The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has bestowed its highest safety honor on three 2023 Audi vehicles. Top Safety Pick+ awards recently went to the A3, a midsize luxury car, and two electric midsize luxury SUVs — the Q4 e-tron and the Q4 e-tron Sportback.

All three vehicles were put through the paces, undergoing a series of six rigorous crashworthiness tests and earned good scores across the board. These included the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength, and head restraint tests.

However, IIHS engineers hold vehicles to high standards when it comes to crash prevention as well. To capture “plus” status, vehicles must also be available with a front crash prevention system that earns advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.

The 2023 models of all three Audis measured up. Each is outfitted with a standard front crash prevention system that earns a superior rating in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation and an advanced rating in the daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian test.

Finally, to be named a Top Safety Pick+ good or acceptable headlights must be standard across all trims. Here again, the Audi trio did not disappoint. Good-rated headlights are standard across all trims of the A3. The two electric SUVs are available with good-rated LED projector headlights and acceptable-rated LED reflector headlights, depending on the trim level.

Noteworthy, the Top Safety Pick+ award also applies to the 2022 Q4 e-tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback. However, the 2022 A3 falls short of the highest honor due to poor rated headlight systems. Still, the Premium Plus trim of the 2022 A3, which comes with good-rated headlights, earns a lower-tier Top Safety Pick award.