Why 2018 Mazda CX-5 Has A Higher Safety Rating Than RAV4, Rogue, CR-V, and Forester

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The Mazda CX-5 is now rated highest in safety among its compact crossover peers. Here's why.

The 2018 Mazda CX-5 has just earned the Insurance Institue For Highway Safety's highest honor, the Top Safety Pick Plus designation. This is the highest level of safety that can be earned in the U.S. market. No Tesla model has ever earned this designation. Even Volvo's current flagship, the XC90 crossover failed to earn this safety level.

- Related: European vs. Japanese Cars: Why I switched From BMW X3 to 2018 Mazda CX-5

In recent testing, the Mazda CX-5 compact crossover earned a score of Good on every crash test, was rated Superior for crash prevention and earned a score of Good for headlights on both its top Grand Touring Trim and even its base Sport trim when equipped with the optional i-ACTIVSENSE package. These high scores in every area are why the Mazda CX-5 outscores all its major competitors.

Here are the areas that the Mazda CX-5's 2018 model year competitors fall short:
- Toyota RAV4 - Scored Poor on a critical passenger side frontal crash test.
- Honda CR-V - The CR-V is a very safe crossover, but its headlights don't make the grade
- Subaru Forester - Shockingly, the 2018 Forester scores only Marginal on a key crash test.
- Nissan Rogue - The Nissan Rogue has not yet been tested in one crash test, but still can't match the Mazda CX-5's score. Its headlights don't make the grade.

In addition to being structurally safe in crash tests and having Superior-rated active safety systems that prevent accidents, the Mazda CX-5 is unusual at its price point for having available adaptive LED headlights. These are the cool ones that swivel back and forth as you turn and illuminate the path ahead better in corners. And you don't have to pick the most expensive trim to get the headlights either. You can add them in a package on the least expensive CX-5 trim. These cool headlights were one of the features a Torque News Associate added to her list of five reasons she loves her new CX-5.

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