2022 Kia Stinger earns Top Safety Pick+ award

The 2022 Kia Stinger, a large car, earns a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, thanks to the elimination of a substandard headlight package offered on the previous model.

To qualify for Top Safety Pick or the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ awards, vehicles must earn good ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. They must also be available with a front crash prevention system that earns advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.

Different standards for headlights separate the two awards. For Top Safety Pick, at least one headlight package that earns a good or acceptable rating must be available. For Top Safety Pick+, good or acceptable headlights must be standard across trim levels.

The 2022 Stinger qualifies for the higher-tier award following Kia’s decision to stop offering the poor-rated halogen headlights that prevented the 2021 edition from qualifying for the “plus.” The GT-line and GT1 trims now come with good-rated LED reflector headlights that were introduced for the 2022 model, while the GT2 trim comes with curve-adaptive LED projectors that earn an acceptable rating. Both headlight systems are equipped with high beam assist.

The large car also comes with a standard front crash prevention system that earns a superior rating in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation and an advanced rating in the vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluation.