Nissan Kicks: Rigid, roomy and comfortable (August 28)

Three young men with heights lurking around six feet plus enter the back seat of a car in a showroom, with smiles on their faces, while curious spectators watch—legroom under test.

A plumb woman gets behind the wheels; she plays around the steering and the dashboard and steps out winking at her male companion. He said nothing, both smiled.

Another man opens the boot of the same vehicle shocked to find a spare tyre tucked underneath the cargo space—he breaks into a grin.

Five smiles and hundreds of applause in minutes apart for Nissan’s latest badge—Nissan Kicks—launched by Japan Motors last Thursday.

The little monster of an SUV was cooked and garnished on Nissan’s V-motion platform, which is the same set of chassis that underpins two of Nissan’s poster rides— Qashqai, X-Trail, Micra and Juke. The Kicks represents everything that Nissan has learned as the crossover-pioneer.

To its credit, Nissan in 2006 created an entirely new market segment for crossover vehicles with the Nissan Qashqai. Today, it is doing it again with the Nissan Kicks, a next-generation compact crossover.

Created to tackle the intensity of the urban jungle, the Kicks was described as a ‘fantastic’ car by all standards by the Minister of Business Development, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Awal, who was the guest of honour at the launch.
The engine and power

Under the bonnet of the Kicks, which the Managing Director of Japan Motors, Mr Salem Kalmoni, said: “Will kick the competition” which includes Ford Ecosport and the Jeep Renegade, lays a 1.6 –litre engine. It’s a heart that produces impressive power at 118hp and 149Nm of torque. On the road, it pushes 0-100 km/h in 11.5 seconds.

The power is delivered to the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission with a D-Step shift logic in the Base grade Kicks and an infinitely variable Xtronic CVT transmission.
The cooks in the Nissan engineering kitchen significantly increased the Kicks’ structural rigidity, while fitting stiffer steering and wheel dampers.

Even more interesting, it has the smallest fuel tank in its segment but mind you a small stomach does not mean—one cannot make good use of what goes inside it.

That was the position of Mr Imad Ghorayeb, the Director of Sales and Marketing of Japan Motors, who stated that although the car tank might be small, it delivered where it mattered most—fuel efficiency.

Exterior
With the bonnet closed, let’s step back and look at the styling outside. Indeed there is a lot to show for the design collaboration between Nissan’s design studios in California, USA, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Atsugi in Japan.

If Kicks were to be a fruit juice, it would have been a cocktail with the taste of the Juke, Qashqai and X-Trail.

It boasts a large, V-motion grille, clear; wrap-around headlights and integrated boomerang LED accent Halogen lights on the Acenta-specification level to give it a very striking on-road presence.
The Kicks also displays its high-ride height, 17” alloy wheels (16” steel wheels on the base model), its muscular, matte black wheel arches and its steeply sloping rear windscreen that meets the roof towards the middle of the luggage compartment.

At the back of the Kicks, the sculpted rear lights show that the Japanese automakers took inspiration from the Juke, Qashqai and X-Trail. The tailgate features an integrated spoiler that widens below the rear lights to allow for a very large opening for the easy loading and unloading of luggage and gear.
Inside

A peep inside, the Kicks’ designers made it easy to love the interior styling. The cabin is roomier than it appears with an impressive head and legroom.

The dashboard is a neat mix of contemporary Nissan parts and switches; a small display between the speedometer and rev-counter that shows everything on trip info. A seven-inch infotainment screen lights providing the channel to use the line- up audio system with USB, Bluetooth with room for connectivity to ipod and MP3.

The dashboard design is kept simple, nothing flashy, but very practical. Knobs and buttons on the controls are conveniently laid out and easy to use with little room for distraction.
As for storage, the Kicks is littered with them and there is enough to hide your documents, phone and ipod and any miniature gadget.

The seats are well contoured with good accents with no problem with convenience.
The cargo space is not extraordinary but my real thrill is the bottom where you can easily hide your spare tyre, away from interfering with the cargo unit.

For safety, Nissan kept it standard with auto door lock (speed sensing), central door locking, immobiliser, anti-theft alarm, anti-lock braking system, brake assist and airbag.

A family vehicle above all else, the Kicks’ pragmatism, roominess, versatility and toughness makes it the perfect choice for those with children. Safety is also well catered for - a prime concern for parents, that’s the job of the Kicks isofix.

Warranty
The Kicks buyer would enjoy 100,000 kilometres warranty.
Writer’s email:seth.bokpe@graphic.com.gh