Episode 428: 2026 Nissan Kicks
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Car
Nissan Kicks
The Nissan Kicks is a small SUV that is easy to drive and park. It's designed for people who want a vehicle that is practical and economical, especially in cities.
Car
Nissan Rogue
The Nissan Rogue is a small SUV that many people use for everyday driving. It's known for being reliable and having good gas mileage.
Car
Nissan Altima
The Nissan Altima is a popular car that is a bit bigger than the Rogue. It's often chosen for its comfort and good fuel economy.
Term
VQ V6
The VQ V6 is a type of six-cylinder engine made by Nissan. It's popular for being powerful and smooth, and it's used in many of their cars.
Term
manual transmission
A manual transmission is a car's system where you have to change gears yourself using a stick and a pedal. It gives you more control over how the car drives.
Term
CVT
A CVT is a special kind of automatic transmission that helps the car use fuel more efficiently and provides a smoother ride by adjusting the gear ratios continuously instead of shifting between fixed gears.
Car
Nissan G35
The Nissan G35 is a stylish and sporty car that was made in the early 2000s. It has a powerful engine and is known for being fun to drive, which makes it a favorite among car lovers.
Car
Mazda Miata
The Mazda Miata is a small sports car that is very light and easy to drive. It's popular for being fun and affordable.
Term
sub-compact
A sub-compact car is a very small car that is usually cheaper and easier to park. It's designed for city driving and getting good gas mileage.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower tells you how powerful an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster and more powerful the car can be.
Car
Nissan Juke
The Nissan Juke is a small SUV that stands out because of its unusual design and sporty features. It's popular among people who want a fun car to drive.
Car
Honda That Honda
The Honda That's is a small car that’s designed to be practical and easy to drive in cities. It has a unique look and offers a lot of space inside for its size. People talk about it because Honda is good at making cars that fit different needs.
Car
Chevrolet Trax
The Chevrolet Trax is a small SUV that is easy to drive in the city. It has a comfortable interior and is affordable, making it a popular choice for many drivers.
Car
Kix Play
The Nissan Kix is a small SUV that is easy to drive around the city. The 2025 Kix Play is a version of this car that is made to be affordable and practical.
Car
Ford Maverick
The Ford Maverick is a small truck that you can use for everyday tasks, like running errands or carrying stuff. It’s popular because it’s affordable and gets good gas mileage. People are talking about it now because its price has gone up a lot in just a few years.
Car
Nissan Versa
The Nissan Versa is a small, inexpensive car that many people buy because it's affordable and easy to drive.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means that the car can send power to all four wheels, which helps it grip the road better, especially in rain or snow. It makes the car safer and more stable in tricky driving conditions.
Term
panoramic sunroof
A panoramic sunroof is a big glass roof in a car that lets in a lot of light and gives you a nice view of the sky. It's like having a sunroof but much larger.
Car
Kia Telluride
The Kia Telluride is a popular SUV that offers a lot of space and modern features. Its design includes noticeable horizontal lines, making it stand out on the road.
Term
infotainment screen
An infotainment screen is a display in cars that shows information and entertainment options, like maps and music. It helps you control different features of the car easily.
Term
Android Auto
Android Auto is a system that lets you connect your Android phone to your car. It helps you use apps and navigation on the car's screen while driving safely.
Term
gauge cluster
The gauge cluster is the part of the dashboard in front of the driver that shows important information like how fast you're going and how much fuel you have left.
Term
12.3-inch screen
A 12.3-inch screen is a display that measures 12.3 inches diagonally. It's often used in cars to show information and entertainment options more clearly.
Term
zero gravity seats
Zero gravity seats are special car seats that help you feel more comfortable by making you feel like you're floating. They are great for long trips because they reduce pressure on your body.
Term
torque
Torque measures how much twisting force an engine produces. It helps determine how quickly a car can speed up, especially from a stop or when carrying heavy loads.
Term
drive modes
Drive modes are different settings in a car that change how it drives. For example, eco mode helps save fuel, while sport mode makes the car faster and more responsive.
Term
RPM
RPM means how many times the engine spins in a minute. Higher numbers usually mean the engine is working harder and can go faster.
Car
Hyundai Venue
The Hyundai Venue is a small SUV that’s easy to drive around the city and doesn’t cost too much. It has modern features that make it simple to use, which is great for people who want a practical car. It’s talked about because it’s a good option for those on a budget.
Car
Hyundai Kona
The Hyundai Kona is a small SUV that looks modern and is fun to drive. It comes with different engine choices, including an electric version, which is good for people who want to save on gas. It’s often talked about because it’s a popular choice for those looking for a stylish and practical car.
Car
Toyota Corolla Cross
The Toyota Corolla Cross is a small SUV that’s based on the popular Corolla car. It’s designed to be practical and has a version that uses less gas, which is great for saving money. People are talking about it because it’s a new option for those who want a compact vehicle with more space.
Term
adaptive cruise control
Adaptive cruise control helps you drive by automatically changing your car's speed to keep a safe distance from the car ahead. This means you don't have to constantly adjust the gas and brakes, making driving easier, especially in heavy traffic.
Term
engine braking
Engine braking is when you use the car's engine to help slow down instead of just using the brakes. It’s especially useful when going downhill to keep the car from speeding up too much.
Car
Mitsubishi Mirage
The Mitsubishi Mirage is a very affordable small car that helps you save money on gas. It’s popular with people who want a cheap way to get around, but some say it doesn’t perform as well as other cars. People are wondering if it will still be available in the future.
Car
Mitsubishi Outlander
The Mitsubishi Outlander is a family-friendly SUV that can fit a lot of people and their belongings. It’s sold under different names in different places, which can be a bit confusing. People are discussing it because it offers a lot of space for a good price.
Car
Mazda Cx30
The Mazda CX-30 is a small crossover that’s designed to be fun to drive and looks really nice inside. It has good safety features and is popular among people who want a stylish and enjoyable car. It’s often mentioned because it stands out in its category.
Car
Honda Hrv
The Honda HR-V is a small SUV that’s great for city driving and can hold a lot of stuff. It’s known for being reliable and having a flexible space inside, which is helpful for families or anyone who needs to carry things. People mention it because it’s a good option for those looking for a compact car.
Car
Nissan Zs
The Nissan Z is a sporty car that’s all about speed and style, continuing a long tradition of fun cars from Nissan. The newest version has a powerful engine and cool features, which makes it exciting for car lovers. People are talking about it because you can find some great deals on it right now.
Car
Toyota Supra
The Toyota Supra is a fast and sporty car that people love for its cool looks and how well it drives. There’s a new version that even has a smaller engine option, which makes it easier to handle. It’s a hot topic because many car fans are excited about how it performs.
Car
Cadillac ELR
The Cadillac ELR is a fancy hybrid car that can run on electricity and gas. It was expensive when it came out, which made it hard to compete with other cars in its class.
Car
Nissan Pathfinder
The Nissan Pathfinder is a big family car that can fit a lot of people and their stuff. It’s been around for a long time and has changed a lot over the years. People are talking about it now because some recent models have had problems that buyers should know about.
Car
Chrysler Pacifica
The Chrysler Pacifica is a type of minivan that is great for families because it has a lot of space inside. There are two versions: one that runs on regular gasoline and another that can be plugged in to charge and uses electricity.
Car
Ford F150
The Ford F-150 Hybrid is a truck that uses both gas and electricity to run, making it more efficient and better for the environment. It's a part of Ford's popular F-150 series, which is known for its strength and versatility.
LIVE
Hello and welcome to the Undamed Automotive Podcast.
My name is Sammy Hage-Assad, and with me as always is my good friend and fellow automotive journalist, Benjamin Hunting.
Say hi to the people, Ben.
Greetings, human listeners.
Greetings to everyone.
If this is the first time you're listening to our podcast, thank you for trying something new.
I will reiterate, Ben and I are a pair of automotive journalists, but more than that, we're very good friends, right, Ben?
Yes.
That was quite the delay.
Are you...
Sorry, I'm on the moon.
It takes 39 milliseconds to bounce the signal through the troposphere.
Well, whenever I'm delayed and answering you, it's because I'm writing you a Christmas card, which you're...
I'm not going to send it to you.
I wish you would stop sending me out-of-season Christmas cards.
But there's so much cheaper than I would like.
I know you get a really good bargain on them, but I have so many now.
And it feels wrong to throw them away because they're also earnest.
Yeah, I mean, I really do handwrite most of them.
Other ones, I have a stamp.
The stamp is like a little...
When I open the mailbox and I see it's one with a stamp, that's when I know I need to call you and see what's up in your life.
Ben, you can find his work all over the internet and in some other places too.
Right, Ben?
Yeah, don't look too hard, though.
Where can they find your latest work?
You can find my work at Hagerty at driving.ca and at Motor Trend.
And you can find my work at driving.ca as well.
I'm usually on their YouTube channel, driving.ca.
I think it's the name of their YouTube channel.
Yeah, they have you on there 24 hours now, right? That's rough.
I'm glad they let you off for an hour a week to record the podcast.
It's a little bit less than an hour, but yeah.
And it's usually my bathroom break for the whole week.
It's killing your home life.
Your wife hasn't seen you in six days.
I don't know what my son looks like.
They're trying to set some kind of dubious record.
It's going to be a huge one.
I think people will care.
In addition to driving.ca, you can find my work at AutoTrader.ca.
What do you think of that, Ben?
I think that's a lot of dots and a lot of CAs.
And I think we should move on.
Ben, we've got the same car this week.
It's fine.
I mean, it's not the same car.
Oops, all kicks.
Double kick.
I was so good at double kicks when I was training regularly.
So when you double kick, do you do like the Van Damme double kick
where you stand and then double kick to the head?
Or do you do like the Jackie Chan slash Bruce Lee double kick
where you run through the air, you run, you jump through the air
and then you double kick in the air on the chest?
No, I don't do the old bicycle kick there or whatever you want to call it.
No, no, I don't even mean like bicycle kick.
I mean side double kick like you're in Street Fighter.
I would love to be in.
Well, actually Street Fighter seems like it's a hard life.
Again, you don't see your family.
You spend all your time.
Yeah, at one point, I think it's a Lexus or an Acura or something.
It's a Lexus.
That's rough on the old joints.
No, I used to do the double kick high
and then when I got older, I started doing it low high
and then I started faking the low
and just going for the high.
It was great.
What about faking the right and doing the left high?
It's very difficult to do with kicks because then both of your feet
are in the air.
Yeah, you need some kind of tripod.
It's like it's like a half helicopter.
It's like a capoeira move at that point.
For those who don't know, Sammy is a distinguished karate instructor.
I'm not even making that up.
I know it sounds like I'm blowing smoke, but it really is.
I had been doing it for 30 years.
I've been not teaching doing martial arts for 30 years.
I competed at the national level.
I have a whole a whole bunch of trophies and medals that I'm sure
my son will melt down for, I don't know, healthcare money
at some point.
They've made five movies about you now so far.
Three originals and then a remake and then.
Well, yeah, but one is adult rated and I don't want people
searching it.
Well, that's a movie you've started, not a movie about you.
That's a little bit different.
It's a question.
Yes.
I saw named the kicks after a karate move or a martial arts
move, or do you think it's like kicks, like get your kicks?
I think it's get your kicks on with 66.
I think that's exactly what it is.
Did you do that event?
No, I didn't.
They did this whole event.
I think with the Canadian media and everyone who's been on it
said it was like some sort of life changing event.
Was it Nissan that did it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I did not even make that connection.
I was just talking about it in general, but that is
interesting and they didn't do it in the kicks, did they?
No, I don't think the kicks was out.
That's a huge missed opportunity.
I think they did it mostly in the rogue.
Mostly in the rogue.
Yeah.
And the Ultima.
And if you remember, the old rogue was not the one to do
stuff in.
Also, RIP Ultima apparently.
This is the final model year from what I understand.
Are you really calling it rest in peace or is this
just a thing again?
We're like...
It's gonna be brought back as an SUV two years from now?
Yeah, for sure.
I don't know.
And also, I just saw this in Pasig, so I don't have
any information.
Whether it's 2026 or 2025, I think it's 2025, but the
Ultima's finally gone.
I mean, first they took the coupe from us and now the
sedan has gone as well.
Yeah.
Look at how many people really were sad about the
coupe going.
The coupe was not bad.
I mean...
Clearly it was if people weren't buying it.
No, but there's a weird way to think about the
coupe, right?
You could get a VQ V6 in that coupe and you could
get a manual transmission or you could get the
2.5 liter four cylinder with a CVT.
So the performance potential was there, but I think
what some people realized was they could buy a
brand new Ultima coupe or they could buy a two
year old G35 at the price was like the same.
Exactly.
I mean, we're gonna be talking about Nissan all
episode long, which is a tough thing to do
because nobody apparently is really buying
Nissan's here or in the road, I think.
Yeah.
And I mean, I was looking at the sales figures of
Kix in particular in North America, they sell
about 100,000 of them, well over 100,000 of them
combined Mexico, Canadian and US sales, which is
pretty good, I think.
And we also need to be upfront about the fact
that this is a podcast that is a huge fan of the
other Kix.
The previous generation Kix.
The previous generation Kix.
It was one of the best compact anything's out
there because it was super lightweight.
It weighed like 2,700 pounds and I know that
doesn't sound super lightweight, but that
is like what, 200 pounds more than a Miata?
Yeah.
I mean, relatively speaking, that is a lightweight car.
And I mean, of course, we're talking about a car
that is a sub-compact.
Four doors with a hatchback.
That's useful and it had like no horsepower.
I think it had something like 120 horsepower,
I want to say.
And yet it was still 122.
And it was still fun.
I had fun with it.
It had a CVT.
It was buzzy.
It wasn't quick.
Well, good news.
You can still get one.
Yeah.
I'm just saying it was engaging.
It was a car that is the kind of car where you show up
and you don't expect anything good about it.
Exactly.
You expect it to be the kind of vehicle that does its job,
is really cheap and gets out of the way
and you never think about it.
But the Kix actually managed to be something
that I wanted to drive in the same way
that the Juke was before it.
With the dramatic difference of the Juke was,
first of all, intended to be a performance vehicle
and also had looks that were super polarizing.
Okay.
Whereas the Kix didn't have that.
You're doing a really good job of setting up.
This feels like the conversation we had
when it came to Honda and the HRV
because I set that up by saying that Honda
is actually really capable of delivering
good, entertaining, and like practical vehicles.
And I think the Kix, in the previous generation,
it hit the benchmark of being an affordable car
that had personality.
And those two parts rarely go together nowadays.
Although we do have exceptions right now
with the Buick and Vista and the Chevy Trax,
which I think are spiritual successors to the Kix
in the sense that they are still very cheap.
I mean, they're under $25,000.
The Kix was just under $20,000 in the U.S.
And I believe...
Well, not just maybe a little bit more than that.
In Canada, it was similar, wasn't it?
The Kix...
The previous generation Kix left the market in the States.
It was $20,600.
Now, I think an Invista...
Or not an Invista story,
because that's a luxury version of the Trax.
The Trax is like 22 or 23, I want to say.
So there's still vehicles in that class that are good,
but not the same kind of personality.
It doesn't have that lightweight feel.
It's still a good drive,
but it's not as engaging.
But you're right in that there are few and far between.
There's not a lot of cheap cars that are appealing.
And it's important to point out as well
that for the next, I'm assuming, month or so,
you can still buy a last generation Kix.
They're still selling it.
It's called the 2025 Kix Play.
It comes in one trim level.
Why is it called the Kix Play?
Why not the Kix Classic?
It was right there.
Click Kix Rewind.
OG Kix.
Double Kix.
Anyways, this one is only available in one trim level.
It's the lowest one.
So basically it's just this bargain basement car,
which is fine.
Again, I've had no issues with that mentality for the Kix.
How much is it?
In the U.S., just about $23,000 including destination.
Wait a minute.
So the old Kix is the same price as the new Kix?
Because that's including destination.
The new one is about $1,000 more.
Okay.
Because the new one's $22,430 plus $1,500 destination.
Yeah.
Okay.
So and we should get into this because the new one is a,
like it's a totally different car.
It has totally different looks.
It has different engine.
It clearly has a different mission than the original one,
which I think was intended to be affordable transportation.
I'm not so sure the mission is different.
I think I'm going to disagree with you there.
But there's another thing we should talk about in the sense
that you said it's destined to be affordable transportation.
In the U.S., I think that's still true
because it's only about 10% more expensive than it used to be.
Yeah.
In Canada.
Is that by what metric are you using?
By used to be?
Like last year?
So the last year, the previous generation Kix
is about 10% cheaper to start out with than the current one.
Okay.
In Canada, you discovered that that's not the case.
I went by 5 years.
I went by 5 years ago to 2020 Kix.
You can have in Canada for around $20,000.
What was it in 2024?
In 2024.
That's what I think is more relevant.
It was 22,000.
Okay.
And now it is...
Around 24,000.
Wait, which one is it?
Because I don't know if you want me to add the freight API.
No, don't add anything.
Don't add anything.
So 22,000.
Okay.
And what is it now?
And today, if you get into a 2026,
which is what I drove,
you're going to be spending at least $27,000.
Okay.
So it's $5,000.
$5,000.
Which is 20% roughly.
Yeah.
If not a little bit more.
Yeah.
About rough.
So not quite as cheap anymore.
Not quite as cheap.
I mean, I was going by 5 years ago.
I was looking at...
I'd like to look at that.
Yeah, but 5 years ago is a bit of an aberration
because at that point you're in COVID.
You're in COVID.
I don't want to be in COVID.
I don't want to be in that again.
Crisis went crazy.
So like we can't...
I mean, 5 years ago,
the Maverick was like $9,000 cheaper than it is now.
That's what I'm saying.
Cars were cheap and we didn't take advantage of it.
Oh, we did.
And I still am.
But anyway,
so I think it is still destined to be a cheap car.
But I think the definition of a cheap car has changed.
Okay.
I think that customer expectations have potentially
changed as well.
Not everywhere because we still have cars like the Versa
that's out there,
which is although I think Versa is another RIP pretty soon.
There's still the chance that you can get a bargain basement type
stripped out car like the Versa,
which we talked about recently.
I want to say within the last three months or so on the show,
the kicks is intended.
It's not intended to be like the SUV alternative to the Versa.
I think it's intended to be the alternative entry level period.
Okay.
Can you see what I'm saying?
I can kind of see it.
You're still not spending like compact SUV money.
It's still a subcompact.
It still has a cheaper base price,
but the expectations for features and capability are now higher.
So like let's say with the Versa,
you can buy the, you know, the one with the no power options
and whatnot,
basically what you would get with a rental fleet, right?
Yeah.
You can't really add a lot to it.
There's not much that you can add like a full down rear seat.
And I think heated seats and stuff.
My goodness.
The folding capability of this feature is optional.
It's optional.
It's just like a hinge and a latch.
You know, it's going to be a cost thing somewhere,
but the one I had was a base model
and I couldn't fold the rear seat.
You have to pay like a package to get that.
But when you get to the kicks level,
you can suddenly add all wheel drive.
You can add a panoramic sunroof, you know,
like you can get these kinds of features
that you would see on class above vehicles
that weren't available with the Versa.
So that's what I mean when I say
it's an alternative to the alternative.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I get that.
And I think the new car is capable of being
much more than that.
Do you know what I mean?
Like it is also the top.
So what trim level did you drive?
I drove the SV.
I also drove the SV,
which is the mid trim between the S and the SR.
Yeah.
Mine was also all wheel drive.
I was also all wheel drive.
We probably drove the same vehicle.
Was yours a nice color at least?
No, it was gray with a red roof.
Okay.
Mine was two tone as well,
but blue and blue and black.
That's kind of cool.
Yeah.
I mean, this is a car that actually still looks pretty sharp
even as an entry level car.
Although what's funny is I was picking my wife up
from a business trip and I was like,
I'm in the gray car with the red roof
and she walked right by it.
She did not see the red roof
because the roof itself like seen from the side
is a sliver.
It's maybe like two inches tall above the glass.
You have to be looking at it from above to really see it.
Yeah.
And I mean, even worse with a black roof, right?
Like because there's a black,
I think there's a blacked out element
at the C pillar or D pillar.
And yeah, if it's black,
it just doesn't really resonate.
But like I have to say,
I think it's a pretty decent looking vehicle.
Yeah.
I mean, in terms of subcompact crossovers,
I think it's way up there with,
in terms of design,
I think they did a really good job with this really.
What I originally thought was an over styled front end.
There's so much like, like horizontal lines happening
on the front bumper and the grille.
That's the new thing.
Have you not seen the Telleride,
which is essentially.
Yeah.
Horizontal lines everywhere.
Yeah.
We're being forced into this future where
as much plastic as possible is being jammed
under the front end of a vehicle
and that plastic has to be horizontal for some reason.
But at least on the kicks,
you get this,
it fades into the lighting elements on the side.
So it's horizontal across the grille,
but then it curves into the fenders.
And at the very leading edge of the fender,
it's met by like three lines of light.
And I think that that's a cool motif.
Yeah.
And I think there was something about it.
I can't remember if it's like the welcome lighting
or like the lock and unlock lighting.
That was actually also fairly like,
it had charm to it.
I think it's the best way to put it.
And I also noticed that the lower bumper,
there's like a body cladding on the lower bumper.
It has like a pattern on it as well.
It juts out too.
I think it's intended to look rugged.
Yeah.
It's almost like a tire tread pattern.
Kind of, yes.
Diamond pattern, I guess.
And they've got it on the side sills as well.
Yeah.
So that's enough to say about the exterior.
I don't usually talk about the exterior of cars all that much,
but I will say there was something about the interior
that kind of like captured me.
I really enjoyed the interior of this car.
One, I found the rear seats to be spacious enough to handle
a rear-facing car seat without ruining
a front seat passengers leg room.
But that being said, it's not an amazing amount of room.
Oh no, it's not massive.
But like for me, that's my measurement for a small car.
Like especially I can stick my kid in their car seat,
a rear-facing car seat is not really the most compact thing
to throw in there.
And usually I have to throw the front passenger seat
all the way up to the dash.
Now, how did it rate on your son's shoe-throwing scale?
Was he able to reach the front seat?
Oh yeah, easily.
In fact, it's not much of a reach for me to pat him
on the head and tell him to throw and give him his shoe back.
All right.
Why do you return the ammunition?
Because he needs more practice, clearly.
I guess so.
Honestly, throwing is one of his, is a one skill
that he's underdeveloped right now.
Because I see his cousins halfway around the world
who are just, they're like Steph Curry out there.
Yeah, but they're living in a throwing culture.
It's different.
It's different.
It's not Apple store just here.
I want to see.
The other thing, no no, the other thing about this interior,
hold on one minute.
There's a material, this cloth material that covers the seats
and is also found on the dashboard.
Yes.
I liked this thing.
I liked it too.
I found myself touching the dash unnecessarily.
That's a real material on the dash.
And there's also leather on the dash.
It's like two-tone, right?
Mine was.
So I had a leather top and then I had that fabric
underneath the infotainment screen.
Okay.
And then it went around to the doors.
Is that what yours was like?
Yes.
I was fixated on the harder plastic underneath the cloth.
That was super hard.
It was bad, bad, bad for my arm on the door.
This is the worst armrest I have encountered
in a very long time.
And that's unfortunate because I had to do,
as I mentioned, an airport run in this vehicle.
And I also did some other longer trips.
And by the end of the trips,
my left elbow was just begging for mercy.
And that's very rare.
Also, I have a 40-year-old car in my garage
that's also built by Nissan that has a better armrest than this.
And I was shocked by that.
But I will agree with Sammy that it looks good.
Something though.
And that material, that material,
where they put that material was super cool with me.
I'm like, hey, this is nice.
And there's a little pattern on the seats as well.
Yeah, they tried harder than they had to.
Yeah, it's exactly what I wanted to say.
They did something they didn't have to do
that is not a common move for Nissan.
You know what I mean?
Or for this class of car.
Where they didn't try hard was the gauge cluster
in the infotainment.
So once again, we have this rectangular slab of plastic
that does everything.
It's divided into two pieces.
And on one side, the right side,
you have a full-color infotainment screen
where you have Android Auto and all that stuff.
And then for the gauge cluster,
you have what is...
What I'm going to describe as...
Can you quote the press?
No, hold on.
The material say that this is a 12.3-inch screen.
It's not.
No, it's divided.
And the gauge cluster has a section on the left
that is a display that will show you tire pressures
and all that stuff, odometer and whatnot.
And then directly in front of the driver,
there is what I would describe as
your high school alarm clock LED
that counts off speedometer and odometer.
And it's deliberately chosen to look old-school
and it's just weird.
Like, it's neither good nor bad,
but it's glaringly different from everything that's around it.
And it's surrounded by a lot of black space
that's not being used.
And I had another issue with it.
So I often take photos for Canada and U.S.
when I'm photographing vehicles
because I'm writing for different publications.
So that means I need to change the units of the dashboard.
And that's often very easy to do.
You just go into the infotainment screen,
you choose MPG instead of liters per 100 kilometers
and you choose Fahrenheit instead of Celsius.
Well, when I did that for the Nissan Kix,
it did not change the gauge cluster.
In fact, it showed a...
Mine shows a tiny little mile per hour underneath.
Yeah, it always has a little mile per hour thing.
The cluster remains in kilometers.
And the main speedometer remains in kilometers.
The only thing that changes on the dashboard
is the temperature readout.
And then if you go into the submenus,
it changes your trip computer to miles per gallon and miles.
This is bizarre.
If you have a button that changes units,
it should change units everywhere,
not just where you've randomly selected to change.
When I photographed this car,
I positioned the camera so that the steering wheel
blocked out the units that did not properly translate
to the market I was photographing in.
Again, it's not a huge problem.
But for me, I was able to work around it.
You still see the dashboard.
It's not a big deal.
But it's, come on, what are we doing here?
It is one of the moment I got in
and I saw that there was that big panel of screen.
I was like, oh, wow.
Did they really put a full gauge cluster in there?
And then the moment the sun hits that plastic,
you can actually see the two separate screens
making up the different sizes.
And I twilight when the light comes on,
the interior lights change,
but it's still bright enough outside
that you can see the difference between them.
Yeah, I noticed that as well.
And I was like, oh, no.
It's all that effort they put into the fabric.
And then they fired that person
and hired someone else to design the infotainment set up.
It's even funnier to be like,
you've got all of this black space that could be a screen.
You're not allowed to touch it.
No, we need that there.
Don't use it.
The other thing I'll point out about the interior,
you mentioned discomfort with the armrest.
Yes.
These might be, and I don't know if this is across the line,
but these might be the least comfortable seats
that I've been in.
I was okay with the seats.
I had to do...
I have a padded bottom though.
You personally?
No further questions.
What it really needed was lumbar support.
And this blew my mind because Nissan is the company
with the zero gravity, super supportive,
great for long road trip kind of seats.
And I could have used those at here.
I don't know what happened to me in this car,
but it did not go well.
One more thing I want to talk about with that dashboard
is when you put it in drive or you turn it on,
there's obviously the little thing in the center of the dash
that tells you what gear you're in, right?
And underneath that, there's the word standard.
Yeah, that's the drive mode, no?
Sammy, there are no drive modes in this vehicle.
Might have drive modes.
Where?
It's impossible to see because the gear stick
blocks your view of it.
Where were your drive modes?
They're on the center console next to the gear stick,
north of the gear stick.
I'm looking at photos that I took right now
because I searched for them.
It's a little nub to the right of the gear stick.
A nub?
Yeah, a nub toggle.
I'm going to send you my picture.
Yeah.
You're going to love this.
I really hope I sent you a big,
high resolution enough screen.
How did I not notice that?
They don't do anything.
Actually, they do.
We'll talk about that right now because the drive mode
is a great place to segue into the driving characteristic
of this car.
It's got a two-liter four-cylinder engine
with 100 and,
ooh, I don't have the number off the top of my head,
140-something horsepower.
Yes.
Do you know how much it has?
Yeah, it's 141, I think.
141 on the dot?
Yeah, 141 and then 140 pound-feet of torque.
Okay.
And it's okay.
I think that that powertrain was perfectly adequate.
I can't believe I missed these drive modes.
I specifically looked for them and I could not find them.
I think I had my phone on top of that button
the entire time I was on the phone.
I'm not very good at my job, am I?
Occasionally.
Maybe it's time to retire.
No, no.
Not for the podcast sake.
I hope you don't.
Anyways, this engine is paired with a CVT.
The one thing I will say is that the CVT is not that awful
in my experience.
It can get very loud, but only when you punch it,
when you try to get moving in a hurry.
So I did not find it loud at any point.
Even at full throttle, I thought it sounded pretty fine.
It's not thrashy or anything.
And I thought that that was unusual.
I found it to be, like I said,
I think it was a little bit more refined.
The only way I heard it was when I was trying to make a pass
and I was using the toll road.
I do want to talk about passing
because this is one of the few cars I've had
where I could not pass people.
On the back roads, there's only back roads.
Two lane highways, there's only so much passing lane, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And you need to have speed for sure.
I did not have the confidence or the capability.
At one point, I pulled out and then hit it
and then pulled back in.
That's like, I didn't have to hit the brakes
in that sequence.
That's how little acceleration there was
in that situation where I just realized
I wasn't going to make it and this was a bad move
and then I just let off the throttle
and back in the right side of the lane.
I haven't had that happen in a long time.
Tell me about these drive modes.
I believe there was eco, snow, sport,
and probably normal.
And I used the eco and sport modes.
The sport mode just puts the,
basically the base RPM kind of a little bit higher,
like maybe north of 2000 RPM.
That's weird.
So that it's a little bit more responsive
when you do hit the throttle.
Again, you're not going to be,
it's still not going to be capable of making
those pass that you're looking for.
But I used the eco one as well.
I did not enjoy that.
I also don't know why exactly we needed eco mode.
Yeah, it should be in eco mode all eco mode.
This is like we talk about like why do sports cars
have a sport mode.
This car should just be in eco mode all the time.
Well, I think if it was,
you would have even less confidence in it,
in its passing capability.
In terms of noise,
I found the tire noise to be pretty high.
It's hard for me to be upset about that though
because my car was outfitted with all season tires
and we had a blizzard and it was very cold
and all season tires are going to be loud
and frozen in those situations.
Mine had winters on it.
So I immediately like discredited it
because I'm like, I know that.
And there's, if you,
getting to the all wheel drive system.
So I had the chance to use that all the time
because I'm not using appropriate rubber, right?
And I'm in snow.
I had no problems with traction.
The only problems I had were braking.
Yeah.
Because obviously that's tire related primarily.
So I had to get a little bit of extra space to stop.
But the all wheel drive system,
it's one of those, it's primarily a front wheel drive vehicle
except when say you're pulling off the line
below a certain speed.
If you hammer the throttle,
it sends power automatically to the rear,
even if you have not lost traction.
And the reason you can tell is because it has a little gauge
that you can watch on that far left corner of the screen
that will show you where torque is being distributed.
So it's very hard to break traction in this vehicle.
I did it a couple of times in the snow,
but for the most part it was happy to
dole out it's 141 horsepower in a way
that was undisturbing to me or anyone around me.
You do notice, however,
the fact that this vehicle is between
three and 500 pounds heavier than the old kicks.
And I think that this is where Sammy,
the personality of the vehicle dramatically changes.
Having that all wheel drive, which is extra weight
and just having the extra weight in general.
Yeah, mine was also had a ton of equipment, right?
Like mine had heated seats, heated steering.
We had the same trim.
Seat, heated steering wheel, wireless phone charger.
Not that that's like a super heavy item,
but like all of the doodads in terms of safety equipment
as well, which I'm not sure that the last kicks
I drove had any of that.
And we're still not at the top trim level.
You can still pay more.
You can get that panoramic sunroof in one night.
Yeah.
So you're totally right.
There's a lot of equipment here
and that changes the personality of the car
to going from something that was kind of like,
I don't want to call it silly.
It was like the mini Cooper of the Nissan lineup.
It had like a care, a carefree-ness to it.
That was like, it was fun to drive.
It was fine to drive.
You didn't feel, you felt okay driving it.
You didn't feel like you were in a penalty box
because it was kind of silly.
And it was capable despite being affordable
and kind of bare bones.
But this is like a vehicle.
This is punching above its weight.
This kind of reminds me of the vehicle
that I've never driven
that we talked about last week.
The Hyundai Venue.
Yes.
Where it's supposed to be,
it's supposed to make you,
it's evoking a higher class of vehicle.
And I don't think that's a bad thing.
One thing we didn't talk about for interior,
sorry to get on a tangent.
Cargo space is decent.
I was able to put a full size carry-on
and a smaller carry-on wheeled suitcases
and a box in the back of the vehicle
with no problems
without having to put the seats down.
It looks pretty small when you pop the hatch.
But it's actually okay.
I had no concerns with it.
I used it for everything I needed to use it with.
My major concern with it was trying to compare it to another.
I told you last week we drove the Kona
and we've driven the Kona plenty of times.
The Kona has a bigger cargo area.
Like clearly, without a doubt,
is much more practical.
And you can get it at around the same price.
Yeah, it can be a little bit more expensive,
especially when you start going
into the turbocharged engines of the Kona.
But if you stay out of that turbocharged engine space,
then the Kona feels like the better car.
Because what you said, the kicks is now punching above its weight.
Now it's kind of competing with...
When it was super affordable,
it was competing in this class of ultra affordable cars.
And now when it has all this equipment
and raises the price and all wheel drive,
it now feels like it has to compete
with all of these other vehicles
that are already established in this segment.
Sure.
And you mentioned...
And prioritize other elements, right?
Other things.
You mentioned before we recorded
that you felt like this vehicle should have a turbo.
It should have like a 1.6 turbo.
And that would make it better.
Yeah.
And I was thinking just now about what you were saying.
And...
It took you like an hour to...
No, no.
What you just said now
about how it's competing against the tracks,
which I believe is a turbo three cylinder
and it's competing against the turbo four in the Kia
or say the Hyundai, excuse me.
And the Celtos.
And the Celtos and the venue.
I think...
I mean, the Corolla Cross doesn't have a turbo,
but you can get a hybrid version of it.
Yeah, yeah.
But it's not really where I'm going with this.
What I mean is the original kicks
was up against the original tracks,
which did not have like nearly...
I don't think that was...
It was a judge.
Yeah.
And as a result,
the fact that it had this naturally aspirated engine,
even though it wasn't powerful,
it felt like it had some personality.
Like we were saying,
it was fun to toss around and whatnot.
It had character that other vehicles in its class didn't.
But now that it's pushing towards what other vehicles
in its class have moved towards themselves,
it becomes more homogenous.
And we noticed the fact that it doesn't have a turbo now,
but not for the same reasons.
You know?
Yeah.
It's standing apart because it's a half measure
in the sense that it hasn't gone fully into the idea
that this is an upscale subcompact
because I don't think Nissan can afford to play in that space.
I don't think that's where their customers are.
But at the same time,
other people are going to be cross shopping
the vehicles that do make that claim.
Yeah.
This is where the part of the kicks,
like a Nissan strategy in general,
feels so different because you did this little run down
of all these other cars that they had that were kind of,
they had the kicks.
And then if you wanted a more powerful kicks,
you basically got the juke.
Two cars that were that,
that like shied away from what the market typically,
what the mass market typically wants,
which is lots of space, lots of equipment.
The juke's, the juke was a car that had
very limited kind of creature comforts
and had a ginormous plastic panel
for your, like between the front seats
that was kind of like a,
I don't know what you would call it,
like a motorcycle body.
Like that's what it looked like and felt like.
And it had this turbocharged engine.
Eventually there was a Nismo model with over 200 horsepower.
And it was a silly little car.
It was so much fun.
And you could get a manual.
The front wheel drive one.
And there was a Nismo model with a,
with like the most bolstered seats I've ever seen.
And I remember these things so vividly.
You know what I mean?
I remember this so much.
It was like what would happen if a,
if a gaming PC company made a car
and they're like,
check out this interior,
check out these seats,
check out these headlights, you know,
like it would be like that.
And so when they,
they basically called the kicks the replacement for the juke.
And we all kind of went, oh, that's,
that's a, that's a bit of a loss
because it doesn't have that turbocharged engine.
But I can understand why they're doing that.
And in addition to, to its, you know,
more mainstreamness, it was really affordable.
And now we've got a car
that's gone a little bit more upscale.
It's a little bit more refined
than what we remember the kicks.
Parts of it are.
Yeah.
And,
and now it just loses that,
that charm that that's what I'm trying to say.
We, we have fond memories of the kicks
because of what it was capable of doing.
And these aren't like,
I don't think these are rose colored glasses
of like five years ago.
Maybe we just miss who we were five years ago, Sammy.
I don't know about that.
But we had,
I think we immediately recognized what we were driving
and went, hey,
for the price is actually kind of fun.
This is kind of interesting.
And now when I get in this,
I go, hey, it's pretty good,
but for this much money,
I can get a bigger vehicle.
I can get a car that has more,
like more space, more,
you know, better seats,
less harsh plastics,
a real digital gauge cluster,
a better all wheel drive system,
all sorts of other little things are in there.
Better than the actual.
Yeah.
Yes.
So I'm looking at that and saying,
Nissan lost it.
Like they lost the plot.
They lost this game by playing
the competitors game, right?
Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
That's a good way to put it.
And all this to say,
I don't think the kicks,
the current kicks is a bad vehicle.
No, no, it's not bad at all.
I would recommend people check it out.
But if you're on a strict budget,
absolutely.
It's fundamentally different.
And I think that that's important to keep in mind
because we've been such kicks boosters in the past.
Two other things I want to mention about the vehicle.
One is something I didn't like.
There was just straight up weird.
The thing I didn't like is the adaptive cruise control
does not work and stop and go traffic.
Yeah.
It beeps at you and then starts creeping towards.
It starts creeping forward.
If you stop for like more than a second and a half.
Yeah.
So that's not great.
That's super annoying.
The whole reason that adaptive cruise control exists
is so I don't have to pay attention
when I'm crawling through traffic at a snail space.
I did not appreciate that.
And I know that a friend of the show, Bradley Iger,
he hates any adaptive cruise control system that does not have
true stop and go capability.
It's one of his pet peeves.
So he would hate the kicks.
The other weird thing though, the thing that I didn't dislike
but is strange.
If you look at the kicks as shifter,
you can shift it into drive obviously.
But instead of having a low setting,
it has something that says B.
Yeah.
Which is to me typically related to a hybrid vehicle.
Yeah.
Where it allows you to automatically or better
more aggressively recharge the battery.
That's almost exclusively what this feature means.
Yeah.
Nissan has put it in a vehicle that has no hybrid model,
no battery whatsoever other than the 12-volt under the hood.
And it still says B.
And if you look at the manual,
the manual says that B is for going down steep grades
or for when you need to.
It's engine braking.
Yeah.
If you need to add higher revs from the engine,
it's essentially functionally exactly the same as low.
But they put B on it.
This is strange, confusing, weird.
No one needed this.
No one was asking for this.
Is it like Nissan trying to, again, play a different,
play their competitors' games of the ones
that do have a hybrid model?
I don't get it.
It's not a deal breaker by any means,
but it is odd.
Why B?
Why not any other letter?
Yeah.
Or just some numbers.
Or like 10 numbers.
And they have to add,
right over to that, the drive mode selector.
I can't believe I did.
I really feel like I'm losing it.
The drive mode selector?
Yes.
I'm more embarrassed that you were about to say
that there's no drive modes.
This is, I did say it.
Oh, you did say it.
I did say it.
Yeah.
And the thing is, this is not like the first time
where like I have missed a feature in a car.
It hasn't happened in a long time.
And you've had to correct me.
And at one point you were getting worried
and telling me like,
hey, maybe you need to like step back
for something.
I don't think I said it that way.
A young priest and an old priest.
A fully loaded this car,
I don't think has the value play in mind
to compete with the rest of this thing.
So you just got to love its design
and its interior to go,
yeah, I'll spend like 30 grand on this car.
Yeah, don't do it.
I don't think it's worth it.
And even at the mid trim,
I think mid trim is fine.
I think mid trim is fine.
But I truly believe that you're on a strict budget.
This is the car to get.
And this is one of the cars to really take a look at.
Can you tell me?
I can tell you that Americans don't get
the heated steering wheel in the mid trim.
That's wild.
I mean, I know we're treated to all of these features.
Did you turn on the heated steering wheel?
All the time.
And you turn on the heated seats?
Of course.
I noticed that every time I pressed one of those two buttons,
I heard a very distinct click
coming from like the passenger side of the car.
I don't worry about it.
And every time I touched those buttons.
I noticed that if I use the remote start,
it pumped up the temperature to 25 degrees Celsius,
which is like 78 or something.
Yeah.
Even though I hadn't set to 19 or 21 normally.
So you get in the car and it's at a totally different temperature.
And then other times when I wasn't using the remote start,
it would do the same thing.
I emailed Nissan and they didn't know why I was doing that.
It sounds like it has like a Nissan connect thing
and they have somebody.
That was my thought too.
And I tried to look and see if there was a profile
that had like a remote setting.
Mine had a profile.
But like there's no profile information.
It's like very bare bones.
Infotainment system is kind of bare bones.
There's no like real apps or anything.
I just use Android Auto.
That's fine.
I don't need apps.
I don't need a single app.
I just use Android Auto all the time.
All the time.
I don't want your apps.
And what else was there going on in this car?
That's it.
I talked about everything.
Yeah.
I think that's it.
I was going to ask you what you think about this class in general
because there's a, there is a widespread of vehicles now
to choose from.
There's like a low end where you'd find the kicks,
this first generation kicks, kicks play for like a month
and a half or so.
I mean, there's a wide range of SUVs at this price.
Yeah.
Not even subcompact.
You're saying?
No.
What I'm saying is like subcompacts are pretty much just SUVs
now.
I think what's the car?
There's no car.
There's just the Versa.
Is there anything else?
There's the Mini, which is priced out of this area.
Our Mirage?
Is the Mirage dead?
I think the Mirage is still out there, but let's not talk
about the Mirage.
I want to get into the, the, what's the SUV version of
the Mirage called?
It has two different names.
Outlander Sport or RVR.
That's not the SUV version of the Mirage.
I'm sorry.
Or the RVR.
I want to try that out.
But yeah, there's Celtos.
There's CX30.
There's the Trax.
There's the Taus.
There's the Invista, which is like four grand more.
And the Trax and the Kick.
And the, what's the other one called?
That's what I said.
Trailblazer, I guess, but I feel like the Trax has
really put the trailblazer in its place kind of thing.
But the trailblazer, I think you can get with all
the drive.
There's the Nero.
The Soul, which is I think dead after this year.
Yeah.
I think Soul is done.
There's the HRV, which we're not going to talk
about.
And there's the Crosstrek, which feels like it's
kind of in a different class.
Yeah.
It's one of those cars that, again, I mentioned
there's like a mainstreamification of this
class.
And I think the Crosstrek just hits the points
of being really spacious and offering all-wheel
drive for the lowest amount of money possible.
And it's priced like that too.
It's like six or seven grand more in the U.S.
than what you would pay.
There's also the Buick Encore GX, a vehicle
I never think about.
Yeah.
Because again, Invista exists.
And it's like, there's a good, like at
least 15 choices here.
To me, the top three are Crosstrek, Kona
and CX-30, depending on your needs.
I think that covers the spread.
I like the tracks a lot.
I think for the money.
Oh, yeah.
And the tracks is the really like the budget option.
I mean, the money, the tracks is like five grand
less than that CX-30.
Yeah.
And that's a pretty big gap.
The CX-30 is gorgeous though.
And you can get it with a wicked powertrain.
Yeah.
Gorgeous is I think stretching it for any
vehicle in this segment.
Well, maybe it's getting, it's getting maybe
better with it.
It's a crazy class.
You're right.
There's 15 cars.
I would say that there's maybe like, and
about half of them are actually worth
taking a look at, which has to be one of
the better hit rates in the automotive
industry, do you know what I mean?
Yeah, for sure.
With the exception of like...
Full-size pickups.
Yeah.
The compact car segment or mid-size
car segment.
I guess in full-size pickups, there's
only three that you need to look at.
How dare you disrespect the Titan
that way.
Is the Titan still on sale?
I'm at the Nissan website.
It is not.
What happened?
What happened is no one bought it
and it went away.
Oh.
Yeah.
Oh, Nissan.
Do you think, do you think they're
going to pull it off?
Do you think that people are going to
start buying their cars or what?
I don't know, man.
I mean, I hope so.
That stresses me out.
I hope so.
They're certainly not going to be
buying Ultimus.
They're not buying Ultimus.
They're not going to buy the last
gen kicks for a while.
It stresses me out because, as I
mentioned, they're now trying to play
the competitions game, at least here
in North America, and that didn't go
well, that hasn't gone well for them in
the past.
Here's something else that's going to
stress you out.
The Z is going to become order,
special order only.
Yeah, that's insane.
I read this report from Joel Fetter
at the Drive where they said
basically they ended up.
Nissan basically said no one's
buying them.
We can't sell the Z at the
current price.
Yeah.
So we don't want dealers ordering
them and having them sit in
showrooms.
They have to incentivize it.
And Sami, and I regularly send
Sami the ads I've showed on
Instagram where they're still
selling brand new 2024
Nissan Zs for
like $20,000 off,
you know?
And it's like, it's never been
titled.
It's been sitting in the showroom
for two years, if not three
at this point.
$20,000 off.
Yeah, like huge, huge price
discounts.
And it's just sitting there,
right?
And the Nissan's like, well,
we don't want this to happen.
So if you want one, you're
going to have to order one
and we don't want dealers
carrying inventory.
But when you make an
announcement like that, it's
never perceived in a positive
way.
It just really sees.
$20,000 is still not a deal.
Have you seen the cost of
these cars?
In Canada.
In Canada.
I'm looking at it in Canada.
It starts at $53,000.
Yeah.
So like in the U.S., I
believe it starts at 40.
And I think that it competes
positively with the four-cylinder
version of the Supra.
Yeah.
But in Canada.
Yeah, that's true.
In Canada, the prices are out
of the world.
Yeah.
They need to be 20 grand cheaper
to even consider them.
That's insane.
It's like when the ELR came out.
And it was just uncompetitive
immediately because of the price.
It was like an $80,000
Volt.
And it was like a really good
car.
Yeah.
But not for 80 grand.
No.
It was not conceptually
feasible.
Sammy, anything else
you want to say about this
vehicle?
No.
Like I said, I'm scared for
Nissan's sake.
I don't know what they're
doing.
Like a read on them and every
business decision seems to be
a struggle.
If anyone else out there is
scared for Nissan.
Did you mention that other one
about the Pathfinder when they
just negged every Pathfinder
owner that they have?
Yeah, they said the Pathfinder
should not be used for school
pickups.
Carpooling, as they said.
Yeah.
It's not designed.
It shouldn't be designed for
that.
I don't know what they think.
Carpooling.
They said, quote, carpooling.
So the moment you get two
people in the car, it should
just tip over and just shake
everyone out.
That wasn't the impression I
got.
It wasn't that it wasn't safe for
that.
It was the idea that, like, as
a concept, the Pathfinder
shouldn't be used for carpooling
or school pickup.
Here's the thing.
Isn't this a three-row SUV?
Yeah, exactly.
Isn't that the definition of,
like...
Well, they're saying it wants
to be more like the model you
own.
Oh, yeah.
OK.
They've moved this vehicle
from unibody to full frame
and back again.
And back again.
And they're going to do it
again.
Four times in my lifetime.
That's the Pathfinder way.
Changing your...
It's like, maybe this will fix
me.
You know?
Maybe these...
Maybe I'll get bangs.
Maybe bangs will fix the
Pathfinder this time.
You know?
I will say.
Does it ever work?
It's never worked.
But this time, I think
there's a chance.
Yeah.
That's like me shaving off
my beard and mustache.
Every few months, I'm
like this time.
And then your son is like,
who is this stranger?
Who is this freak?
Yeah.
I'm going to throw my shoe
at him.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway.
If anyone out there is also
afraid for Nissan and he
want to talk to us about it,
how would they do that,
Sammy?
They should head on over to
our website,
unnamedautomotivepodcast.com.
There's a contact form
there.
You fill it out.
That lands in our inbox.
We'll chat.
I love it.
Or you can reach out to us
on social media.
We prefer Instagram
of all of these
platforms.
So hit up Ben
at
Hunting Benjamin.
Or you can find me
at
Sammy underscore
ha like you're laughing.
Or you can email us
the old fashioned way.
It's Benjamin
at benjaminhunting.com.
What are you going to be
talking about next week,
Sammy?
A minivan.
Pacifica.
That's what I've got.
Pacifica.
The plug-in
or the normal one?
I don't think
it's the plug-in.
Wait.
Okay.
I mean,
there's a way to know,
but okay.
I do not think
it has a plug.
I am going to be talking
about the Ford
F-150 hybrid,
which I think is called
the power boost.
Power boost.
Yeah.
So I've never
This is why Nissan
can't succeed.
They don't have names
like that.
Yeah.
I should have been the Titan
power boost.
This is my first time
driving the hybrid.
It's been around forever.
Yeah.
And I've just never had
the chance.
And you know what I'm
going to do right now?
Yeah.
You told me.
I'm going to go out
into the night,
into the darkness.
I have a Christmas tree
sitting in the back
of the bed.
And I'm going to plug
a power saw into the bed
generator.
What's going to happen?
You'll find it next week.
Okay.
Hopefully all of your
digits are intact.
Fingers crossed.
See you later everybody.
Bye.
Bye.
About this episode
A deep dive into the 2026 Nissan Kicks reveals a significant shift from its predecessor. Hosts Sammy and Ben discuss the new Kicks' design, interior features, and performance, comparing it to the previous generation and other competitors in the subcompact SUV market. They explore the vehicle's pricing, engine specs, and the impact of added weight on driving dynamics. With a mix of humor and critical analysis, they highlight the Kicks' strengths and weaknesses, particularly its loss of the quirky charm that made the original model appealing. The episode also touches on Nissan's broader market challenges and future direction.
12.3-inch screen
adaptive cruise control
all wheel drive
Android Auto
CVT
drive modes
engine braking
gauge cluster
horsepower
infotainment screen
Cadillac ELR
Chevrolet Trax
Chrysler Pacifica
Ford F-150
Ford Maverick
Honda HR-V
Hyundai Kona
Hyundai Venue
Kia Telluride
Mazda CX-30
Mazda MX-5 / Miata
Mitsubishi Mirage
Mitsubishi Outlander
Nissan Altima
Nissan Juke
Nissan Kicks
Nissan Pathfinder
Nissan Rogue
Nissan Versa
Nissan Z
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Supra
Original notes
This week on the Unnamed Automotive Podcast: OOPS ALL KICKS! The show this week centers around the entry-level 2026 Nissan Kicks. This is the first appearance of the second generation Kicks on the show, which is important considering how much our hosts like the previous models. Now the Kicks is available with lots of equipment, a bigger engine, and available all-wheel-drive. However, this bumps up the price of the Kicks to a new level, which is an important factor to consider when discussing the Nissan crossover.
Hear the whole discussion and don't forget to head over to our website to send us your feedback and comments. Thanks for listening!
Unnamed Automotive Podcast
Unnamed Automotive Podcast
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