING Elite ‘Hands-off’ Functionality

While driving with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Low-Speed Follow and Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) activated, when certain conditions are satisfied on an expressway, the system will assist the driving operations even while the driver has their hands off the steering wheel.

    •    Adaptive in Lane Driving:

The system assists with the driving of the vehicle and following of vehicles detected ahead within a recognized lane. The system drives the vehicle along the middle of the detected lane while maintaining the pre-set vehicle speed. When a car is detected in front, the system assists in following while maintaining a proper following distance.

    •    Active Lane Change Assist with Hands-off Function (Driver assessment)

When Adaptive in Lane Driving is activated, once the driver confirms it is safe to change lanes and activates the turn signal, the system provides throttle, braking and steering inputs necessary to accomplish the lane change.

    •    Active Lane Change with Hands-off Function (System assessment)

 When Adaptive in Lane Driving is activated, once the driver switches on the Active Lane Change with Hands-off Function, the system assesses the situation and assists the lane change a