When the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) originally tested the 2018 Hyundai Kona, the small SUV missed out on the coveted Top Safety Pick+ rating due to its underperforming headlights. Well Hyundai reacted fast and updated the headlights to make sure that the Kona gets the Institute’s highest safety rating.
The 2018 Hyundai Kona has received the Top Safety Pick+ rating, but the rating only applies to vehicles built after May 2018. To make sure that the Kona’s headlights are up to par, Hyundai made changes to the Kona’s available LED projector headlights to limit glare for oncoming drivers. The LED headlights, whic are available on the Limited and Ultimate trim lines now have a good rating.
To earn the 2018 Top Safety Pick+ award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests and an acceptable or good rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. The vehicle also need an available front crash prevention system that earns an advanced or superior rating and available good-rated headlights.
The 2018 Kona’s base halogen headlights still earn a poor rating due to inadequate visibility, which means that the base Kona is only rated as a Top Safety Pick.
Source: IIHS
