2016 Fiat 500X Earns IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus Award
Fiat’s newest little SUV is a rising star in the brand’s lineup: the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety today named the 2016 Fiat 500X a Top Safety Pick Plus, the agency’s highest honor. The designation is in stark contrast to the score awarded to its sibling, the 500L. That small hatchback received the lowest rating of poor in the small front overlap test, disqualifying it from Safety Pick status.
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According to IIHS, the 500X earned good ratings in all five of its crashworthiness tests and an advanced rating for front crash prevention. In the challenging small-overlap front crash test, IIHS says the driver space was maintained reasonably well and the airbag offered sufficient head coverage. In the 12 mph track test, the front crash prevention system was able to avoid a collision in 4 out of 5 tests.
The Fiat 500X competes against other subcompact SUVS like the Honda HR-V, Jeep Reengage, Mazda CX-3 and Chevrolet Trax. The HR-V, Renegade and CX-3 have not yet been crash-tested by IIHS; the Trax received good scores in all of the agency’s tests and is a Top Safety Pick, but it does not offer a front-crash prevention system, disqualifying it from Top Safety Pick Plus status.
