We're here in San Diego California with the newest member of Nissan's lineup the
2018 Nissan Kicks. Nissan tells us that the Kicks shouldn't be thought of as a
direct replacement for the Juke since the Juke will still be sold in some
global markets like Canada in Japan. However for us in the United States
effectively means that the Juke is dead long lived the Kicks. While the outgoing
Juke was definitely categorized as a compact entry-level SUV, the Kicks is
not so easily placed in any single category. It has more in common probably
with cars like the Hyundai Kona and the Kia Soul rather than other SUVs like the
Toyota C-HR or the Honda HR-V. Part of the reason for this is that the
Kicks is only offered in front-wheel drive, if you want all-wheel drive you'll
have to go for one of Nissan's other SUVs. While the Juke was known for having
very quirky styling the Kicks is a bit more sedate and even though we're not
sure whether or not we should call in an SUV it does have a few styling cues that
are hallmarks of SUVs starting with this lower black cladding along the body that
makes it look more rugged. Nissan does offer a heavy dose of interior and
exterior customization with the Kicks. Now the car that we're looking at here
is gun metallic with a monarch orange roof and they also offer several other
two tone paint configurations. You'll also have the chance to add accessories
to the car much like this one has orange inserts in the wheels an orange front
lip spoiler and orange mirror caps and each of those don't actually cost as
much as you might think the wheel inserts are only about 75
dollars so if you find yourself jealous of all the other kids with their Pumped
Up Kicks it won't cost you too much to play along. The Kicks excels in two areas
that are actually pretty important for shoppers in this segment the first one
will be value and the second will be packaging and by packaging what we mean
is how efficiently the car uses it's space. Now the Kicks is not a large vehicle
it's only about a hundred and sixty nine inches long but the way that it uses
that space is really impressive starting with the cargo area. Now behind the rear
seats there's 25.3 cubic feet of cargo space and that's better than most
everything else in this segment. Toyota C-HR and the Hyundai Kona for
example have about 19 cubic feet of cargo space and both cars are longer
than the Kicks. The Kicks backseat also is split 60/40 and folds down for you to
store longer cargo and this cargo cover here is easily removable and you can
store it at home if you need to pick up things that are taller.
Now the Kicks doesn't just make efficient use of its cargo area the
cabin is also very efficiently used as well.
Nissan says that the Kicks actually has best-in-class front legroom and headroom
and the back seat which is usually an area of weakness for these cars is
actually a strength in the Kicks. I'm about 5'11'' and I'm sitting in the back
seat and I'm very comfortable. I have enough legroom between me and the front
seat and there's a ton of headroom which is really really appreciated. One of the
things that the Kick does very well is visibility for both front and back seat
passengers. The high roofline means that you get a very clear line of sight
through the windows and they're tall all around so for me someone who gets
carsick that's something that I really appreciate and that's being able to see
out of the back seat. You also have access to a few amenities, there are two
USB charge ports right here in the center console that you can reach easily.
If there's one thing that I don't like about the kicks backseat and there are
no visible air vents so you're gonna depend on the front seat passengers for
climate control. The Kicks is a budget-friendly vehicle but I think that
it actually does a pretty good job with materials for its price. There are some
hard points and that's kind of unavoidable in a car at this price so
you have hard plastics along the windows here and you know you're missing things
like an armrest for the front seat passenger. However in the SR trim like
we're in now you that means you also get a leather wrapped steering wheel and a
leather-wrapped shift knob and for those who want non-cloth seats you can pay an
extra thousand dollars for the premium package and that includes fake leather
upholstery which was so good that it actually fooled me at the LA Auto Show, I
thought it was the real thing. The Kicks does come standard with a 7-inch
touchscreen media display however if you want Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
you'll have to jump up to the SR or SV trims. The screen itself is nice, it's
actually placed very well and most people will be able to reach the buttons
on either side without much trouble. If there are too small caveats to it the
first one is that it is a fingerprint magnet you'll have to carry some kind of
cloth to keep it clean and it's also not quite bright enough in bright sunlight
it gets washed out especially if you're wearing sunglasses. The Kicks isn't
really designed to have a really great driving experience and it kind of shows.
It's what I would call competent on the road. Under the hood it has a 1.6 liter
four-cylinder engine that's mated to a CVT and that engine makes 125 horsepower
which is enough to get you going but not real quickly.
The name Kicks strikes me as kind of ironic because when you put your foot on
the gas there's not a lot of kick. This is one of those CVTs where you get that
lag from a stop you don't get that real crisp acceleration when you put your
foot down. It does sort of downshift unnaturally but like right there it's
more noise than fury. Now if there's one part about the Kicks driving experience
that does stand out a little bit it's actually its confidence in corners. The
Kicks has a very low curb weight about between 2600 and 2,700 pounds. That puts
it at about 600 pounds lower than competitors like the Toyota C-HR and
while this doesn't really pay off in terms of acceleration, it does make it
feel rather nimble. Now right now we're in the SR model which Nissan says is the
sportiest of the three Kicks variants and this comes with something that the other
two don't have which is called active ride control. Now that kind of sounds
like an adaptive sort of suspension but it's not it's actually a kind of a
subtle system that uses the brakes as a form of traction control but instead of
just using it to keep the car stable it can actually detect when you're hitting
bumps or other things in the road and it uses very minut braking not to slow down
the car but to make it stay balanced and it actually pays dividends. The ride in
this car is a highlight for me I think that does a good job of smoothing out
road imperfections and when you're just cruising it stays very flat and very
composed even at highway speeds. Another highlight for the Kicks is its
fuel economy and that adds to the car's value. Now Nissan says that the Kicks has
the best-in-class fuel economy for any car in this class that isn't a hybrid
and it gets 31 mpg in the city and 36 on the highway that's good for a 33
combined number with again Nissan says is class leading. The Kicks also offers
good value when it comes to safety features. All grade levels of the Kicks
will come standard with automatic forward emergency braking and that's a feature
that we really like to have in cars because it's proven to reduce accidents.
If you jump up to the next level, the SV trim, you're gonna get blind spot warnings
with rear cross-traffic alerts and if you jump to the SR you're gonna add an
around view monitor which is very helpful in situations like parallel
parking. Though the Kicks does offer good value with its safety features it does
still trail competitors like the Toyota C-HR. The C-HR comes with standard adaptive
cruise control and lane keep assist in addition to automatic forward
emergency braking and those are two features that aren't even offered on the
Kicks. However the Kicks is still I would say
above much of the class in this regard and it's worth calling out its value. Now
whenever automakers releases a new car they like to explain who exactly the
target audience is and for Nissan they say that they're targeting multicultural
buyers between the ages of 25 and 35 which is, I guess that's me, and I'm a
little bit ashamed to say that I think that they hit their mark. I really like
the Kicks. I think it delivers excellent value and the interior
packaging is great. It's a small car that can still fit four adults comfortably.
I'm comfortable in saying that I think that the Kicks will take off for Nissan
in a way the Juke never did and a big part of that is pricing. The Kicks
actually starts at just under $19,000 including destination charges and we are
here with the Kicks SR, the most expensive trim, and it's not even that
expensive, $21,265. Compare that to the Juke which started at just 40 dollars
less than that but had less technology and much less practicality and it's easy
to see why the Kicks is going to have much more mass appeal.
Now those wanting to kick the tires on the Kicks that a dealership won't have
to wait long the car is in dealerships now.