The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says six small carsreceived its “Top Safety Pick+” award, earning a “good” rating inat least four of five categories in the IIHS' small overlap frontcrash test.

The small overlap front test simulates a collision with anothervehicle or a utility pole. In the test, 25 percent of a vehicle'sfront end on the driver's side strikes a 5-foot-tall barrier at 40mph with a crash test dummy behind the wheel.

The IIHS introduced the award in 2012 to recognize models withsuperior crash protection. The “plus” indicates good or acceptableperformance.

Click through the slide show to see which small car modelsperformed best.

Top Safety + Award Winners:

5. 2014 Toyota Scion tC

Toyota changed the airbag algorithm in this model to allow theside curtain airbags to deploy in a small overlap crash. Withoutthe change, the IIHS notes, the car would have received a“marginal” rating instead of “acceptable.”

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

4. 2013 Hyundai Elantra

Good side curtain coverage earned the car an “acceptable”rating, even though the safety belt allowed the dummy to moveforward 11 inches. Among vehicles in which the side curtain airbagsdeployed, the Elantra, offered sufficient forward coverage.

3. 2013 Dodge Dart

Rated “acceptable” in the small overlap test. The Dart wastested twice because of an on-board camera malfunction the firsttime around. In the retest, the car's driver door opened when thehinges tore away for the door frame. In the initial test, thehinges were severely damaged and the lower one tore away, but thedoor stayed shut. The Dart's belts and front and side curtainairbags effectively protected the dummy's head and upper body.

(AP Photo/Dodge Brand Media)

2. 2013 Ford Focus

Rated “acceptable” in the small overlap test. In many vehicles,the impact at a 25 percent overlap misses the primary structuresdesigned to manage crash energy. That increases the risk of severedamage to or collapse of the occupant compartment structure. TheIIHS rates vehicles “good,” “acceptable,” “marginal” or “poor”based on performance in a moderate overlap front crash, smalloverlap crash, side impact and rollover test. Tests also evaluateseat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries inrear-end collisions.

1. 2013 Honda Civic (received two awards for its 2-doorand 4-door models)

Received the top rating of “good” in the small overlap fronttest. Dummy movement was well controlled and both cars had onlyminimal intrusion into the occupant compartment, so survival spacewas well-maintained. To date, 25 vehicles have received the award.(Winners have to earn “good” ratings for occupant protection infour of five evaluations and no less than “acceptable” in the fifthtest.)

(AP Photo/Honda)

Worst-rated vehicles:

2013 Volkswagen Beetle

Overall “marginal” rating

Most new models are designed to do well in the federalgovernment's full width front crash test and in the IIHS' moderateoverlap front test, but that is not a guarantee of good performancein the small overlap crash. That is what happened to the Beetle. Onimpact, the steering column moved close to five inches to the rightas the dummy's body moved forward. The rotation meant that thedummy's head barely contacted the front airbag. Another issue wasthe safety belt spooling out, allowing the dummy to move forward 13inches and hitting his head on the dashboard.

2013 Chevrolet Sonic

“Marginal” rating for restraints and kinematics andacceptable for structure

Timing the side airbag to deploy to provide optimal headprotection in the small overlap front crash test is key. In thetest, the airbag deployed after the dummy had already moved towardthe open drive window, leaving its head on the wrong side of thecurtain airbag.

(AP Photo/General Motors)

2014 Kia Forte

Worst performer

Too much seat belt slack and a side curtain airbag that deployedbut didn't allow enough forward coverage, allowing the dummy's headto hit the windshield pillar and instrument panel.

“The small cars with 'marginal' or 'poor' ratings had some ofthe same structural and restraint system issues as other modelswe've tested,” says IIHS Chief Research Officer David Zuby. “In theworst cases safety cages collapsed, driver airbags moved sidewayswith unstable steering columns and the dummy's head hit theinstrument panel. Side curtain airbags didn't deploy or didn'tprovide enough forward coverage to make a difference. All of thisadds up to marginal or poor protection in a small overlapcrash.”