The 2013 Honda Civic sedan and coupe have become the first compact cars to ever earn the Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety according to USA Today.

To earn the award vehicles have to receive a "good" rating in at least four or five IIHS crash tests and nothing less than "acceptable" in the fifth test.

Click here for more about the 2013 Honda Civic vehicles.

"We believe this is a distinct competitive advantage, especially as more and more consumers place a premium on crash rating performance," says Art St. Cyr, Honda's vice president of product planning, in a statement.

It is noteworthy to mention the Civics earning a Top Safety rating because the new and "tougher" crash test is designed for larger vehicles as they're built to handle crashes better than smaller cars. The Civics achieving a "good" rating means it's as safe as the other three vehicles that were also named Top Safety Picks this week.

The IIHS added a frontal offset test which involves a vehicle being smashed into an object like a pole to resemble a head-on collision on the driver's passenger side.

A vehicle can earn a TSP+ by passing the traditional front, side, rear and rollover crash safety tests and then they have to pass the new "small overlap test." The new test is designed to test the impact of just 20 percent of the car's front end according to Edmunds.

Many cars have flunked each test, but according to new research, engineers are figuring out ways to modify new cars to make sure they'll pass to make the vehicle look more desirable in showrooms.

The 2013 Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra were also named Top Safety Picks by the IIHS.

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