Nissan Kicks

On the inside, the new Nissan Kicks continues to have the same cabin layout as the pre-facelift model which was sold overseas. However, this time around, the facelifted model which has reached the Malaysian shores comes with different upholstery, which is a combination of black and orange leatherette. The soft-touch leather on the middle layer of the dashboard makes it feel very premium.

The driver’s cockpit of the Nissan Kicks looks youthful with a revised instrument console which now features a TFT MID. The centre console has a simple layout with a trapezoidal 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which has all the modern smartphone connectivity options.

The cabin is equipped with a good amount of features like automatic climate control, push start-stop button, Nappa leather upholstery and many more. The cabin has impressive knee room and headroom, despite a slightly sloping roofline.

This current iteration of Nissan Kicks available in the Malaysian market is essentially the facelifted version of the first generation model which was already on sale in many global markets. The completely revised front fascia gives it an aggressive look, something which was missing in the pre-facelift version.

The revised front grille of the Nissan Kicks looks large, which boasts of the latest iteration of the V-Motion grille. This grille extends down to the edge of the front bumper and gets nice piano black and chrome surrounds. The side chrome garnish on the sides of the front grille extends towards the lower edges of the sleek-looking LED headlamps, which are angular and come with strips of daytime running LEDs at their lower edges. The trapezoidal housings for the LED fog lamps with tapered inner edges further make the front look of the Kicks sharp.

The side profile of the new Nissan Kicks somewhat looks much similar to that of the previous generation model which was available globally. The machined alloy wheels, roof rails and taut shoulder line which tapers upwards towards the C-pillar give it an attractive appeal. The high ground clearance and slim black cladding over wheel arches and at the bottom of the door panels add a hint of ruggedness to the look.

At the back too, the Nissan Kicks has minimal changes over its predecessor version, with boomerang-shaped LED tail lamps and a slightly raked rear windscreen giving it an edgy look when viewed from the rear.

The Nissan Kicks is a fun-to-drive SUV, with a hint of sportiness in its suspension setup of Macpherson struts at the front and torsion beam at the back. The steering is adequately weighted for low-speed drives and picks up weight excellently as the speeds rise. The low turning radius of 5.1 metres makes it a breeze to drive in city traffic. However, there is a firmness in the suspension setup, which stiffens the ride quality a bit.

The Nissan Kicks has one of the most innovative powertrains in its category – a full hybrid powertrain, which is a combination of a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and a Lithium-ion battery. The combined power and torque outputs of this powertrain are 129 PS and 260 Nm respectively. The SUV is offered with a CVT gearbox as standard.

The Nissan Kicks is one of those compact SUVs which come with modern driving aids in its safety package. The SUV is offered with front, side, curtain and driver knee airbags, ABS with EBD, brake assist, intelligent cruise control, blind post warning, rear cross-traffic alert, vehicle dynamic control, rear trace control, hill start assist, rear parking sensors, 360-degree camera and electronic parking brake.

With a refreshing new visual appeal and technologically advanced hybrid powertrain, the Nissan Kicks is one perfect combination of style, performance and economy in a single package.