Squeezing safety into small cars

2008 Subaru Impreza, an Insurance Institute for HIghway Safety "Top Safety Pick"

Subarus also benefit from the carmaker's unusual "boxer" engine design. In Subaru engines the pistons go out sideways instead of rising up vertically or diagonally. That allows the engine to sit lower in the car, creating a lower center of gravity for better handling.

The engine is also angled down slightly toward the back and, during a severe front crash, it will be pushed downward, sliding underneath - instead of into - the passenger compartment.

NEXT: Protecting the rear