The 2025 Nissan Kicks Has Grown Up and Glown Up: First Drive

Bear in mind the Nissan Juke? The Kicks stepped in to switch it a number of years in the past, promising to protect the Juke’s youthful character and low worth level in a physique that wasn’t fairly so … quirky. Now there’s a brand new Kicks within the combine for 2025, and from the skin, it appears to be like prepared for shopper conferences as a substitute of journeys to the seashore.

That’s not essentially a foul factor, however what number of instances have we seen fascinating autos flip bland within the title of maturity? The excellent news is, there’s nonetheless some allure and worth on this grown-up Kicks, regardless of getting a haircut and promotion to account govt. Whether or not it’s prepared for board displays and fast-paced periods of pickleball relies on your standpoint.

There’s completely no approach to mistake the brand new Kicks for an previous one. Nissan fully redesigned its entry-level SUV, and the easiest way to explain the styling in individual is: critical. Considered head-on, solely a vestige of Nissan’s V-Movement grille is discernable behind the horizontal bars and LED lights that outline its new face. It’s an especially clear, satisfying look that’s mirrored by a easy decrease grille on the backside of the fascia. The one angles you’ll discover listed here are on the corners, and the result’s a significantly bigger presence with out being a significantly bigger SUV.

The clear, straight strains stretch alongside the aspect as effectively, notching upward solely on the C-pillar the place the floating roof motif lives on whether or not you select a single or two-tone exterior end. Talking of which, Nissan gives seven multi-color choices, all of which embrace a black roof save for Gun Metallic, which will get pink up high.

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In the meantime down low, the grey plastic cladding isn’t simply plain ol’ grey. It has a refined checkered sample that, just like the two-tone roof, provides the Kicks a contact of character amid its in any other case conservative styling. And the 19-inch tri-spoke wheels on my SR check car are fairly cool, too.

Nissan didn’t simply make the Kicks look greater. It’s bodily bigger total, beginning with 8.4 inches of floor clearance. In comparison with the outgoing mannequin, the 2025 Kicks is 3.0 inches longer, an inch increased, and virtually 2 inches wider. That interprets to extra space inside, with an additional 3.0 cubic toes of passenger area and as much as 30.0 cubic toes of cargo area. Sitting in both the entrance or the again, the Kicks doesn’t have limitless area however common adults must be comfy in both location. 

The inside receives as drastic a makeover as the skin. No matter trim degree, the brand new Kicks goes totally digital for driver and heart infotainment screens. The one distinction lies within the dimension, which begins as a pair of seven.0-inch shows for the Kicks S. Step as much as the SV and also you get a 12.3-inch heart display screen. The range-topping SR has twin 12.3-inch screens, successfully giving the Kicks a glass cockpit.

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Professionals: Seems to be Nice, Snug, AWD For Underneath $25,000

S and SV trims nonetheless have bodily controls for local weather settings, however Nissan provides small dimples to the haptic display screen on the SR so you may simply regulate temperature and fan speeds purely by really feel. Preventing heavy site visitors on a 45-minute drive route close to Nissan’s tech heart north of Detroit, I used to be supremely grateful for this straightforward but efficient resolution to navigating touch-sensitive controls. 

Talking of Detroit site visitors, the brand new Kicks has a bit extra energy to drift. All trims now have a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 141 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque. Make no mistake—you gained’t win any races except your competitors is plastic and has a Energy Wheels sticker on the aspect. However, it is a famous enchancment from the outgoing mannequin, which solely had 122 ponies from its 1.6-liter four-pot. 

Of higher significance right here is the additional 26 lb-ft of twist over the previous Kicks. There’s simply sufficient to merge into heavy site visitors with out inflicting undo panic amongst your passengers or different motorists. An upgraded Xtronic CVT largely retains the engine in its powerband as you tromp the accelerator, however curiously, it felt a bit faster if I didn’t completely flooring it. With simulated shift factors programmed in, a flat-out acceleration run takes the engine previous its peak. Going with round 80-90 % throttle, the revs stayed somewhat decrease on the fake shifts, thus retaining the acceleration extra constant. 

Christopher Smith / Motor1

Christopher Smith / Motor1

That is purely a seat-of-the-pants remark, although one which caught with me as I turned onto a really busy stretch of 12 Mile Highway. A Nissan consultant defined the powertrain was tuned for mid-range efficiency, which is what most drivers want when tooling round city. Official acceleration instances aren’t out there, however I’d estimate a 60-mph run continues to be someplace north of 9 seconds.

And but, the little SUV feels borderline spritely on nation roads. The extreme highway and wind noise of the earlier technology is basically gone, and regardless of the SR using on 19-inch wheels (16-inch steelies are customary), the experience in all fairness comfy with out being floaty.

The lodging are a lot improved, too, with Nissan’s Zero Gravity seats now within the entrance and rear. I couldn’t put the corporate’s claims of superior long-distance assist to the check, however I had no complaints throughout an hour spent dancing round Detroit potholes. And the inside was surprisingly upscale in its look, too. Smooth-touch surfaces fill the area, one thing I wasn’t anticipating to search out on the most cost effective all-wheel-drive SUV within the nation.

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Cons: Noisy Engine, Nonetheless Actually Sluggish

Sure, the Kicks now has Clever All-Wheel Drive (I-AWD) out there on each trim degree. Underneath regular circumstances, the SUV solely turns its entrance wheels. However Nissan claims its system can sense when wheel slip is imminent and have interaction the rear axle instantaneously in any drive mode, save for Snow the place it’s on full-time. With the very modest energy output from the engine, snow and ice are actually the one circumstances I see AWD coming into play. I by no means felt it have interaction throughout my time behind the wheel, even on filth surfaces.

However, all-paw isn’t one thing typically discovered on small SUVs, and in reality, you gained’t discover it on something underneath $25,000 apart from the brand new Kicks. At $24,720—together with Nissan’s $1,390 vacation spot cost—it undercuts opponents just like the Kia Seltos, Toyota Corolla Cross, and Chevrolet Trailblazer, all of that are at the very least $1,000 extra. And issues get solely costlier from there. I see potential consumers in snowy climates being very tempted by the AWD Kicks and its low price ticket.

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Nevertheless, there are tradeoffs for affordability. Nissan representatives defined that some “exhausting choices” had been made in the course of the improvement course of to make sure a cheaper price level was maintained. A type of choices was nixing energy seats, even on the range-topping SR. And admittedly, the levers for elevating and sliding aren’t essentially the most ergonomically agreeable to make use of. There isn’t any built-in navigation system or comparable onboard tech, save for satellite tv for pc radio. The upgraded 12.3-inch touchscreen depends on wi-fi Android Auto or Apple CarPlay to be of a lot use.

And but, Nissan’s hands-free ProPilot system is accessible as an choice, as is a 10-speaker Bose sound system and a panoramic sunroof. The dichotomy right here is actually fascinating.

Will these oddly absent options deter consumers from shopping for the brand new Kicks? If something sends folks away, I believe will probably be the powertrain. The styling, the inside, the motive force help tech, the whole lot comes collectively in a car that may punch effectively above its weight class. Now, it simply wants a smoother, extra highly effective engine for icing on the cake. Even when it means tacking one other $1,000 to the value, the Kicks has the feel and appear to make such an funding worthwhile. A hybrid or perhaps a Nismo model (fingers crossed) would work effectively right here, however alas, Nissan had no remark after I requested about each.

For now, the 2025 Kicks is the most cost effective all-wheel-drive SUV on sale within the US and nonetheless among the many least expensive new automobiles on sale, interval. In case you don’t thoughts a lackluster powertrain, its mixture of fine appears to be like and standard-issue tech could possibly be very exhausting to beat.

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