The 2022 Kia Stinger is here, and it’s pretty great. It’s a four-door hatchback with a sporty look and rear-wheel drive. To make things even better, the 2022 Kia Stinger is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+. It’s the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s highest honor, but what exactly does it mean?

Is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award really that great?

To be awarded an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award, a vehicle must get a good score in all of the IIHS crashworthy ratings. Ratings can range from poor to good, with marginal and acceptable in between, so good is pretty – well, good.

These tests include the driver-side small overlap front, the passenger-side small overlap front, and the moderate overlap front. In addition to these front crash tests, the vehicle must get a good rating in the side crash tests, roof strength, and head restraint tests. 

On top of that, the vehicle must have an advanced or superior in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests. Headlights, which are often overlooked but shouldn’t be, must be good or acceptable on all trim levels. Oftentimes one trim level has good headlight ratings while another trim level does not. 

The crash test ratings were good in the 2022 Kia Stinger

The 2022 Kia Stinger got a good score in all of the crashworthiness categories, including small overlap front: driver-side. Within this category are subcategories, including structure and safety cage, driver injury measures, and driver restraints and dummy kinematics. The 2022 Kia Stinger scored a good in each of these. 

Similarly, the small overlap front: passenger-side category and subcategories were all good, as were the moderate overlap front test results. Side crash tests were all good, with the exception of one. Under driver injury measures, the torso got only an acceptable rating. 

The roof strength, head restraints and seats got good ratings

To be a Top Safety Pick+, these categories would have to get a good rating. Since you already know the 2022 Kia Stinger is a Top Safety Pick+ award winner, it follows that it got good ratings in each of these categories. 

In addition to getting a good rating, the roof strength on the 2022 Kia Stinger has a curb weight of 3,627 pounds, and a strength-to-weight ratio of 5.53. Its peak force is 20,068 pounds. Head restraints ratings were all good for the Stinger.

Crash prevention in the 2022 Kia Stinger is advanced and superior

The IIHS tested the standard Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with Pedestrian Detection safety system, and found it to be superior. This rating applies only to the 2022 models. It found front crash prevention: vehicle to pedestrian to be advanced across all trims in the 2019-2022 years.

Headlights range depending on the trim you purchase. The rating on the GT-Line trim and GT1 trim is good. The rating on the GT2 trim was only acceptable. If you decide to purchase a 2022 Kia Stinger, pay attention to the headlights that come with the trim you select. 

Although it’s not part of the Top Safety Pick+ criteria, the IIHS does test child seat anchors. It found those in the 2022 Kia Stinger to be only marginal. If you’re planning on putting car seats in the Stinger, do your research. 

Overall, the 2022 Kia Stinger is an award winning sedan with a lot going for it. Provided you’re choosy about your headlights and not planning on digging around in the back seat to find child seat anchors, it seems like a pretty good pick overall.