Six compact cars earn IIHS top award

Six compact cars have aced the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s crash test regimen, while half-a-dozen more failed to make the grade.

The IIHS put up 12 compact cars against its new small overlap front crash test, with half of those – the Honda Civic coupe and sedan, Dodge Dart, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus and Scion tC – earning the Institute’s highest Top Safety Pick+ award.

The “plus” designation indicates a vehicle earned a top rating of good in 4 of 5 evaluations and no less than acceptable in the latest small overlap test. The Honda Civics were the only compacts to earn a top rating of “good” across the board, while the Dart, Elantra, Focus and tC scored “acceptable” in the small overlap test.

The Chevrolet Sonic, Chevrolet Cruze and Volkswagen Beetle all scored an overall “marginal” rating in the overlap test. The IIHS noted that the Beetle performed particularly poorly in the overlap test.

“During impact, the steering column moved nearly 5 inches to the right as the dummy’s upper body moved forward and to the left,” the IIHS said of the Beetle in a statement. “The rotation meant that the dummy’s head barely contacted the front airbag. At the same time, the safety belt spooled out too much, allowing the dummy to move forward 13 inches and hit its head on the dashboard.”

The Nissan Sentra, Kia Soul and Kia Forte earned the Institute’s lowest overall rating of “poor” in the small overlap test.

“The small cars with marginal or poor ratings had some of the same structural and restraint system issues as other models we’ve tested,” says David Zuby, the Institute’s chief research officer. “In the worst cases safety cages collapsed, driver airbags moved sideways with unstable steering columns and the dummy’s head hit the instrument panel.”
All of the vehicle tested were from the 2013 model year, save for the Scion tC and Kia Forte, which were both 2014s.

So far just 25 vehicles have earned the IIHS’ Top Safety Pick+ designation.