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The basic elements of the Toyota ESV energy management system consist of silicone rubber-type front bumper shock absorbers, an efficient energy-absorbing frame, and upper members for preventing vehicle pitch during impact. The Toyota ESV proved to have satisfactory performance in an 80 km/h frontal impact against flat and pole barriers by adequately balancing the strengths of these elements and effectively arranging the energy-absorbing members of the frame. In addition, based on experiences with the ESV tests, the relationships between crashworthiness variations and vehicle weight or size were studied in detail.

For the prediction of pumping loss in the engine crankcase at the early stage of engine design, a similarity law of the pumping loss on parallel cylinders with the phase difference of 180 degrees has been derived from the sum of the power loss due to the drag force of airflow through the cylinder bulkhead holes and the inertia force of fluid. It has been found that the mean effective pressure in the crankcase is in proportion to the square of the mean flow velocity at the bulkhead holes. Then, in order to validate the similarity law, by using a prototype engine with inline four cylinders, the pumping loss was estimated by subtracting the frictional loss with special pistons that had air holes, from the power loss in which the area of the bulkhead holes and engine speed were changed. The experimental results of the pumping loss were normalized by the similarity law. As a consequence, it has been shown that the pumping loss obeys the law.