The Nissan Kicks is a subcompact crossover with surprisingly spacious seating for five, meager power, and an affordable starting price. Rivals include the Mazda CX-30 and Kia Soul.

What’s New for the 2023 Nissan Kicks

The Nissan Kicks carries over unchanged for 2023, as it has for the last couple of years. Across 2020 and 2021, the Kicks got refreshed styling inside and out and some updates to the tech and safety feature menus. Other than that, it’s been largely the same since its 2018 introduction.

Design

The Kicks is a subcompact crossover that’s noticeable mostly because it features Nissan’s aggressive front-end styling, with a large black grille and bright color options. The Kicks SR does get a couple of styling upgrades, like LED headlights and a rear spoiler, but it’s hardly worth paying more for a Kicks just for that reason.

Powertrain

If you want to upgrade your Nissan Kicks, it won’t be in terms of performance. Every 2023 Kicks gets the same setup, with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive (FWD), and a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). The resulting 122 hp and 114 lb-ft of torque can handle city traffic just fine, but the Kicks is loud and sluggish on the highway. On the upside, fuel economy is pretty good, with EPA ratings of 31 mpg city and 36 mpg highway.

Interior

The cabin betrays the Kicks’s competitive pricing, with tons of plastic trim and an approach that’s more functional than stylish. Nissan is usually known for its comfortable seats, but that’s not the case here. Even though most passengers will have enough legroom and the driver has a decent view, the seats themselves aren’t very well cushioned. They come standard with cloth upholstery and manual adjustments, and there’s no center armrest unless you spend more. Other options include synthetic leather upholstery and a leather-trimmed steering wheel. The cargo area offers up an impressive 25.3 cubic feet of space, but folding down the rear sets only adds about 7 more cubic feet to the total capacity.

Technology

The Nissan Kicks comes standard with a user-friendly 7-inch touchscreen infotainment display that’s easy to learn but might be a bit smaller than some shoppers are used to. Other standard features include Bluetooth, three USB ports, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. Optional tech features include an 8-inch touchscreen, a 7-inch digital instrument display, proximity keyless entry, remote start, and a Bose premium stereo system.

Safety

The Kicks fares decently in crash-test evaluations. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded an overall safety rating of four out of five stars, while the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave the highest score of Good in its six main crash tests. Standard safety features include a reversing camera, forward-collision warning, pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitors, forward automatic emergency braking, reverse automatic emergency braking, rear parking sensors, and rear cross-traffic alert. Options include a 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise control, driver-attention monitors, and vehicle exit warning.

Pricing

The 2023 Kicks is available now at Nissan dealerships. It starts at $20,290 plus destination fee for the base S trim, which is below average for this segment and represents a good value. The SV model starts at $22,150. The Kicks in its loaded top-of-the-line SR trim starts at $22,850.