2018 Nissan Kicks First Drive | Edmunds

Edmunds special correspondent Elana Scherr takes the 2018 Nissan Kicks on a first drive around San Diego. How does the Kicks fare in the highly competitive subcompact crossover SUV segment? Watch to find out.
Q: What engine does the 2018 Nissan Kicks have?
A: The Kicks uses a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that's rated at 125 horsepower and 115 pound-feet of torque. The four-cylinder is paired with a continuously variable automatic transmission.
Q: What kind of fuel economy does the 2018 Nissan Kicks get?
A: It gets an EPA-rated 33 mpg combined (31 city/36 highway), better than its main rivals, the Ford EcoSport, the Honda HR-V, the Hyundai Kona and the Toyota C-HR.
Q: How much cargo space does the 2018 Nissan Kicks offer?
A: It offers 53.1 cubic feet. Of its competitors, only the HR-V offers more, with 58.8 cubic feet.
Q: How much does the 2018 Nissan Kicks cost?
A: The base model, the S trim, starts at $18,965, including destination. The midlevel SV starts at $20,665, and the top trim SR begins at $21,265.
Read our First Drive review here: www.edmunds.co...
Edmunds - we help you find your perfect car with unbiased and useful reviews, advice,
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[@nickster102559]

She was entertaining to listen to. Well done executed presentation. Look forward to more vids! Great catch Edmund's!

[@geea9247]

People who complain about the power are just so fn stupid people who will purchase a small car obviously aren’t racers. And i will be purchasing this car because I don’t really care if its fast or not, I care about the mpg.

[@HLMAX]

Ignore the clueless adolescents. Anyone actually purchasing this type of car would have done their research. It has equivalent specs to most entry level compact cars in hp, rear drum brakes, FWD. For the price, you get more advance tech, convenience, more usable space, better outward visibility, easy ingress/egress, etc. For the price, Nissan has a winner here for the category. I test drove one; it is a great car for its intended purpose, an exceptional value. I am getting one for my kids.

[@Cerby1979]

While the mpg is very good, it would make it better if Nissan made the fuel tank on the Kicks bigger. It only has a 10.8 gallon fuel tank while the other vehicles in it’s class (C-HR, H-RV for example) have 13.2 gallon fuel tanks and are just as fuel efficient.

[@notrappaport5340]

_and are just as fuel efficient_ C-HR fuel efficiency: 27 city / 31 highway HR-V fuel efficiency: 28 city / 34 highway Kicks fuel efficiency: 31 city / 36 highway

[@joegomez4239]

See

[@goclunker]

Gee A cool point...except... i get 20mpg city / 32mpg freeway in a modded bmw m3 convertible with 270 rwhp. This car is suppose to appeal to me. It makes me vomit bile. Oh, and I can do zero to 60 sub 5 seconds, if i wish, and my car BUILT with everything refreshed to new cost $8k. But I digress, you're right, this kicks is the perfect car...if you have zero personality

[@Azmodan911]

Welcome Elana! A well spoken woman who is knowledgeable, loves cars and is funny too?

[@jonathonklein3731]

Go Elana!!!! Keep her. Treasure her.

[@mrjomaled755]

After seeing her review style for the first time I like her! She is entertaining (very important to me) as well as knowledgeable, technically savvy and an all around good reviewer. God knows I've been through a few hundred car reviews (if you can call some a "review" where I just click out of it after 1 minute. I am looking forward to more of her car/truck/SUV reviews. Good work, Edmunds!!

[@bobby33x97]

Elana, the Versa Note hatchback is an awesome car - super versatile! No pun intended.

[@raulcancino9053]

I really like Elena! She sounds very honest

[@RChyshkevych]

Edmunds is poaching a lot of Motor Trend personalities

[@Antenox]

Roman Chyshkevych Good. Fuck MTOD

[@swanblake]

Roman Chyshkevych only the great ones

[@swanblake]

Antenox exactly!

[@0ttoman]

She used to work for the roadkill magazine.. which is now dead... 💀

[@junkyardhack6292]

Elana ROCKS!!

[@soulstance]

For under 23k with all those amenities, that's a pretty amazing value.

[@photon155]

I love the new correspondent, lots of personailty. Go Edmunds

[@jetboiLA]

You are adorable! Thank you for reviewing the KICKS, I really enjoyed your video. Looks like this will be my next car :))

[@nilochoye]

daaang, elana! That was awesome, happy to see you on video again. Excellent job walking the line of being a fancy edmunds econobox reviewer while still being snarky and honest! Miss you on Roadkill, but maybe this will make me watch some edmunds car reviews??

[@hector_nimrod]

MotorTrend fired Elana??? And I tought leaving KZbin is the worst decision that MotorTrend ever made. I'll miss Elana in the live streams. But for edmunds is awesome to have Elana in the team. Keep her!

[@colderbeer]

That 8 speaker Bose speakers system is quite nice.....REAL stereo sound in just a 22 thousand dollars vehicle !!!!

[@rajavelr2504]

Elana..... Your presentation is very good and also review is nice...

[@davidm5707]

Great review, Elana, welcome to Edmunds. I always count on them for the straight dope on cars.

[@stephen1088]

Pretty impressed by the Kick and Elana.

[@redweaselone]

When can we expect to see the sequel episode where Elana drops in a 440 in her back yard?

[@bextar6365]

Looks like a practical cuv, my guess is that it will sell well. Nothing wrong with a cvt trans for every day normal driving and good gas mileage is a big plus.

[@jordantp1996]

My car has a CVT. And I love it.

[@jakp8777]

Elena is pretty good!

[@collind6895]

Great addition to the team!!! :)

[@peteflanagan3528]

I very much enjoy Elana! Great job!

[@alexplore11]

Home run! I love this lady!

[@hoderharris]

A really good review. WOukd love for Edmunds to add a noise decibel readout at both 35 and 65. To me the interior looks extra cheap. Only one arm rest for the driver? Also would like to know about merging in traffic, looks like it would be a hazard to do with such low horsepower.

[@jamesstuart3346]

I like this car because the "infotainment" screen isn't blocking the driver's view, which is common these days

[@seanseilheimer5011]

Congrats Elena! Roadkill will miss you, but I think this is a good move.

[@Kromer0]

Great first review Elana!

[@tictac278]

I love this kicks. Compare to hrv. I have hrv 2018 i trade it to nissan kicks. No regrets fun to drive.

[@pablorodriguez3742]

Nice car ect but what kept me watching was your super charismatic personality! New sub :)

[@TODOMATIO]

Didn’t talk about the brakes , my number 1 criteria for buying a car. There’s a lot of questions for me still left.

[@laslayytv3700]

Can you get it with a sunroof? I can’t find any

[@mcalebeb]

Best review ever

[@MatthewRobertHenry]

But anyways, this only applies to sound 😂! This review is great, I really like the idea of premium sound in an entry level vehicle.

[@Anthony-nx5yu]

The kicks is very interesting. Starting at $17,900 makes it super appealing as an affordable entry level SUV. Better value than the Versa!

[@Peter-rq4xn]

Excellent review Elana!

[@jhdynamics]

Good video. Thanks!

[@1232bluejays]

Can I get upgraded door panels?

[@devondelgado1818]

the Nissan kicks is not an suv its a raised hatchback

[@rowboyto156]

wow from a versa, is the eclipse cross from the same platform too?

[@Chitown388]

MPG? Engine size? Power? Torque?

[@K03sport]

Hi Elana, I like you a whole lot better than the kicks (and pretty much every product offering from Nissan). Regardless of the low starting price, it still looks over-priced. The 360*view camera and Bose personal space feature seem nice but are they necessary. Like its competition, it is for city and/or suburban run-abouting as long as that doesn't involve hwy merging. As far as competition, I'd still rather pick up a Soul+ or similar Korean offering. I drove the HR-V and hated pretty much everything about it. The kicks should do fine with FWD and good, season appropriate tires. I see AWD in this class as more of a hindrance than help; again, see comment about tires. What were your noise dB levels while driving? How loud was it really?

[@haze1123]

Elana is great. Entertaining.

[@Reso205]

Elana at Edmunds too Said it before: Motortrend is the new /DRIVE

[@briansmith1042]

Good job Elana

[@ATi1300Ramiro]

Whoa! Who's that in my personal space?!

[@Godzilla-hh8ip]

Lmao CVT feels like a rubber band and sounds like a vacuum. 😂 You should be one of the top auto journos. Awesome 👍

[@memadelrey5099]

Okay, Merry Christmas to me. I am going to get one 😝

[@ianalexander2017]

Looks good

[@alexemme3679]

Its no 70s dodge truck or an opal gt but it’s still pretty nice

[@ajbfwb]

When I saw "Edmunds", I expected a good bit more professionalism in the review.

[@supra6t9]

Go Elana!

[@alirazamughal7466]

I love it

[@PorscheCayenneLover]

I LOVE Elana 😍 . Yessss! Welcome to Edmunds 😁 . She actually makes me hate the Kicks less, so she is quite good haha. I still despise and ABHOR the Kicks however, just slightly less Ooh the Nissan reps are insane to think that a former Juke owner would want a Rogue. I drove the Rogue as a rental and dreaded every moment I had to drive it 😱😱 . Slow, sloppy handling, anonymous styling, chintzy interior, and the engine was so bad that it made nails on a chalkboard sound like Mozart 🙄 . Nissan needs some help for sure, damn.

[@apache-yaquibrown4060]

I went from an Accord, favorite of all time to a versa, not Honda quality but practical roomy and economical. I would do a stick instead of CVT if I got another Versa. Engine likes to rev while waiting to launch. I would give the Kicks a try. Love your review.

[@swanblake]

Elana is amazing! This car is not. Happy Elana is on here now

[@bobby33x97]

Blake, Kicks will be a huge sales success, value is tremendous!

[@paulgiannamore3274]

Stepping up to the Rogue does not bring much help. It isn’t exactly powerful and our 2018 needs to be put in sport mode and manually downshifted to pull steep hills.

[@teemoegoodie5058]

So which Toyota dealership do you work for? Oh yeah, only 20% more expensive, thats really comparable. Where do I sign?

[@flawlessfatality8105]

Please come back to roadkill

[@ZeeBri]

Elana!

[@ryanyecny3409]

$22k for a new one. Just wait till the Nissan end of year sales and it will be $12k.

[@TheGilbertsonfamily]

This isn’t Mopar... more E body please.

[@teemoegoodie5058]

"The Versa is car rental misery" HOW DARE you speak so disparagingly of such a great class leading solid reliable vehicle. The sedan maybe, but the hatchback note is also called the Versa, and despite you car reviewing know it alls bashing it every chance you get it is a great car for millions of people worldwide.. Its only THE BEST SELLING vehicle in its class for the past 5 years and has been internationally successful in every market it has been introduced. I wonder why. You "professional car reviewers" just dont get it and you never will. I wont sit back and let you jerks continue to bash highly reliable extremely efficient, affordable transportation for well under 20k out the door fully loaded. Thats the formula for global success. Truly the volks-wagon (or "car of the people") for this generation. Instead you want the average person to go into debt they cant afford and pay for horsepower, "performance" and unnecessary crap technology and features that no one needs. I'll tell you what I call performance missy. Getting 522 miles on 11.7 gallons of fuel which is what I just did today with my CVT equipped fully paid off '14 Versa Note.We are tired of car companies tampering and overengineering and forcing unneccessary crap on the people we didnt want or ask for to justify a 25-35k price tag. For what? You keep trashing what is by far the most complete and affordable vehicle in its class that hits the sweetspot for most car buying consumers right on the nose. You should be ashamed of yourself. If you dont understand the VErsas broad appeal, you shouldnt be reviewing cars young lady. Be gone from my computer screen. You are fired from my browser. How dare you bash the amazing and incredible Versa with your hamfisted half-baked puns.

[@CRVgarage]

Lack of passenger armrest is a serious deal breaker.

[@mr.queasy2280]

The kicks is everything wrong with modern cars. plastic chrome and piano black everything, oversized suv/crossover, 9.7s 0-60mph time, a focus on infotainment technology and not car technology, souless cvt. Not to mention its a bloated versa which should hint to its reliablity.

[@gsxellence]

I think I'd rather have a Juke Nismo or the GTR Juke. ( To be an owner of a Nissan and Infiniti, I have to say the Ergonomics/ materials used just look cheap in Modern Nissan's..)

[@williambouma7386]

Lol, "rental car misery "

[@drea177cha5er]

Wow those brakes are tiny but hopefully the car is light enough

[@swanblake]

drea177cha5er it really can't get up to speed where it would require a lot of braking. 125hp is a Versa

[@cwoolfork5974]

👍👍👏❤️❤️

[@abelyerikaguerra1540]

Your pretty....

[@GanDtech]

Get this over a Rouge Sport.. at least if you’re over 6 feet tall I was surprised I could actually fit my head everywhere, but on the rouge it’s a joke.

[@swanblake]

Gandek Cleary uneducated

[@manjunathmadabal]

Rubbery and plasticky, what did you expect PLATINUM

[@bigblockchevy2294]

person who drives this car doesn't go to Drag Week.

[@BassRacerx]

that backup camera looks like ass and that 360 camera looks next to useless.....

[@luv2bottom]

This isn’t a suv or cuv it’s a hatchback, 125hp ,fwd, like the juke it’s junk

[@MrNemo721]

Feel bad for the new girl that she has to review this turd on her first assignment.

[@DM-co3rh]

LMAO @ The Nissan Versa is "Rental Car Misery"!! So true!! The Versa sucks!! Ugly and slooow POS car!

[@goclunker]

As a millennial, id rather walk. There is nothing here that appeals to me. 180sx, Silvia, 240sx is what appeals to me. I drive a 5 speed bmw m3. Like if you're a millennial and you agree. This car is for 300lb whales that need a "cuv" to get in and out, or elderly people. This pile of bile is $22k loaded people. 28k gets you a Used Kia Stinger GT2. Think about that people... why would anyone buy this?????? If this is what Nissan thinks millennials want; Nissan can go bankrupt. It is officially dead to me. Classic Nissans >*

[@HLMAX]

M3? That is so funny. If Junior here does have a M3, he wouldn't be spamming hate on all the Kicks review videos on KZbin. My guess is that Junior here can't get financing for a Kicks, and is angry that he has to keep driving his POS Hyundai Pony.

[@goclunker]

HLMAX look at my channel idiot😂

[@goclunker]

HLMAX this is getting old, like you worthless geezer who can't afford anything but a section 8 appliance. I feel sorry for your kids, being raised by someone with an IQ of 75 can't be fun. Thanks for the Kicks geezer

[@goclunker]

HLMAX and its nice how you completely miss the point. You'd spend 22k on a POS APPLIANCE when a FULLY LOADED Stinger twin turbo v6 GT2 that's a year old is 28k. You are a MORON, geezer

[@HLMAX]

@@goclunker Just Wow, worst than I thought. Junior trying to be Speed Racer with his mom's Dodge Caravan, and forgot to release the parking brakes. Your washer fluid is low.

[@gigi9467]

why oh why do women have to ve everywhere wer men are? do u expect me to believe she likes cars? or works on cars or is a car nut at all?? why hire more and just not let carlps lagos do all the reviews? or even the asian guy kinda like him too. sure call me sexist but you knoe alot of you want to say this. this is as bad ass women in boxing. rant over..

[@edmundscars]

Jesus...

[@gigi9467]

Edmunds lol

[@molaroismorais1955]

Nice car with extremely ugly interior...

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

OMG she is awful. "There is type of leather stuff" rolls eyes.....Why do I keep thinking My Big Fat Greek Wedding?

[@liljo911xxx]

Cheaply made with no power...It's ok for Gramma

[@1970HondaCL100]

Elana is with Edmunds now? She helped make Roadkill great... MotorTrend is hemorrhaging talent and subscribers but I'd love to be a fly on their boardroom wall.

[@jonathonklein3731]

Carcaine your head would spin.

[@JaguarSoundBlaster]

Elana adds alot of personality to Edmunds usually boring videos. Good job, Elana!

[@slc9800gtx]

Nissan use JATCO transmissions which are not good transmission so any Nissan with a CVT is going to be problems in the future. Just Google it and see for yourself.

[@rodneyws1977]

Fully loaded and still $22k? Think they nailed the price point.

[@swinglow33]

Not that I'm sad about the Juke going away in the U.S., maybe borrow the Juke's powerplant and AWD on the next refresh of the Kicks.

[@RexCars1]

Elana Rocks.. You guys should keep her..

[@MrPsalms207]

Elana on CVT's @5:54 had me dying! 😆 "It feels like a rubber band. And it sounds like a vacuum cleaner, and it's super disappointing." Sheesh! Why don't you tell us how you really feel!?! 😝

[@FixItRyan]

I like her! Welcome!

[@charleneleber1933]

Hey don't knock the Versa! I have had two of them. They get you where you want to go without spending a lot of money. I get 40 mpg on the highway on the one I have now. They are really reliable too!

[@snogirrlx]

Charlene Leber loved my versa too.

[@teemoegoodie5058]

Thank you for pointing that out charlene. The Versa is the best selling car in its class year after year for a reason. I'm tired of these high and mighty hoity toity car reviewers trashing efficient highly reliable affordable transportation. They are so far removed from what the common people want they dont have a clue, and they are part of the reason car makers are forcing a lot of unneccessary useless crap onto the American public that no one really wants or needs.

[@BellyJae]

I also have a Versa. I’ve had it for six years! I’ve loved it very much! And since the Kicks is built on the Versa base, I’m eyeballing it pretty hard. :)

[@michaelsylvester7272]

Elana, You did a fantastic job with this car 🚙 Thanks for the detail video.

[@RChyshkevych]

If its a CUV I expect AWD

[@alliejr]

Roman Chyshkevych I kind of agree. Without AWD it's just a hatchback. But apparently automakers sell more FWD version of these kinds of cars than AWD so I guess they know their customers.

[@RChyshkevych]

David Malinovsky of it's a hatchback then fine, but if it's a CUV then there should be AWD. It's not wasteful, it's useful if you live in snowy regions

[@Angryp0nY]

@David Malinovsky AWD is safer for rainy conditions.

[@Ag5585swampdonkeyAG]

This girl is awesome i would like to try this vehicle on a road test. And yes i agree with her about the versa the 2018 model sucks.

[@tjj5337]

It’s a fun economical sensible car for these times... It has really great visibility.

[@khunopie9159]

I drove my Kicks on Route 66! Yeah!

[@vlvlvlvl330]

if you buy nissan, you buy a bunch of vibration!!! its normal! and RENAULT-SAMSUNG MOTOR CO made it for NISSAN! Hah?????

[@LutzMowinski]

At first I thought the name was a joke... but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, I mean they did make a car called "Juke" once (and it is fugly).

[@diannemaloney5501]

Great review, this could be our next car. I like all the features and I don't mind if it doesn't drive as fast as other cars, it just means I won't get as many speeding tickets ;)

[@davidjames2788]

Only here for Elena. Lol