This week I was sporting the 2026 Nissan Kicks SV. It had the perfect, happy, sunshiny yellow for the rainy days ahead. I stood out like a highlighted beam on the gray roads. And amongst the black and white cars it reminded me of a punch buggy, but a lot more stylish and sporty.
This is a great starter vehicle. It doesn’t have a lot of the modern creature comforts that luxury sedans now come equipped with, but you’re also saving on it as a result.
Manual seat and wheel adjustment. You push, pull, and pump to find your ideal comfort. There are no lights on or adjacent to the sun visor mirror. No safety alerts or proximity sensors. Although at the same time there is reserve cameras, a push button to start, c-cables, and wireless charging.
But best of all, and my favourite feature is the auto lock and unlocking of the car when you draw near and/or walk away. It does so acknowledging it has been done with a beep. I appreciated the intuitiveness and found it very helpful.
The interior boasts a minimalistic design, only what you need to the dash with your smart device plug-in and everything else on the touch screen infotainment system. It has a fairly meaty gearshift, and I liked the depth of the cupholders and the central consul compartment. However wished for more space with the latter, as this was no larger than my fist.
The 2026 Nissan Kicks felt causal with the use of jersey fabric on the dash and armrests. The seat cushions were patterned in the same fabric. It did make things feel comfy and cozy like I was on a couch.
As for the way it drove, it was sluggish on the acceleration, where you really had to let it take its time. I appreciated having the option of sport mode, if I wanted a little bit more push. And with eco-mode and snow, you really had all the standard settings you would want and expect from a daily driver.
There was 440+ kilometres in a tank when I picked it up and I didn’t go through half during a regular week’s worth of commuting.
