The new Nissan Kicks is here. It’s excellent. It’s the second car I’ve driven in as many weeks (just behind the 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatch) that proves there’s never been a better time to shop for an affordable compact vehicle, especially if you’re big on safety.
The Kicks is a confusing machine to understand though, so let’s start with some background.
Head to the Nissan website, and Kicks is listed among the brand’s crossover SUVs.
It looks like one of those, too, albeit a little one.
So, it’s a crossover then, right? Maybe so, maybe no.
See, Kicks is missing one feature that many a crossover shopper shops a crossover for, and that feature is all-wheel drive.
All units come with front-drive, instead.
So, if you need an AWD crossover, skip the rest of this read. If you need an affordable compact that’s safe, flexible and very easy to live with, and don’t care about the number of drive wheels, carry on.
Whatever you (or Nissan’s marketing folks) call the Kicks, the point is that it’s a fantastic alternative to a smaller car in this pricing ballpark. Skipping the AWD makes it cheaper, lighter, and easier on fuel. And, without AWD hardware chewing up space beneath the floor in the rear of the vehicle, the cargo hold is bigger and deeper too.
In fact, you probably won’t find anything in the same price-range as the Kicks with this much cargo space. Not Kona, not C-HR, not EcoSport. The Kicks blows the cargo volumes of these machines out of the water by some 150 litres or more.
The cargo hold is wide, deep, thick and square. A low load-in height makes it easy to get things in and out, the family dog will have little issue hoping on board, and of course, rear seats fold down when needed.
When upright and occupied, they’ll accept two average-sized adults without much issue, though headroom will disappear the most quickly when larger folk are on board. If you happen to have a friend named Bubba McChugnuggets, he’ll probably want to sit up front.
Plus, thanks to its crossover-like shape and proportions, you get a more commanding driving position that’s higher than in a small car, an easier time getting in and out with less climbing up and plopping down, and more ground clearance for clearing the snow-plow hump at the end of your driveway, or highway slush-boulders. It’s like driving a small car, but one with a better driving position, more headroom, and a much larger cargo hold.
If you’re after small-car manoeuvrability, fuel bills and pricing, but want to sit up higher, board and exit more easily and enjoy a substantially greater amount of cargo space, this starts to add up.
So does the pricing: Kicks starts at $18,000 and my top-line tester just tickled $23,000.
For that, you get a nicely-done cabin and a remarkable amount of content. My $22,800 Kicks SR included a BOSE stereo with driver’s headrest speaker, push-button start, heated leather, a part-digital instrument cluster, a central command touch-screen, and more. Blessedly, there’s even remote start.
Do you like safety? Nissan figures you do. So, the Kicks also puts blind-spot monitoring, a collision warning system, and intelligent emergency braking (which can help prevent certain types of crashes) at your disposal.
And on the non-sensor-powered safety front, it’s got excellent low-beam performance, the around-view parking monitor camera system, and a stability control system that keeps this light little ute in line, even in challenging conditions, or while braking from high-speed on slippery surfaces.
Automakers are offering more safety equipment for less money than ever and the Kicks is a great example of the trend.
Right now, there aren’t a whole lot of better ways I can think of to spend this sort of money if your main priorities for the dollar are a load of features, a load of safety tech and a load of cargo capacity.
On smooth roads and highways, Kicks rides on the slightly-stiffer side of comfortable: usually taut and sporty, but not jarring. It’s the middle ground between responsive and squishy, sporty and comfy.
A quicker-than-expected steering feel enhances the Kicks’s good reflexes, and that’s replicated in the brakes, which are fairly powerful and operate with more precision at the pedal than the norm.
As someone who likes a sports car, I found the way the Kicks feels at most times to be fairly excellent.
There is a trade-off, though. Ride quality and refinement are largely at the mercy of the surface passing beneath, with rougher roads coaxing more noise and harshness from the ride than some will like, at times. If you’re after the most comfortable-riding sub-$23,000 machine on the block, this won’t likely be it (but check out the Subaru Impreza).
A 1.6-litre, 125-horsepower, four-cylinder is teamed with Nissan’s Continually variable transmission for enhanced smoothness, performance, and efficiency. This gear-free transmission is excellent: unfailingly responsive and uniquely superb at mostly being virtually invisible.
Operated gently, it’s a nicely-behaved driveline — as smooth and responsive as you need for around-town driving. Here, it feels like a normal automatic and helps the engine feel more responsive than its numbers lean on. This isn’t a rocket, but it scoots along better than you think.
Complaints included seats that go rigour-mortis stiff when cold (the seat heaters are potent, thankfully), and the lack of an arm-rest for front passengers, which is unfortunate if your front seat passenger has a left arm. Further, for all of the cargo space in back, I was hoping for a touch more storage near me up front, perhaps in the form of a covered console storage bin.
Ultimately, shoppers after a decent driving dynamics with a touch of sporty flair, as well as top levels of safety gear, cargo space, feature content, fuel economy and flexibility for their money should consider this one a must-drive.
The Kicks is another great example of how much you’re getting for your new car dollar these days, and I imagine we’ll be seeing plenty of these on Canadian roads — AWD or not.
Other advisable test-drives in this price-range include the comfier VW Jetta, the feature-rich Hyundai Elantra GT, the AWD-equipped Subaru Impreza, and the smaller but more upscale Toyota Corolla.
- Model: 2019 Nissan Kicks
- Engine: 1.6-litre, four-cylinder, 125 horsepower
- Drivetrain: front-wheel drive
- Transmission: Continually variable transmission
- Features: Blind spot monitoring, heated leather, remote start, automatic lights, full driver computer, BOSE stereo, push-button ignition, full multimedia connectivity, Around View Parking Monitor
- What’s hot: sporty reflexes, plenty of cargo space, fantastic value for the money, smooth transmission, good headlights
- What’s not: a touch noisier and stiffer than some shoppers will like, rough roads degrade ride quality, seats very stiff when cold.
- As tested (Kicks SR): $22,798
