The objective of this study is to investigate the frontal crashworthiness effects of reducing the mass of a mid-size car, while maintaining its stiffness and size. Non-structural components of the vehicle were selected and four light-weight vehicle models were generated by reducing the mass by 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. Mathematical optimization was used to maintain the CG location. To compare the crashworthiness of the four light-weight cars to the original mid-size car, all cars were crashed using LS-DYNA finite element (FE) simulations in (1) New Car Assessment Program frontal (NCAP), (2) Insurance Institute for Highway Safety frontal offset (IIHS), (3) car-to-car frontal at 40% and 100% overlaps, and (4) pick-up truck-to-car (Silverado) at 40% and 100% overlaps frontal crashes. For vehicle-to-vehicle frontal crashes, the acceleration increased and occurred sooner as compared to the original car pulse while for the other test configurations the acceleration peaks were comparable. For all frontal crashes, the acceleration peaked earlier as compared to the original mid-size car pulse. Regarding occupant compartment intrusion, the residual intrusions decreased with the mid-size model mass reduction except for the mid-size vehicle struck by pick-up truck at 100% overlap.