2026 Nissan Kicks -- Who Says Affordable Can’t Be Great?! (+More Standard in 2026!)

What's going on, YouTube? So just last year, Nissan completely revamped their smallest crossover, making it only recognizable by name. And for 2026, Nissan is not stopping there because they're adding even more features for more of the models this year. So does this 2026 Kicks prove that affordable doesn't have to be boring or not any good? Let's go ahead and find out. Let's kick off this Kicks review with a quick spec dump. Under the hood, you'll find a 2 liter four-cylinder engine making 141 horsepower. It's routed to the ground with a continuously variable transmission. And with all-wheel drive, your combined fuel economy is 30 MPG. Now, the base price this year is just a little over $22,000. And if you're looking to buy one or any vehicle, we'd encourage you to check out carconfections.com slash new car quotes to get the best price. Now, of course, later on, we will be taking this out for a spin, but of course, we need to go ahead and shut up the hood to take a look at the exterior as well as see the surprisingly well-equipped interior. Now, as Mason mentioned in the introduction, Nissan really pulled out all the stops to make this Kicks completely unrecognizable from the previous generation. And this model really is holding all of their latest styling elements, and it looks quite nice and bold for this affordable entry-level model. That includes a really wide grille that spans the entirety of this model. And overall, this is wider than the previous generation as well. We have the SR model, which is going to give you the sportiest design, and that will include some matte black cladding down here at the bottom still. You have 8.4 inches of ground clearance, which Nissan says is class-leading. But really, the highlight of the exterior has to be the lighting. So up here in the front, all models have this standard full LED unit with the individual pixel lighting. The SR adds this additional waterfall signature LED DRL. But overall, the performance of these headlights is phenomenal. We had one of these back at home last year, and we were super impressed with the performance of these lights for the money. As far as your wheels are concerned, only the base S model will have 16-inch steelies with a hubcap. All the rest of your models will have an alloy wheel. 17 inches on your middle trim, but the SR upgrades you to full 19-inch alloys. A really nice look for this model. You can also option on a darker gray finish. Moving up to your mirrors, the SR also includes a black finish for your mirrors. Blind spot monitoring is standard, though heating is optional on your top two trim levels. Now, as far as vehicle length, it comes in at around 171 inches, which is an increase of about three inches compared to the previous generation Kicks. However, it's still a little bit smaller than some of its main competitors like the Honda HR-V and Toyota Corolla Cross. Now, I have a couple things to talk about when it comes to the design, though. We have a little chrome piece on the upper part. The bottom window surrounds are going to be blacked out, but one of the things I really love about the Kicks is that you can get a two-tone roof option. That really spices up the overall look of this vehicle. It's very rare in this segment to have the two-tone option. Now, do be aware it's around $1,000, so it's kind of expensive, but I really think it increases the style that this model has. Now, as we come around to the rear, I think you once again see a very stylish design. One of the things that I love that they did for this new Kicks is really make it look like a more substantial SUV. Now, that begins up here at the top. We have the spoiler right here. We have a sloped glass with our wiper, and then the SR is going to add some unique elements like the black piece through the center section, and let's check out the lighting. So, Josh was talking about how good the lighting is in the front, and it's also really nice here in the rear. You have a full LED taillight unit, and that's standard on all models. So, that includes things like your amber turn signal and your LED reverse light. Very rare for the segment. Dropping down, you have a pretty aggressive lower diffuser and an exposed exhaust outlet over there on the left side. Now, when it comes to safety, Nissan is going to give you three out of four active safety features standard across the board. Additionally, if you choose the SR grade, that's going to further give you things like adaptive cruise control with a lane centering function and even pro pilot assist. Guys, there's a really nice interior that I can't wait to show you, but first, if you're new here, we're brothers, and we've been reviewing cars since we were 12 and 16. We started young, and since then, we have reviewed over 2,000 vehicles at every price point. No matter what you're looking for, from humble to high end, we'd love for you to subscribe to be a part of our car confections family. Let's learn a lot and have some fun with all the latest cars. Now, let's climb inside to the interior, but first, let's start with your key. You have your standard Nissan key fob. Smart entry is standard, though remote start is available on your top two trim levels. The SV and above does also add the walkaway locking abilities, so that means you just press the button here on the door handle to unlock the doors, and when you open up the door, again, you're going to be greeted by a pretty premium cabin considering the price point of this Kicks. Let's start out talking about the seats. Standard on your base trim levels will be a full cloth seat in charcoal, but when you upgrade to the SR, you get the leatherette trim seat with a cloth center, and it also adds the red accents. I think it's a pretty sporty look overall, and it looks pretty nice. You also get the accenting of the stitching as well. Now, one thing that doesn't change across the trim levels is the fact that you have a manual seat on all models, so you don't have anything like memory. Let's go ahead and Now, for the interior materials, I continue to be really impressed with this Kicks SR, so let's start talking about those on the door trim. You have kind of a textured plastic here with a stitching detail that is soft touch, and then you have a leatherette wrapping on the top with more stitching detail that continues to the top of your dashboard portions. More leatherette detail with stitching, and then that same kind of soft carbon fiber look going through the dash, and then even down here on the sides of the center console, you still have leatherette with stitching detail. Considering some of its rivals in the segment, like the Corolla Cross, this is going to be a really premium cabin. Let's go ahead and fire it up with the standard push button start. Now, let's dive in, starting out with the technology. The SR comes fully loaded with the full 12.3-inch digital cluster setup, and it has lots of customization. On your bottom two models, you'll have a seven-inch digital display. Pulling back, you'll find a leatherette wrapped wheel on the SV and above, and heating is available on those said trim levels, but just because this is a small crossover doesn't mean you're lacking in storage. In fact, you have a standard console with armrest for this newest generation, and when you open it up, you'll find some donuts inside. Three donuts, which, while it's not the largest amount ever, I'm just glad to see that you have the standard console, and then moving beyond, you'll find really large and deep cup holders, though you don't have any pass-through storage. I would have liked to have seen that, and then the SV and above will include a wireless phone charging pad. While we're up here, I do want to mention that these two USB ports are now standard equipment for 2026. They've been added to the base model, and then you have your physical shifter here in the middle, so you just pull back for drive, move it back up for reverse, and you'll be greeted by a very premium option for this segment. SR comes standard with a 360 degree camera, and overall, your resolution is really good, and it also includes active trajectory. Then you can just put it into park. You have other things like your electronic parking brake, brake hold, and your drive mode selector back here. Moving on up, you'll be greeted by these kind of touch capacitive climate controls here. A single zone automatic is standard on the SR only, otherwise it will be manual, but I want to draw your attention to the heated seats button here, because there is a change for 2026. Nissan has now created a new cold weather package, which bundles the heated seats along with heated exterior mirrors, as well as rear seat ducts for your rear passengers, and that is now going to be available on the SV and the SR. Whereas that stuff used to be packaged with the SR premium package, you now have the option to add those on for a cheaper price instead of having to bundle it in with more options, so that is a nice addition to see. Moving above that, you have your physical volume knob here, as well as a few other audio controls and your camera controls. You have a standard four speaker audio system on the base model, bumps you up to six on the SV, but the SR has the most premium system, which is a 10 speaker Bose sound system. Let's go ahead and give that a sample. Yeah, so overall, a really premium audio experience is not necessarily expected within this segment, but I'm really impressed with this Bose system. This also does include things like your speaker headrest, which is really exclusive for this segment. Really like to see that touch. Now let's move on up to your display, where this is also a 2026 change. This 12.3 inch display is now standard across the entire trim lineup for this year, which I'm really liking to see. That also will include things such as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across the trim lines, but when you go back into your standard Nissan software, it's your newest design with the fancy animations, and overall everything works pretty well. You won't have any navigation though on this model. Wrapping up the cabin, all models will have a manual dimming mirror. And another really premium feature that you can add on to the SV and above is this full panoramic moonroof. So as I slide that back, you'll see that it's a fairly large piece of glass for this model and the front portion does open up. But what about the rear seats? This segment can sometimes be really, really small in the back. However, I'm happy to tell you that this new generation of Kicks has a really nicely appointed rear seat and it's also quite spacious. Let's first and foremost talk about that space. So we're sitting at 34.5 inches of legroom and about 38 inches of headroom. The headroom itself I think is very impressive because I'm 5'9 and there's still lots of room. I can imagine you could be a pretty tall individual and fit back here totally fine. Now 34.5 inches of legroom does mean that this is not as big as some of its main competitors like the Chevy Trax and the Honda HR-V I do feel like is a little bit bigger. We brought along the official Car Confection's ruler. This seat is adjusted to Josh's seating position. He's 5'9 as well and we're looking at about five and a half inches of knee space. That's pretty normal for the segment. Also, my feet can slide up underneath of the seats. Speaking of the seats, I do like these. They have the nice design back here and they're also decently comfortable. If we fold down the center armrest, we have two cup holders inside. However, the seats do not recline. I wish they had added the reclining function. Here in the center area, you'll have two USB ports if you choose an SR trim level. No vents here in the center area. Then if you look over at the door trim, it is going to be cheaper than in the front. You have a hard touch upper part and center section. Actually, surprisingly, it's hard touch on the armrest as well. That's something that I'm pretty disappointed to see. They should have at least included a little bit of a pad there, but there's quite a bit of door storage down in the very bottom. Walking up to the tailgate, we do have a manually opening tailgate across the board. That is something that they had to cost cut out to keep some of the other features in this vehicle. Let's talk about overall cargo capacity. This is once again going to be a pretty nice space for the kicks. You're sitting at around 23 cubic feet of space behind the second row of seats. I can easily just reach up here and fold them down. By the way, they do fold 60-40 split. That's going to give me my maximum of a little over 50 cubic feet of space with the all-wheel drive model. I say that because if you choose all-wheel drive, that reduces your cargo capacity down by a pretty significant margin. If you want extra space, get the front-wheel drive version that's going to be sitting at 30 cubic feet behind the second row or 60 cubic feet as a maximum, so a pretty significant increase if you don't need that all-wheel drive capability. Compared to some of the rivals, that's going to be a decent size. Speaking of some of those rivals, we'd encourage you to check out CarConfections.com. We've looked at all these affordable subcompact SUVs and ranked them in individual categories such as cargo capacity, interior luxury, technology, powertrain choices, and the oh-so-important category of value. You can see the best options in each of those categories depending on what's most important to you as you shop. Once again, CarConfections.com. Now, let's go ahead and get our cargo length, width, and height figures. This seat is adjusted to Josh. He's 5'9", and we're looking at about 66 inches of cargo length. From behind the second row, you can expect 31 inches of length. The opening's 44 inches wide, and the height is going to be decent, a little over 28 inches. The load-in height comes in also at that 28-inch mark. Underneath of the floor, you'll actually find quite a bit of additional space. If you can't fit it in the cargo area, you can put it under here. You can also option on for an accessory spare tire if that's something that you want. Well, guys, here we are behind the wheel of the 2026 Nissan Kicks. In this test drive, we're going to be discussing quite a lot as you can see on the screen right now. But first, we need to go ahead and start with a hard acceleration. All right, that was almost at 60 miles per hour in the Nissan Kicks. Now, it's not fast. You heard us at the spec dump say that it has 141 horsepower. That's the only engine option that you're going to find on this model. It's a two-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder, 141 horsepower, 140 pound-feet of torque. Now, that is an improvement as compared to the previous generation, but the previous generation was one of the slowest vehicles that we've ever been behind the wheel of, that's for sure. So this is not going to knock your socks off when it comes to performance. However, I will say what Nissan has done really well with this is tune it to really have a nice response when you first accelerate. So if you're not doing a full throttle acceleration like that, you really don't notice the lack of power. Yeah, I think overall, it's generally pretty peppy. Obviously, you're not going to be doing hard accelerations everywhere you go. So like if you're just trying to keep up with the flow of traffic, I would say it's pretty kicky. I mean, acceleration is fine in this, that's for sure. Now, one of the things that I do really like about the acceleration is how responsive the CVT is that they have on board. That's going to be standard across all the Kicks models and, you know, like I said, it has a lot of good response. So as soon as you put your foot on the pedal, it does give you that initial bite, which makes this car feel a lot more powerful than it is. Yeah, and I like the shift simulations, too, if you accelerate hard enough. And, you know, we hear it in the comments all the time, but just keep in mind, Nissan's put a lot of improvements into this Xtronic CVTs over the years. And overall, we really enjoy living with them whenever we get them back at home. Yeah, and, you know, compared to most of the competition, they're also going to be CVTs at this point. I can hardly think of any option that has a regular automatic, maybe the Mazda CX-30, but very few options will have a traditional transmission if that's something that you're looking for. Now, as far as how power is routed to the ground, you do have standard front-wheel drive or available all-wheel drive. And just cruising down the highway portion, I want to take a second to discuss ride quality. Now, when we lived with this model for a full week, that was something we were very impressed with because this Kicks model rides really, really nice. You'll see that demonstrated as we go on to a different type of road texture. It really does have a pretty solid feel to the ride quality. Also, the zero gravity seats really help things out. A lot of competitive vehicles have hard seats in the front and the rear, and this Kicks actually has really nice seats throughout the entire vehicle. Yeah, and the all-wheel drive model also includes the rear multi-link suspension for this setup. Yeah, and let's go ahead and get our sound level reading. We'll put it on fan speed one so we can see how quiet it is. We settled in at 61.7 decibels for this 26 Nissan Kicks. I don't have to sit here and guess how it compares to all of its rivals, though. I'll head to carconfections.com. As you can see, we are in a bit of a construction zone, but that will place it as one of the louder options in the subcompact segment. Although, I will note that the model that we tested back at home was still on the louder end of the segment. Nissan says that they did do some things to make this cabin quieter for this newest generation, but it's still not going to make it the quietest in the segment overall. Let's talk fuel economy as well. Your front-wheel drive models will be rated for 31 mpg combined. That goes down to 30 when you add all-wheel drive, so if you need that extra capability, it's nice that you don't have to take that much of a sacrifice. Yeah, and you know what? That leads me into today's air ball. There's a lot to like about this Kicks, but one of the things that I don't love is the fact that we only have one powertrain choice. It's going to be on the weaker side when it comes to power. The fuel economy is also not going to be as good as some of the hybridized options. I really think Nissan could improve the Kicks by adding a hybrid version. That gets, you know, a really great fuel economy because buyers in this segment, if you're already shopping in a more price-conscious segment, you don't want to spend extra money on fuel, especially as gas prices are rising around now. So, you know, that's something to keep in mind that Toyota is going to do much better with the Corolla Cross. Yeah, and we're right on the edge of having the Nissan Rogue e-Power debut here in the U.S., so we're hoping that they will very quickly add it to this Kicks. Now on the slam-dunk side of things, we are impressed with the 2026 changes Nissan has made to this model. We were already impressed with the overall value proposition the Kicks is adding, and with more standard technology, especially with the standard 12.3-inch display now, that's really going to help the overall user experience in this affordable model. But what about pricing? So, as I said at the very beginning of this video, you start a little over 22 grand, and you can see the full lineup of prices on the screen right now, but this is a very affordable model in this, you know, kind of expensive time for vehicles. Now, this Kicks is fully loaded, though, so keep that in mind. We have the 26SR all-wheel drive. We also have every option that I believe you can get, including $1,000 for the two-tone paint. $1,495 destination, we're sitting at $33,620 as tested today. It's manufactured in Mexico, and if you're looking to buy one or any vehicle, we'd encourage you to check out carconfections.com. The reason you should do that is because we have a tool on our website that'll connect you with local car dealers in your area to get you the best price. It's also going to give you access to invoice pricing information, which is a great tool to use if you plan on doing dealership negotiation. You can check all of that out on our website, carconfections.com, as well as things like our monthly payment calculator. But what about Nissan's resale reliability and their warranty? First up, let's talk about resale value. Nissan as a brand is rated at 50.56% of estimated retained value after five years and 60,000 miles, and after 10 years and 120,000 miles, 16.43%. Now, it's worth noting that is actually right at the industry average for the five-year metric. However, it is still going to be lower than a lot of its Japanese alternatives, such as Toyota, Honda, or Mazda. Now, when it comes to reliability, when we consult our combined reliability index using our latest 2026 data, Nissan is rated above the overall industry average. Now, if you'd like to learn more about all of that, you can find both resale and reliability at carconfections.com. Now, when it comes to your warranty, you have a three-year, 36,000-mile basic warranty, a five-year, 60,000-mile powertrain warranty, and new, Nissan has added two years and 24,000 miles of complimentary maintenance as well. And guys, that's all for our 2026 Nissan Kicks review. Hopefully, you enjoyed this video where we detail some of those changes that Nissan has made this year, as well as highlight this model. If you appreciated that, we'd appreciate you subscribing down below and becoming a part of our car confections family. And if you're already a part of our family, thank you so much for your continued support. We'll catch you next time as we sample more of the latest automotive delicacies.