Crash-test grades vary widely even among popular sedans and hatchbacks. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rates each car on a four-level scale in its moderate overlap front test, with Poor at the bottom and Good at the top. Here are ten cars that show the full range, from the Cadillac CT5 and Kia K5 up to the best performers.
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1. Cadillac CT5: Rear-Drive Luxury, Poor Result
The 2026 Cadillac CT5 four-door sedan lands at the bottom of the moderate overlap front test, with a rating of Poor, according to the Institute’s IIHS class summary. The same sedan also earns Poor in the side test, so the weak showing is not limited to one crash scenario.
Poor is the lowest of the four IIHS rating levels, which makes the CT5 one of the two cars singled out in this lineup. Shoppers weighing the Cadillac against rivals in the class can compare the full table, since ratings are specific to model year and body style.
2. Kia K5: Poor Up Front, Marginal Beside
The 2027 Kia K5 four-door sedan is rated Poor in the moderate overlap front test, based on the midsize car ratings. Its side-impact result is Marginal, one step better than Poor but still short of the top two levels.
That pairing puts the K5 alongside the Cadillac CT5 as the second car with a Poor mark in this front test. Because IIHS ratings apply to a specific model year and body, the result describes the 2027 sedan rather than every K5 sold earlier.
3. Lexus IS: A Marginal Front Result
The 2027 Lexus IS four-door sedan receives a Marginal rating in the moderate overlap front test in the luxury midsize ratings. In the side test the same car earns Acceptable, the second-highest level.
Marginal sits one notch above Poor, so the IS shows how uneven a single car’s results can be from one test to the next. The mixed scorecard is a reminder to look at each test separately instead of relying on one headline grade. Because the listing is specific to the 2027 model year and the four-door body, the grade should not be assumed to carry over to older versions of the sedan.
4. Nissan Altima: Marginal Front, Poor Side
The 2027 Nissan Altima four-door sedan is rated Marginal in the moderate overlap front test, according to the midsize sedan ratings. Its side-impact rating is worse, at Poor.
The Altima therefore trails on both tests listed, with the side result the weaker of the two. Readers comparing family sedans can use the Institute’s table to see how it stacks up against the Kia K5 and Volkswagen Jetta in the same class. The ratings come from the 2027 four-door sedan as listed, so older Altimas may have been graded differently, and the table notes the model year.
5. Kia K4 hatchback: Hatchback Trails the Sedan
The 2026 Kia K4 four-door hatchback is rated Marginal in the moderate overlap front test, based on the Institute’s small car ratings. The K4 sedan, by contrast, is rated Good in the same test.
The split shows that body style can matter as much as the nameplate, since two versions of one small car landed several levels apart. Anyone shopping the K4 should check which body the rating refers to before drawing conclusions. The ratings refer to the 2026 model year, and the four-door hatchback is listed separately from the sedan on the same small car page.
6. BMW 3 Series: Acceptable in the Front Test
The 2026 BMW 3 Series four-door sedan is rated Acceptable in the moderate overlap front test, the second-highest level on the IIHS scale, as listed in the 3 Series rating. That puts it a clear step above the Poor and Marginal results seen at the bottom of the lineup.
Acceptable falls just short of Good, which is the top mark, so the 3 Series sits in the middle-to-upper part of this scale. The rating applies to the 2026 sedan specifically, not to older generations of the car.
7. Tesla Model 3: Electric Sedan, Acceptable Mark
The 2027 Tesla Model 3, a fully electric four-door sedan, is rated Acceptable in the moderate overlap front test, according to the Model 3 rating. That matches the result for the BMW 3 Series in the same luxury midsize class.
The listing shows the electric Model 3 holding its own in a front test where several gasoline sedans fared worse. As with every rating here, the grade belongs to the 2027 model year, so earlier Model 3 builds may differ.
8. Acura Integra: Hatchback With an Acceptable Grade
The 2026 Acura Integra four-door hatchback is rated Acceptable in the moderate overlap front test, per the Institute’s small car table. It lands in the same second-highest tier as the BMW 3 Series and Tesla Model 3.
The Integra therefore outperforms the Kia K4 hatchback in this test, even though both are small hatchbacks. It stops one level short of the Good rating earned by the Mazda3 sedan farther down the list. Ratings on the page are tied to the 2026 model year and the four-door hatchback body, so the grade applies to that specific version of the car.
9. Mazda3: Good Marks for Both Bodies
The 2026 Mazda3 earns a Good rating in the moderate overlap front test, the top level on the IIHS scale, as shown in the Mazda3 results. The rating covers both the sedan and the hatchback versions of the car.
Good is the mark every other car in this lineup is measured against, and the Mazda3 reaches it on both body styles. That contrasts with the Kia K4, where the sedan earned Good but the hatchback did not. The result applies to the 2026 model year, and the small car page lists the sedan version with the same Good grade in this test.
10. Volkswagen Jetta: Good Up Front, Weaker Lights
The 2027 Volkswagen Jetta four-door sedan is rated Good in the moderate overlap front test, according to the midsize sedan listing. The same listing shows a Marginal rating for its headlights, a separate IIHS evaluation.
The Jetta shows that a top crash-test result does not guarantee top marks everywhere else on the scorecard. Shoppers who care about night driving may want to weigh the headlight rating alongside the front-test grade. The moderate overlap grade is tied to the 2027 model year and the four-door sedan body, as the class summary page lists it for that car.
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