2018 Nissan Kicks

The 2018 Nissan Kicks is aimed at youthful Americans. We witnessed the concept at the 2014 São Paulo Motor Show. Now in production, Nissan’s smallest crossover clearly has the family’s features. 

Replacing the quirky Juke in Nissan’s U.S. ute lineup, the all-new Kicks is underpinned by Nissan’s global V-Platform… which it shares with the Versa Note and Sedan. Behind the V-motion grille is a 125-horsepower 1.6-liter inline-4.

GARICK ZIKAN: Part of the engineering that went into the Kicks focused on the horsepower to weight ration. The Kicks has a curb weight of less than 2700 pounds. So at that weight, this engine provides enough power to keep the ride interesting.

JOHN DAVIS: The engine works with a CVT… sending power to the front wheels. The steering is on the light side, but still has a decent amount of weight, and is well matched with the rest of this urban vehicle. 

The cabin is more spacious than you might expect… with plenty of headroom in both rows. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard… and quickly connected to our smartphone. Automatic Emergency Braking comes with every one they make.

So the 2018 Nissan Kicks brings quite a “kick” to the mini-ute competition. On sale now, the price starts at about $18,000.