First Drive: 2025 Nissan Kicks

Picture this: You’re driving along the coast of Santa Barbara, California with the glistening Pacific Ocean on one side and the stunning Santa Ynez Mountains rising on the other. Each and every turn in the road offers a postcard-worthy view to you as a first-time visitor to the Golden State. You’re taking it in from your first drive in the all-new 2025 Nissan Kicks, sitting pretty in zero gravity seats designed for superior comfort and posture. The fresh Arctic Ice Blue/Super Black Two-Tone exterior matches the gorgeous sky spanning above you and the sun shines through your panoramic moonroof. Life is good.

The 2025 Nissan Kicks is an entry-level crossover SUV designed to be affordable yet still packed with the latest and greatest that Nissan has to offer. It is now offered in three grade levels: S, SV, and SR Premium. Starting at $27,199 it delivers impressive value, combining expressive design, advanced technology, and confident driving performance. It provides an experience that gives customers a trifecta of agility, premium quality, and uniqueness.

The new and improved Kicks has a more powerful engine under the hood. A 2.0L 4-cylinder replaces the previous 1.6L gasoline-powered engine. Horsepower has increased to 141 hp from the previous 122 hp and torque has also improved to 140 pound-feet of torque from 114 lb-ft. The upgraded Xtronic CVT transmission ensures smoother acceleration while still maintaining a high fuel efficiency (7.7 L/100 km combined).

The introduction of Intelligent All-Wheel Drive in the 2025 model is definitely of note which allows for seamless transition between FWD and AWD when needed (in qualifying models). Additionally, Nissan has added Snow Mode making this car even more versatile at handling different road conditions.

On a personal note, I enjoyed hearing from Ken Lee, Nissan’s Senior Design Director about how he drew inspiration from sneakers to bring together the Kicks’ expressive design. The result? A vibrant and energetic vehicle that distinguishes itself from others around it. Any true shoe-lover will love the nod to sneaker design in the aesthetic of the car’s interior and exterior.

The exterior is characterized by agility and toughness; it has a new B-segment platform and is now larger, offering higher ground clearance than previous models. Due to this, along with enhanced cabin isolation, there is reduced road noise. The bumper padding – inspired by sneaker soles – underscores Nissan’s meticulous attention to detail and adds a polished finish to the design.

Inside, the sleek dashboard is the first thing that caught my eye. In an entry-level vehicle you may not expect anything too “fancy,” however, as previously noted Nissan aims to offer advanced tech even at the entry level.

The introduction of dual 12.3 inch display screens boasts a sense of premium quality right off the hop, with a fully digital instrument meter and entertainment system. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard on all 2025 Kicks models, which means you no longer have to fiddle with a cord before you can get settled in for the drive. You can seamlessly connect your device and start listening to your favourite tunes faster (even if that is Disney songs on repeat while you’re driving your kids to school). Speaking of which, an additional passenger seat speaker has been added to the existing BOSE system, now delivering a total of ten high-performance speakers for the ultimate listening experience.

Safety Shield 360 is now standard on all Kicks, presenting intelligent emergency braking with pedestrian detection, high beam assist, land departure warning, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, and rear automatic braking. Available as a premium feature is ProPILOT Assist for enhanced driving assistance. The 360-Degree Around View Monitor, available on the SR Premium, provides a comprehensive bird’s-eye view of your surroundings and detects moving objects in real time. As a mom of two kids who often dart around our neighbourhood without so much as a thought to cars backing out of a driveway, this feature is one that I wish all vehicles would adopt!

I feel this vehicle offers several things I would prioritize, not the least of which is affordability. With best-in-class available rear cargo space (849.5L seats raised, or 1,699.6L seats lowered) it would make it easy to accommodate the multiple activities we have on the go for the kids… or for hiding all those Amazon packages from my husband. It was designed to optimize space in the interior cabin so that even the backseat passengers can ride in comfort, and for me that means my kids would have plenty of space to argue for the whole car ride home.