One of the rumored reasons Alfa Romeo kept delaying its beautiful Giulia sedan was to ensure all of the required crash standards were met and passed with flying colors. And that it has. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety just released its official crash test scores for the Giulia and we can happily report it's earned the highest ratings possible – when equipped with optional front crash prevention and curve-adaptive headlights.

The IIHS claims the Alfa Romeo Giulia achieved its Top Safety Pick+ because it earned a "Good" score on all five crash tests, including small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraint. Those curve-adaptive headlights, however, are a must-have, even though they'll cost you a bit more.

Without them, the Giulia's standard headlights earned a "Poor" rating. We wouldn't be surprised if Alfa Romeo made them standard one day. But for now, the IIHS was full of praise for this mid-size luxury performance sedan, and Alfa Romeo is obviously thrilled. "The Giulia represents the height of Alfa Romeo engineering and technology so no effort was spared when it came to the vehicle's performance and safety features," said Alfa Romeo boss Reid Bigland. "We're honored to receive this award from IIHS as it shows our commitment to creating state-of-the-art vehicles." Despite these solid crash test scores, we'd still hate to see a Giulia get totaled. It's simply too pretty.