Top Safety Pick +Top Safety Pick criteria

2016 Subaru WRX

small car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles with optional front crash prevention

2016 Subaru WRX 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteriaRating
Small overlap front: driver-side
G
Moderate overlap front: original test
G
Side: original test
G
Roof strength
G
Head restraints & seats
G

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Evaluation criteriaRating
Headlights (varies by trim/option)
MP
Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Superior

Seat belts & child restraints

Evaluation criteriaRating
LATCH ease of use
M

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning
  • Optional lane departure prevention

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2015-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Subaru WRX Premium 4-door 4wd

The Subaru WRX was redesigned for the 2015 model year. Although the car shares some of its design elements with the Subaru Impreza, there are now sufficient differences for the WRX to be rated separately.

Evaluation criteriaRating
G
Structure and safety cage
G
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
G
Chest
G
Hip/thigh
G
Lower leg/foot
G
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
G

Action shot taken during the driver-side small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury.

The driver's space was maintained well, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2015-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Subaru WRX Premium 4-door 4wd

The Subaru WRX was redesigned for the 2015 model year. Although the car shares some of its design elements with the Subaru Impreza, there are now sufficient differences for the WRX to be rated separately.

Evaluation criteriaRating
Overall evaluation
G
Structure and safety cage
G
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
A
Chest
G
Leg/foot, left
A
Leg/foot, right
G
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
G

Action shot taken during the moderate overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained very well.

Small greasepaint marks on the side curtain airbag show that the dummy's head motion was well controlled as it moved forward into the frontal airbag and then back toward the seat during the crash.

Forces on the lower left leg were high enough to indicate the possibility of injuries.

Technical measurements for this test

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2015-16 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Subaru WRX Premium 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Subaru WRX was redesigned for the 2015 model year. Although the car shares some of its design elements with the Subaru Impreza, there are now sufficient differences for the WRX to be rated separately.

Evaluation criteriaRating
Overall evaluation
G
Structure and safety cage
G
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
G
Torso
G
Pelvis/leg
G
Driver head protection
G
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
G
Torso
G
Pelvis/leg
G
Rear passenger head protection
G

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2015-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2015 Subaru WRX Premium 4-door 4wd

Overall evaluation
G
Curb weight3,420 lbs
Peak force17,641 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio5.16

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seats

Overall evaluation
G
Dynamic rating
G
Seat/head restraint geometry
G
Technical measurements for this test

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.

Headlights

Ratings are given for 3 different headlight variations available on this vehicle.

Trim level(s)

  • Limited trim equipped with EyeSight Driver Assist Technology package
Evaluation criteriaRating
Low-beam headlight typeLED projector
High-beam headlight typeHalogen reflector
Curve-adaptive?Yes
High-beam assist?No
Overall rating
M
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was fair on the right side of the road and inadequate on the left side. On curves, visibility was good on the gradual right curve, fair on the sharp right curve and inadequate on both left curves.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was fair on the gradual right curve and inadequate on the sharp right and both left curves.

Technical measurements for this test

Trim level(s)

  • Limited trim
  • STI trim
  • STI Limited trim
Evaluation criteriaRating
Low-beam headlight typeLED projector
High-beam headlight typeHalogen reflector
Curve-adaptive?No
High-beam assist?No
Overall rating
M
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was fair on the right side of the road and inadequate on the left side. On curves, visibility was fair on both right curves and inadequate on both left curves.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was fair on the gradual right curve and inadequate on the sharp right and both left curves.

Technical measurements for this test

Trim level(s)

  • Base trim
  • Premium trim
Evaluation criteriaRating
Low-beam headlight typeHalogen projector
High-beam headlight typeHalogen reflector
Curve-adaptive?No
High-beam assist?No
Overall rating
P
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was fair on the right side of the road and inadequate on the left side. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

Technical measurements for this test

About the headlight evaluation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Optional EyeSight Driver-Assist System

Package name

  • Optional EyeSight Driver-Assist System

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2016-21 models

Superior
Superior
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.

About the original front crash prevention test

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2016-17 models built before February 2017

Evaluation criteriaRating
Overall evaluation
M
Vehicle trimPremium
Seat type cloth

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Evaluation criteriaRating
Overall evaluation
M
Vehicle trimPremium
Seat type cloth
1 2 3
Rating iconRating
GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

PositionRating
1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Rating applies to 2016 models

Evaluation criteriaRating
Overall evaluation
M
Vehicle trimLimited
Seat type leather

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Evaluation criteriaRating
Overall evaluation
M
Vehicle trimLimited
Seat type leather
1 2 3
Rating iconRating
GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

PositionRating
1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

About the child seat anchor evaluation