We often bemoan the demise of low-cost sedans and hatchbacks, but there are still affordable wheels out there – they just happen to be crossovers and utility vehicles
Such as the 2025 Nissan Kicks.
(Full disclosure: Nissan flew me to Santa Barbara, California, and housed and fed me so that I could drive the Kicks. I did not take the proffered tote bag but I did eat some provided snacks.)
The Kicks is redesigned, undergoing a radical makeover, more power, increasing in size and ground clearance, getting a new engine, and gaining all-wheel drive for the first time. Underhood, the 1.6-liter four-banger from before is gone. It’s replaced by a 2.0-liter, naturally-aspirated four-cylinder that makes 141 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque that mates to a continuously variable automatic transmission.
The Kicks is a skoosh over 2 inches longer, 1.6 inches wider, and just under an inch taller than the outgoing model. The ground clearance is now 8.4 inches, as opposed to 7 inches before.
Nissan lists a 3 cubic feet increase in passenger volume and cargo volume goes up 4.7 cubic feet to 30 cubic feet.
The all-wheel drive system operates in FWD mode most of the time, shifting power back to the rear wheels only when needed. Opt for AWD and you’ll get a multilink rear suspension and a Snow mode that uses the brakes and torque distribution to manage slick surfaces.
Nissan folks told me that the brand is aiming the Kicks at the Hyundai Kona, Chevrolet Trax, and Kia Soul.
The Kicks is also squarely aimed at younger buyers who have less to spend on a new car – though it’s likely that active empty nesters will also be a high percentage of Kicks buyers.
Whoever the buyer is, they’ll find a Kicks that has better driving dynamics than before and, to my eye, is more attractive. They’ll also find some reminders that they’re not in the luxury class – though that’s not necessarily unique to Kicks. None of these relatively affordable utility vehicles are completely free from being marked by the type of cost cutting necessary to keep MSRPs below $30K.
There’s good here, and not so good. Let’s start with the former. On-road dynamics are a pleasant surprise, for one. Not in a true sporting sense – few buyers in this class care about that – but the handling is pleasant with the Kicks tracking nicely and staying planted. There is a smidge of body roll, but the steering feels well weighted and requires very little in the way of mid-corner adjustment.
Flipping into Sport makes things a tad more fun, but only a tad.
Ride-wise, it’s a nice balance of stiff and soft, at least on California roads, though a few bumps upset it a bit.
Low-end grunt has been improved, but the engine still struggles at higher RPMs – a hill climb required me to go wide-open throttle and it was still an effort. The engine is also a bit loud and thrashy and a lot of road noise comes into the cabin, despite an increase in sound insulation. To be fair to Nissan, it’s an industry truism that the amount of sound deadening on hand correlates to the amount of money spent.
The CVT is mostly well-behaved but there can be some occasional drone, depending on what your right foot is doing. I found the brakes to be smooth and firm.
Inside there are neat design touches that make the Kicks feel more upmarket than it is – and materials that remind you this is a car for those with tighter budgets. I liked the soft materials on the upper door – there are pricier vehicles with lower-quality trim – and the carbon-fiber-look fabric running across the dash. Even the upper dashboard trim was a bit nicer than one expects at this price point. On the other hand, the headline is decidedly lower rent.
I should point out here that we were driving upper trim cars – loaded SRs with all-wheel drive. There were some front-drivers on hand but I didn’t get in one, that’s on me.
I sometimes roll my eyes at Nissan’s branding of its seats as “zero gravity” but they were super comfortable for long wheel stints. Rear legroom is fine for taller adults but the sloping roofline cuts into headroom a bit.
One thing I appreciated were the large, clear dual 12.3-inch screens for infotainment and the availability of wireless cell-phone charging and wireless Apple CarPlay. Nissan has gone haptic touch for the HVAC, but it worked well enough. Also cool are the available Bose in-headrest speakers. Audio sounded great from these, and you can change how much volume you want from them. I will note that some songs sounded better than others – ZZ Top was rockin’ – but none sounded bad.
There’s no available factory nav here – Nissan folks say most buyers are using CarPlay or Android Auto for their navigational needs.
ProPilot Assist is available. It’s not fully hands-free, of course, and it is a bit improved from the last time I tested it. It had no problems reading the lane lines and turning the wheel as the road turned.
Pricing starts at $21,830 for a base S trim. All-wheel drive is available on all trims and the base S gets Nissan’s Safety Shield 360 suite of ADAS (advanced driver-assist systems) and smart cruise control as standard. The SV adds wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless device charging, and the first 12.3-inch screen. You can add a Premium Package to get heated front seats, panoramic moonroof, and heated mirrors.
For the SV, the FWD starts at $23,680 and AWD adds $25,330. The Premium Package is $1,500.
The top-trim SR I drove based at $26,180 with FWD and AWD is $27,680. It adds the second 12.3-inch screen for infotainment, 360-degree camera, and ProPilot Assist. A $1,950 Premium Package adds a panoramic moonroof, Bose audio, the headrest speakers, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, rain-sensing wipers, and remote start.
If it weren’t for splash guards, 19-inch alloy wheels, and the darn destination fee, my loaded Kicks test unit would’ve been under 30 grand. Instead, it rang the register at a still reasonable $31,875.
Fuel economy is 28 mpg city/35 mpg highway/31 mpg combined for the FWD model and 27/34/30 for the AWD.
Safety Shield 360, by the way, includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, high-beam assist, lane-departure warning, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, and rear automatic braking. Other ADAS that’s available include predictive forward-collision warning, blind-spot intervention, lane-departure prevention, emergency lane-keep assist, intersection assist traffic-sign recognition, and front-parking sensors.
Nissan took aim at the Soul, Trax, and Kona, and while it hasn’t quite hit a bulls-eye, it’s right in range. The Trax went from one of the worst cars on the market, if not the worst, to a well-packaged and sporty inexpensive crossover. It might now be the best in class. The Kona is probably a tad nicer on the inside, at least in the upper trims, and it offers more available power, but’s also more expensive if you opt for the higher trims and more power. Indeed, a Limited starts at about the same price my test Kicks cost. I haven’t yet tested the Kona with a lower trim or the less-powerful 2.0-liter four, but I sense a loaded Kicks might be nicer.
It’s been a while since I’ve experienced some Soul food but I would put the Kicks on par with it. Both offer fairly engaging driving dynamics, both can be a bit noisy, and the power numbers and pricing are similar. Though the Soul doesn’t offer AWD.
Competitive comparisons aside, the 2025 Nissan Kicks is larger than before and offers a fair bit of improvement. I read my first drive of the previous-gen car and this one is much better in terms of driving dynamics and available features. There’s still room for improvement, but it’s a better vehicle than before and the price remains affordable.
Perhaps the best news for buyers on a budget is that none of the three vehicles that Nissan has targeted, nor the Kicks itself, are price-based penalty boxes. All of them offer reasons to sign on the dotted line, as do other vehicles on the edge of the competitive set, such as the Kia Seltos, Hyundai Venue, or Subaru Crosstrek.
For the Kicks, those reasons include improved dynamics and the ability to get desirable features without going much over 30 large. The engine and road noise are a bit of a yellow flag, but overall, Nissan has built a Kicks that unlike the first-gen car, offers more than just style as a selling point.
An inexpensive, small utility that’s reasonably engaging to drive and offers a decent amount of comfort/convenience features while also being stylish? Nissan is much more in the mix than it was before.
[Images © 2024 Tim Healey/TTAC.com, Nissan]
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