2026 Nissan Kicks Review: Here’s the Honest Truth About This Budget-Friendly SUV

First impressions: This Kicks wants to help me steal the moon

“Bello!” the Kicks cheerfully shouted at me the moment I first laid eyes on it, before harassing me nonstop until I’d fed it a banana. This minion-shaped and painted 2026 Nissan Kicks would be mine for the next week, and oh man, did I not want to be seen in it. With its highlighter yellow paint job, this Kicks was like a rolling pylon making its rounds throughout town, and I had the feeling it would draw attention to me like the neon beacon of a substandard credit score. I was not expecting to fall madly in love with it.

Only a decade ago, the only Nissan models I’d ever bother to converse about were those of the turbocharged, manually shifted, and wickedly fast variety. Nissan’s affordable crossovers at the time—the Juke and the Cube—were cruel jokes played by corporate executives on buyers with thin wallets. Of course, those executive officers wouldn’t have dared to be seen driving a Juke or a Cube, and you’d instead be more likely to find them behind the wheel of a GT-R or comfortably perched in the reclining rear seat of an Infiniti Q70L. Nissan’s small crossovers were the slop destined for the hogs who had no other choice but to drive dreary, front-wheel drive jellybeans with sluggish CVTs and soulless road manners. This is partially how Nissan found itself struggling to stay afloat.

A quick summary of Nissan’s contemporary lore: How did the brand get here?

In November of 2018, Nissan’s former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, was arrested for alleged financial misconduct, charged with misappropriating company funds for personal use, including the purchase of a multi-million-dollar superyacht. This means that when low-income buyers were coughing up every last penny to replace failed CVTs and blown turbochargers on vehicles that had been cheaply produced, they were likely doing so to fund Ghosn’s opulent lifestyle, when that money could have been spent instead on improving the material quality of the brand’s high-volume products. In December of 2019, Makoto Uchida became CEO, replacing the former CEO, Hiroto Saikawa, who resigned amid a financial misconduct scandal of his own, uncovered only because of the probe prompted by Ghosn’s arrest.

Fast forward to 2025. On the first of April, Ivan Espinosa became Nissan’s newest CEO, leading a charge to improve quality control dramatically and, as a known car enthusiast, to make the brand’s models more fun and exciting. This has led to the restyling of almost every model in the brand’s lineup, and the improved material quality is evident in its latest offerings. This autumn, I had the opportunity to test both the 2026 Nissan LEAF in San Diego and the 2026 Nissan Sentra in Phoenix, which demonstrated an apparent effort to maximize material quality that genuinely shone through. I was generally impressed by both models, especially the LEAF, which might just be one of the most attractive EV offerings in America right now. So, my hopes for Nissan’s future are optimistic. Still, only time will tell whether Mr. Espinosa can successfully pull off the comeback Nissan desperately needs.

Back to the Kicks: First and foremost, how does it drive?

For its 2025 model year, Nissan gave the Kicks a massive makeover, boasting a ground-up redesign, a larger, more powerful engine, newly available all-wheel drive, and vastly improved NVH (noise, vibrations, and harshness). The new Kicks is also significantly larger than its predecessor, offering superior cabin space and cargo capacity. For 2026, the Kicks receives only minor updates, including a standard 12.3-inch touchscreen display with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on all trims, as well as new USB-C ports and an optional Cold Weather Package, which adds heated seats, mirrors, and rear ducts. The real question, though, is whether the new Kicks is actually any good, or if it’s just a rehash of Nissan’s failed compact crossovers of the past.

Alright, so maybe the Kicks doesn’t have the fighter-jet acceleration of a GT-R NISMO or the tail-happy cornering capabilities of the Z, just because Nissan’s new CEO is a sports car enthusiast, but that doesn’t mean it’s all dreariness and no fun behind the wheel. With a 2.0-liter four-cylinder mounted sideways beneath its hood, the Kicks benefits from a surprisingly punchy 141 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque. Although that power is sent to all four wheels in this SV AWD model through a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which has often been sluggish and unintuitive in the past, the Kicks is plucky around town and delivers torque urgently when you need it most.

While the Kicks does benefit from adjustable drive modes—which include Sport, Normal, Eco, and Snow—switching into Sport mode basically does nothing, at least from as far as I could tell. What really livens the Kicks up, though, is shifting the gear selector to the “B” position, which prevents its CVT from using simulated shift points with preset gear ratios, thus offering a power band more like what you’d get from a snowmobile, allowing for more linear acceleration and more sensitive throttle response. To me, this is precisely how a CVT should behave, as this is the best way to make the most of its nuances, rather than having it act simply as a fugazi torque converter automatic, as many automakers do.

When the roads get curvy, the Kicks delivers agile, nimble handling thanks to its short wheelbase and available all-wheel drive, which my test vehicle had. Its translucent steering can sometimes make necessary inputs feel like a mystery, as its lightness required me to turn the wheel much farther than I would have guessed, even for subtle adjustments. The Kicks is also not without body roll around tighter corners. Still, it was no more tippy than I had expected for a stubby hatchback on stilts with a heightened center of gravity, and the all-wheel-drive system does an excellent job of translating lateral momentum into driver feedback.

Trips to the gas station are rare for the Kicks, even with all-wheel drive

Over the course of my test, I achieved an average fuel economy of exactly 9 L/100 km (roughly 26 mpg) through mostly city driving, with occasional highway stretches and varying traffic conditions, and with the Kicks equipped with appropriate Continental winter tires. Considering it weighs just over 3,200 lbs and is equipped with four-wheel drive, I was impressed that the Kicks achieved superior fuel economy than what I get in my rear-driven Subaru BRZ tS, which I otherwise daily drive and which weighs almost 400 lbs less.

With standard tires and perhaps a driver with a lighter right foot, the EPA says the 2026 Kicks SV AWD can achieve up to 27 mpg in the city, 34 mpg on the highway, and 30 mpg combined. Considering I almost achieved those exact figures with chunkier winter tires and without even trying, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Kicks is actually capable of greater efficiency than its official rating when properly outfitted. Of course, the Kicks also takes regular gas, making fill-ups as inexpensive as they are uncommon, thanks to a realistic range of around 360-400 miles per 12-gallon tank of petrol.

The Kicks’ cabin: Beautifully uncomplicated

What surprised me most from behind the wheel of the 2026 Kicks was how little road noise finds its way into the cabin, especially at its price point. The 2026 Nissan Kicks starts at just $22,430 in the United States, making it one of the most affordable new cars you can buy today. The SV AWD begins at $25,820 in the U.S., but costs slightly less in Canada, where, as tested, this Kicks boasts a CAD 31,843 price tag, or roughly 22,984 George Washingtons. For economy car money, the Kicks boasts a cabin that is as quiet as what you’d expect from a Mercedes-Benz, and I’m not joking.

Not only is the 2026 Nissan Kicks’ cabin delightfully quiet, but it might also be one of the best-designed interiors in any new vehicle, from a simplistic ergonomics standpoint. I might have even called it perfect, had it not been for the lack of seatback storage compartments. The fact is, the Nissan Kicks’ cabin doesn’t pretend to “punch above its price point,” as many of its rivals do, seeking a more “premium” feel. Instead, the Kicks leans into its status as a truly affordable new car, embracing simplicity over flashiness and unnecessary gimmicks, while still offering an aesthetic appeal that feels fresh and aptly modern. Perhaps my favorite example of the Kicks’ simplicity is its instrument display, which, while digital, is basically just two small LCD screens clustered together to provide you with only the most basic, most necessary driver information, and nothing more. No flashy animations, no bright colors, just information.

The central infotainment system, displayed on a 12.3-inch color touchscreen, is also wonderfully simple, but not in the same way as the somewhat old-school instrument cluster. The infotainment system approaches things the other way around, offering advanced software that outdoes the infotainment in the far more expensive Nissan Rogue that I have on test this week, which, because of its recent advances, is seamless to operate, pairs to smartphones easily, projects Apple CarPlay without fault, and looks appropriately crisp to the eye. Thankfully, though, the infotainment system omits HVAC and volume controls, leaving them up to physical buttons, making them undistracting and straightforward to use—just like the rest of the cabin.

The Kicks’ cabin is also surprisingly spacious for how compact it appears on the outside. It offers 42.7 inches of front legroom, around 34.5 inches of rear legroom, and about 54.7 inches of front and rear shoulder room. As the SV AWD I tested did not have a sunroof, it boasted an impressive 39.7 inches of front headroom and 38.5 inches of rear headroom. Nissan’s Zero-Gravity seats, which are designed to place occupants’ spines in the same position they’d naturally rest in if in outer space, add further comfort to the Kicks’ spacious interior. Cargo space is ample for its size, with up to 30 cubic feet with the rear seats up and twice that with them folded down.

Even behind the scenes, the 2026 Kicks works to keep you and your family safe and undistracted. The Kicks SV AWD comes equipped with Nissan’s “Safety Shield 360” suite of active safety features. Intelligent Emergency Braking keeps you safe in those brief moments when you might get distracted by a picturesque vista or a disturbing thought and miss the fact that you’re about to rear-end the car in front of you that abruptly stopped to let a spatially unaware jaywalker get out of the street. Blind Spot Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert are there to yell at you with annoying beeps when you forget to shoulder check properly, and Lane Departure Warning, High Beam Assist, Rear Automatic Braking, and a rearview camera have your back as well.

How does the Kicks stack up against its rivals?

As many automakers have now forgone the subcompact SUV segment in favor of larger offerings, the Nissan Kicks is left with relatively few rivals. Even still, identifying the Kicks’ rivals can be confusing, as it often competes with multiple offerings from the same automakers. For example, the Kicks is comparable in terms of pricing and equipment to both the Hyundai Venue and the Hyundai Kona. The same goes for Chevrolet, which offers the Trax and the Trailblazer as similarly positioned rivals for the Kicks. Even more confusing is that Nissan offers its own rival to the Kicks—the Kicks Play—which is essentially a previous-generation Kicks, starting at just under $1,000 less than the base new-model Kicks.

Although the Hyundai Venue boasts the lowest MSRP, starting at just $20,550 in SE guise, it’s also the smallest, offering even less space than the Kicks Play. The Venue is also the least muscular offering in its segment, with only 121 horsepower coming from its 1.6-liter four-cylinder. The Kicks Play is the second-least powerful, producing just 122 horsepower from its similarly sized engine, and it’s also the second-least expensive, starting at just $21,520. Simply put, with a starting price of just $22,430, the 2026 Nissan Kicks offers substantially greater value for money than the Hyundai Venue and the Nissan Kicks Play. The Chevrolet Trax offers a more daring comparison in the lower end of the price bracket, offering similar horsepower but superior torque, as well as more space all around. The Trax, however, cannot be equipped with all-wheel drive, which is a potential dealbreaker for those who live in more challenging climates.

On the higher end of the Nissan Kicks’ trim package scale, prices for models such as the SV AWD, as tested, are closer to those of the Chevrolet Trailblazer and the Hyundai Kona. For example, the cheapest four-wheel-drive Kona costs $26,850, and the cheapest four-wheel-drive Trailblazer starts at $26,995. While they are more expensive than the mid-tier $25,820 Nissan Kicks SV AWD, despite representing the most basic trim levels available, they both offer more horsepower and greater interior space than the Kicks—something worth considering depending on where your priorities lie.

The real verdict: This Nissan Kicks serious butt

All things considered, the 2026 Nissan Kicks represents an obvious step in the right direction for Nissan. No longer does its cabin and powertrain give off a sense of corporate cost-cutting, or rather, a rerouting of funds to pay for luxurious estates, superyachts, and lavish parties at the Palace of Versailles. This Kicks ticks so many boxes as someone who lives in a dense urban center that I couldn’t help but appreciate its ingenuity, and at the same time, it was so genuinely charming and well-executed that I couldn’t help but start to love it. Potential long-term CVT reliability anxiety aside, the 2026 Nissan Kicks represents a genuinely well-educated buy for customers seeking efficiency, spaciousness, and above-average comfort for as little money as possible.

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