Nissan Kicks Test Drive Review – Feels Promising

Nissan Kicks Review

Car Tested: Nissan Kicks; Road Test No. 995; Test Location: Dubai

Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 11-15 lakhs (est.)

The Nissan Kicks can shake up the compact SUV segment with its feature loaded cabin

Nissan might not be known for its SUVs in the Indian market but globally, it has a slew of SUV offerings. While most people will recall the word Godzilla when you say the word Nissan, the Japanese automaker has a lineage in SUVs, right from the popular Juke and Qashqai to the X-Trail, Murano, Pathfinder and of course the flagship Patrol. We headed to Dubai to experience four Nissan SUVs, the most relevant one for India being the Kicks which is due for launch in January 2019.

Exteriors – The Nissan Kicks which we see here isn’t the exact car that will be launched in India, instead, for the Indian market, Nissan will make a host of changes including a bigger car in dimensions with bigger wheels too. While the car we drove looks more crossover than SUV, the company will offer a bigger car with bolder SUV elements for the Indian market. The traditional Nissan SUV elements can be seen here, right from the headlights to the grille and of course the body side moulding. What really looks nice is the floating roof and the chrome treatment on the grille which we reckon will also make it to other places in the car like the door handles and tail gate (our test car was a lower trim).

Interiors – The interior of the Nissan Kicks gets the all-black treatment (beige likely for India) and looks quite sporty with the nice to hold 3-spoke steering wheel. There is good amount of space both at the front as well as the rear with plenty of storage bins too. In fact, this is a car which is a proper 5-seater thanks to generous interior room. Like I said earlier, the test car was of a lower trim and thus lacked features but Nissan will load the Kicks with plenty of equipment including keyless entry, push button start, automatic climate control AC, auto dimming inside rearview mirror, reverse parking camera with sensors, projector headlights and an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and the likes.

The practical cabin and feature list will be the USPs of the Nissan Kicks

Nissan will also equip the Kicks with first in segment features like a 360-degree camera and a LCD display for the instrument cluster, obviously, these features are for the top trim. We are hoping a sunroof and leather seats will also make it to the long features list. The boot of the Kicks is generous and can accommodate a lot of luggage, the seats split fold too to further improve load carrying capacity. Quality inside the cabin is good and everything feels well put together.

Performance – Nissan will utilise the petrol and diesel engines that do duty on the Terrano, both the powertrains employ a 1.5-litre motor, belting out 110 HP. The petrol engine isn’t that famous in India as most opt for the fantastic diesel, which in its latest iteration offers great drivability thanks to the well contained turbo lag. NVH is good, refinement levels are not Creta level but still excellent but the DCi motor is really efficient. Both these petrol and diesel engines are paired to either a manual or an AMT gearbox (the petrol uses a CVT). Good mid-range and a high-revving engine by diesel standards means the Kicks will have good punch, the only drawback is the rather short gearing but a sixth gear compensates for it on the highway.

The Indian version of the Kicks will get 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines

The Nissan Kicks we drove in Dubai is powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine that belts out 118 HP. No doubt this petrol mill has better performance than the 1.5-litre unit that will do duty in India but due to taxation, we won’t be getting the 1.6 gasoline powerplant. Performance is good, NVH is simply excellent and the engine redlines with some enthusiasm, making quite a bit of noise past 4000 RPM. The XTRONIC CVT gearbox is well calibrated with the rubber band effect being extremely well contained too.

Driving Dynamics – The Nissan Kicks is underpinned by the Micra platform and isn’t the best in terms of ride and handling balance. The car did move around a lot on Dubai’s bad roads (a.k.a. the ones near the dunes) and the light weight of the car was immediately apparent, more so with the suspension noise being present. The steering is light at low speeds but doesn’t weigh up well at high speeds and there is body roll and the vehicle doesn’t feel that enthusiastic to drive. However, Nissan will offer the Indian Kicks with different underpinnings with hardware borrowed from the Juke, expect a big improvement in the dynamics department.

Verdict – The Nissan Kicks has a lot riding on it. The Japanese automaker’s sales haven’t been close to what they were when the Sunny was selling in good numbers. The Terrano did little to turn the fortunes of Nissan and after a silence of a few years, the GT-R maker is coming back with a bang. The Kicks seems promising, it is unique and with Nissan working on the car to bring it up to date with Indian tastes, it sure will pack in a lot of appeal.

Besides the Kicks, we also drove the Pathfinder, X-Trail and Patrol in the UAE. The X-Trail was on sale in India earlier and Nissan also showcased the Hybrid version here but decided against launching it, due to the low volumes of soft-roaders as the X-Trail would be priced high due to it being a CBU. The Pathfinder is an SUV which can rival the Toyota Fortuner but is unlikely to make it here as it will need local assembly to be priced competitively. Also, the current gen is a few years old and nearing its lifecycle, it was launched in 2013.

And then there is the flagship Nissan SUV which also happens to be the oldest car here (the current generation was launched in 2011) and yet the most desirable. Nissan did bring the Patrol to India for journalists to sample it but didn’t launch it here and it makes no sense too as it’s powered by a lone V8 petrol engine that outputs 400 HP and 560 Nm. This 5.6-litre motor guzzles fuel to the tune of 2.5 km/l but the sheer presence and space offered by the Patrol makes it a common sight on Dubai roads. It’s big, feature loaded, rides well and of course has a lot of body roll, it’s not the quickest, despite the massive engine but it takes to dune bashing effortlessly, as we witnessed when we drove the SUV over sand dunes, this is an outright luxury SUV which is highly capable on every terrain.

What’s Cool

* Well-equipped cabin will offer good space and features
* Diesel engine produces good performance and efficiency
* Manual and AT options will be available

What’s Not So Cool

* Driving dynamics may not be as good as segment best
* Nissan’s limited sales/service network in India

Alternatives: Renault Captur, Hyundai Creta, Ford EcoSport

[wp-review id=”221091″]