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New Forester is Top Safety Pick+(232)

New generation Subaru Forester has become the first vehicle to pass every aspect of challenging new "small overlap front crash tests", conducted in North America.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) results show Forester is the only one of 13 small SUVs tested to earn an overall “Good” rating in the most recent test, netting the Institute's recently inaugurated top honour: "Top Safety Pick"

"With the redesigned Forester, Subaru's engineers set out to do well in our new test and they succeeded," said Joe Nolan, the Institute's Vice President for vehicle research.

"This is exactly how we hoped manufacturers would respond to improve protection for people in these kinds of serious frontal crashes"

It is not the first time that Forester has stood out in a new IIHS crash test. When the Institute first rated small SUVs for side protection in 2003, Forester performed the best and was one of only two to earn good ratings.

IIHS added the small overlap test to its suite of vehicle safety evaluations last year. While most modern vehicles are designed to do well in the full-width front crash tests and in the Institute's moderate overlap front test, that is no guarantee of good performance in a small overlap crash.

In a 2009 IIHS study of vehicles with good ratings for frontal crash protection, small overlap crashes accounted for nearly a quarter of the frontal crashes involving serious or fatal injury to front seat occupants.

Forester helps bring the number of Top Safety Pick+ winners to 20. The award is based on performance in the small overlap front test as well as in the moderate overlap front, side, rollover and rear tests. To qualify, a vehicle must earn good ratings in four of the five tests and no less than acceptable in the fifth.

The award builds on Subaru's safety reputation and is the first IIHS designation for 2014 model year Subaru vehicles.

Subaru is the only manufacturer with 2013 IIHS Top Safety Pick status for all models and the only brand with IIHS Top Safety Picks for all models for four years running (2010-2013).

The 2014 Forester is the third Subaru vehicle to earn the TSP+ award - 2013 Legacy (Liberty in Australia) and Outback (built after August 2012) were awarded the Institute's 2013 TSP+ designation in late 2012. The award requires a “Good” or “Acceptable” rating in the Institute's new small overlap frontal crash test in addition to meeting the base “TSP” award criteria.

Read more about new Subaru Forester