2025 Nissan Kicks Compact SUV First Drive: A Notable Step Up?

There is a lot to love about the Kicks, the smallest SUV Nissan sells in the U.S. Even after its redesign for the 2025 model year, it remains a quirky little crossover that won us over, now with additional cargo room. Unfortunately, the previous Kicks wasn’t much of a performance athlete on the road. It was quite a bore to drive, and being available only in front-wheel-drive configuration limited its utility. So did Nissan really help the revamped Kicks become a nimbler vehicle, or is it the same pair of shoes in a new color?

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The 2025 Nissan Kicks SR AWD

Our test vehicle for this first drive is the 2025 Nissan Kicks SR in AWD with the $1,950 SR Premium package and optional 19-inch wheels. Along with a standard dual 12.3-inch display, HD Intelligent Around View Monitor, ProPilot Assist, and AWD, our test vehicle also came with a panoramic moonroof, Bose Audio with driver and passenger headrest speakers, and heated front seats. Powering the SR is the same 2.0-liter MR20DD I-4 engine found in all versions of the 2025 Nissan Kicks. It sends its power through an Xtronic CVT that’s improved with a new control-valve system, twin oil pumps, and a new variator system that works with a smaller-radius belt. For the AWD, there is the addition of a PTU to send power to a rear drive unit via a driveshaft.

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The Feeling Behind the Wheel

Nissan’s test loops took us to a couple of interesting locations around Santa Barbara, California. As far as driving character goes, the 2025 Kicks SR AWD felt great. Hitting bumps from some of the rumble strips placed down by construction workers on one of the roads we drove didn’t disturb it in any way, while an even rougher road didn’t feel out of the ordinary. One minor potential complaint some people might have concerns how the 19-inch tires used on the Kicks (225/45 Bridgestone Alenza Sport A/S all-season) produced noticeable road noise even with music playing, plus some vibration. But that’s sort of the compromise you make with a smaller-sidewall tire to make it handle the road better. A taller sidewall would allow more flex and less vibration but wouldn’t feel as sporty.

Another complaint is the use of a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engine. Its 140 hp is decent, but we think adding in a tiny turbocharger and bumping into the 180-hp range would be notably beneficial for acceleration. Because this isn’t an instrumented test, we can’t give you a true 0–60-mph time, and Nissan didn’t provide one of its own. You’re probably not going to get absolutely run over on flat highways, but accelerating under loads like a steep grade leaves you wanting more. At least the CVT works as intended and never felt like it was about to be confused, and it keeps the MR20DD engine in its proper powerband. When passing, expect the engine to rocket toward its 6,000-rpm redline to hit that 141 hp and bring the 2025 Nissan Kicks up to speed.

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ProPilot Isn’t Autopilot, but It’s Good. Wired Phone Connections Aren’t.

Driving along a freeway gave us a good opportunity to use the new ProPilot Assist now found on the 2025 Nissan Kicks SR. This adds adaptive cruise with lane keep assist and departure prevention. It’s not full Level 2 assisted driving, but it’s not far off, as the Kicks stayed in its lane if we happened to take our hands off the wheel for just a second. You shouldn’t do this, obviously, but the system works very well and is a welcome addition to the subcompact SUV class while remaining shy of the $30,000 price point. The included 360 view (it's only included if you have an SV or SR with the 12.3-inch dual displays) was handy; we used it to help place the Kicks in the right spot for photos. The only other vehicle in this realm that offers it is the 2025 Hyundai Kona, but only after you spend well over $31,000 for the right trim and accessories.

The Bose Personal Plus sound system is equally impressive. It’s not new to Nissan or even the Kicks, but the front passenger now gets the headrest speakers when optioned with the system. It offers a close-to-headphone listening experience without drowning out important ambient noises you need to hear while driving. Nissan says the 2025 SV and SR trims have wireless versions of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay standard; those features being particularly useful considering the Kicks doesn’t come with a factory navigation option. We couldn't get it to work on the cars we drove, however, which prompted us to plug our phones in via a wired connection to use Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

It won’t stop us from listening to our music or making a call—you can use Bluetooth for those functions—but when we needed directions, we also needed to plug in our phone to navigate while driving using Android Auto. On the plus side, the display is very responsive to touches and never feels like there is any hard delay between a screen press and the action you request, even in the connected Android Auto menu.

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Seating in the Rear Is Best for Small People

As far as space goes, the driver’s seat is placed low enough for this 6-foot-1-inch author to sit comfortably, even with the powered panoramic moonroof lowering the headroom by nearly an inch (39.7 inches without the moonroof versus 38.9 inches with). However, if I needed to sit in the back and the driver was the same height, that would be a different story. Once again, the rear seats are just enough for two grown adults, but legroom would only be enough if the front passengers don’t slide their seats all the way back. Rear headroom is also tight at 38.5 inches (the moonroof removes another 0.5 inch from the available roof space). This only allowed about a quarter inch of headroom for me, so anyone north of 6 feet is best left in the front seats. But you are given theater-style seating for the second row, and it helps rear passengers see out the front window.

Both front and the outer rear passengers are treated to Nissan’s Zero Gravity seating, both of which felt comfortable and helped reduce that cramped feeling in the rear seat. Again, though, one bump reminds you there isn’t much headroom. The front seats are more than adequate in terms of lateral support for somewhat spirted driving. And as another, smaller journalist pointed out, the seats were equally comfortable to them and nearly made them want to fall asleep until the twistier sections of our driving loops. Even putting a bottle in the front door didn’t remove knee or leg space, and everything was perfectly within reach.

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Is the New 2025 Nissan Kicks Better Than the Old Version?

Without a doubt, the two biggest issues we had with the 2024 Nissan Kicks—uninspired driving character and lack of cargo room—are vastly improved for the 2025 model year. At least with the AWD version. The catch is that the 2025 Kicks FWD has the same suspension design as the 2024 model, using a twist-beam rear axle. Looking at it on paper, it’s possible the FWD is equally fun to drive, but the twist-beam setup undoubtedly leaves some performance on the table that the AWD version with its multilink rear suspension does not. The difference is especially revealing when driving the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Envista ST, two Kicks competitors, back to back. The two compact SUVs use the same chassis, but the Trax uses a twist-beam rear, while the mechanically related Envista ST uses multilink.

Regardless, the average buyer won’t care much, if at all. Most aren’t trying to use their Kicks as a sport-compact car like the Nissan Sentra. Most are going to use it as an entry-level SUV, which is what this class is designed for. For that reason, we can confidently say the Kicks lives up to expectations with the SV trim in either drivetrain. If you really need better driving dynamics, the AWD model is the only way to go. As far as the rest of the compact field is concerned, it might worry some. There are better-optioned or far better-handling SUVs with AWD, but far fewer match the total package the 2025 Nissan Kicks offers at its price point.