2021 Nissan Kicks Review: Rebranding the Modern City Car

“If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”

Mad Men’s Don Draper is not a role model by any stretch, but this quote of his is sage advice. If the car-buying public is running away from small cars in favor of crossovers, well, turn the former into the latter. That’s what Nissan did when it debuted the Kicks a few years ago, and now the brand has freshened up its smallest offering for the 2021 model year.

Comfortable, practical, and affordable, this latest Kicks makes a strong case for itself as a first car for younger folks. Beyond that, it’s well enough equipped to appeal to the pragmatist: the Kicks has everything you need in a new car, and nothing you don’t.

Nissan has modernized the Kicks nose and tail for 2021, bringing it closer to the current design language found on models like the new Rogue. Narrower, LED headlights frame a V-Motion grille that now extends further into the lower bumper. The bumper design itself is also cleaner, with two tall intakes at the corners featuring integrated foglights. Around back, the Kicks adopts a light bar to connect its (also LED) taillights—a design feature that is surely approaching critical mass now, even if it does work in this instance. Overall, it’s a more assertive look, without abandoning the original Kick’s friendly approachability.

The whole shebang is set off with a monochromatic two-tone paint option. The contrasting black roof will cost you ($595 / $650 CAD), but with the blacked-out lower trim and wheels, I’d say it’s worth the spend.

Nissan has heaped more standard features into the 2021 Kicks beyond a place to rest your elbows, of course. Every one of the trims now features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, for instance. Both are still wired, but that just means there’s no reason for a wireless charger. And you know what? Good. Wired responds faster and is easier to troubleshoot should anything go wrong.

A whole cornucopia of driver and safety assists are standard across the board, too. Automated front emergency braking (with pedestrian detection) and lane departure warning are typical, while the Kicks also includes rear emergency braking, rear sonar, and rear cross-traffic alert. The standard blind spot monitoring uses interior-mounted lights to alert the driver instead of the more common in-mirror approach. Props to Nissan for this; it’s the better, more consistently visible way.

It’s these sort of practical touches that dictate much of the experience behind the wheel of the Kicks. The front windows have auto up/down functionality, for example—a minor touch, but something some more expensive cars still forego. The central infotainment uses big, easy-to-read tiles on screen to easily navigate at a glance. Thankfully, there are also redundant buttons along the sides, and physical controls for the climate below. This SR Premium adds in heated front seats and a heated steering wheel. The wheel doesn’t just toast up the 6- and 9-o’clock parts either, but most of the leather-wrapped rim.

Eschewing something so luxurious as a sunroof, the Kicks offers a hat-friendly 40.4 inches (1,027 mm) of front headroom. The driver gets an added bonus with a Bose speaker built into the headrest, too. It’s very cool, and the headrest itself is more comfortable for my melon. Visibility is generally great as well. Rear headroom is a still-healthy 38.5 inches (977 mm). The legroom measures are 43.7 and 32.4 inches (1,111 and 824 mm), respectively. The rear doesn’t feel as tight as that number suggests however, since the driver will be pretty far forward.

With a 1.6-liter engine putting out a thunderous 122 horsepower and 114 lb-ft of torque, a stop-light warrior the Kicks is not. You wouldn’t expect a two-door sports car to shuttle an entire basketball team starting lineup either, though. Around town, the Kicks is perfectly adequate, seamlessly melding into the flow of traffic with little resistance from its continuously-variable transmission (CVT). Ask more of it, like on a short on-ramp or passing on the highway, and the gas pedal essentially becomes a volume knob, increasing sound with little noticeable change in forward motion.

To balance out the buzziness, the Kicks is good on gas—class-leading, in fact. The EPA rates it at 31 mpg city and 36 mpg highway, for a combined 33 mpg rating. (Canadian equivalents are 7.7/6.6/7.2 L/100 km.)

There’s a “but” coming, though: the Kicks doesn’t offer AWD like some of the competition. I’ll leave it up to you on how much that matters—though I’ll also point out a good set of winter tires matters more than the number of driven axles. On the flip side, the lack of AWD makes the Kicks quite light by modern standards. That in turn allows for a softer suspension setup which, in concert with the chunky tire sidewalls, translates to a very comfortable ride.

The Kicks feels solid in the city and on the highway. It’s also unexpectedly fun to throw down your nearest winding road. The steering is light and the body leans, but the Kicks responds well to direction changes. In the best “slow car fast” tradition, the drive becomes about conserving momentum. Even when thrashed, the little 1.6-liter matched the quoted combined fuel economy figure, too.

People looking to buy a sub-compact crossover prioritize value and low running costs. They’re also spoiled for choices these days.

The 2021 Kicks lineup starts with the S trim at $20,700 ($21,568 CAD), including destination. That price nets you cloth seating, the 7.0-inch infotainment, full-analog dials, and the afore-mentioned suite of safety features. The mid-level SV adds the half-digital instrument panel, 17-inch alloys, automatic climate control, adaptive cruise control, smart key, and more. Get spendy with the top-shelf SR Premium ($24,340 / $26,668 CAD) and you’ll get the cool tri-color seats here, the around-view monitor, heated seats (standard in Canada), Bose sound system with headrest speaker, and some unique exterior trim bits. Premium is a $1,200 package on the SR in the US, and a standalone trim in Canada.

The main Kicks competitor would be the Honda HR-V. It’s due for replacement any day now, but remains a solid option thanks to its second-row Magic Seats and available AWD. The Toyota C-HR is front-drive-only, so it’s a competitor in spirit—though its more rakish shape eats into second-row space. The most similar offering from another automaker is the boxy Hyundai Venue. The smallest Hyundai undercuts the Nissan, and essentially matches it in performance and physical measures. The Venue doesn’t offer as many safety features though, either standard or optionally.

There’s also the likes of the Chevrolet Trailblazer and Kia Seltos. Both are a little larger, straddling the line between sub- and just-compact. You’ll get AWD from them too, plus more power and toys, but you’ll pay for it, at the dealer and at the pumps.

Once you get past the 2021 Nissan Kicks’ off-roader LARPing act—it’s essentially a Versa hatch after a shopping spree at Bass Pro Shops—the rest of the package is a refreshingly honest one. It doesn’t try to wow you with grand displays; instead, the Kicks feels tailor-made to minimize the stress of the daily grind. This is an affordable, practical little hatchback with just the right amount of SUV seasoning—higher ride height, elevated seating position—to convert the skeptics.

The Kicks has changed the conversation. And at the end of the talk, it’ll even have you smiling.

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