2018 Hyundai Sonata
The Hyundai Sonata is a popular midsize sedan, and it’s one of the safest cars too. It rates extremely high in crash ratings across the board, but the new headlight criteria kept it out of the running until 2018. To be exact, 2018 models built after September 2017.
When equipped with curve-adaptive LED projector headlights in the Limited Trim, along with the front crash prevention afforded to the Ultimate package and optional Automatic Emergency Braking, it gets the passing grade.
2018 Kia Optima
A spitting image of the Hyundai Sonata in almost every way, the Kia Optima qualifies for the 2018 IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus award with a very specific model. It also must fit a build date – after January 2018.
You’ll need to choose the 2018 Kia Optima SX trim with the SX Technology package to get the required LED projector headlights. But only curve-adaptive, auto high-beam headlamps will do the trick. And you’ll need to choose the optional automatic emergency braking feature too.
2018 Subaru Legacy
Subaru has four entries which includes the 2018 Subaru Legacy sedan. It’s far from the top-selling midsize car in the segment, but perhaps being one of the safest cars will give it a boost.
The Subaru Legacy qualifies for the IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus rating in just the Limited trim, either with the 2.5 liter or 3.6 liter BOXER engine. It has to have the EyeSight package with LED Steering Responsive Headlights.
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