Honda's Acura TL and TSX sedans and Nissan's Maxima sedan earned "best pick" designations in the latest crash test ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the United States.

The safety watchdog said the cars aced a series of tests that are designed to see how a driver wearing a safety belt would fare in frontal offset crash tests at 40 mph. Two other midsize cars tested, General Motors' Chevrolet Malibu and the Mitsubishi Galant, earned "good" ratings, while the Suzuki Verona was deemed "acceptable."

"These results show how auto makers have improved the structural designs of vehicles to protect occupants better in serious frontal crashes," said Adrian Lund, the institute's chief operating officer. "These new and redesigned midsize cars are performing much better in our offset test, compared with just a few years ago."