The Nissan Kicks 1.3 Turbo CVT proves the adage ‘the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’

First things first, this new 1330cc turbocharged petrol engine on the Nissan Kicks and on the Renault Duster is a blast. It is by far and away the most powerful small engine available in India right now. Its 156PS of power is 10 per cent greater than the 1.4 GDi turbo on the Creta and Seltos. When you press the throttle pedal, you realise that it is not just a number, the Kicks can move. With this car, you genuinely need to be constantly wary of the hundreds of speed cameras that the Delhi Traffic Police have been installing across the city since once you get the hang of the power band, you just ride the turbo. It is addictive — the power on this car. The Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) is not bad either. It does ensure that you stay within a proper engine range for fun if that is what you want and is conservative at lower urban speeds as well.

However, then you show this car a corner. Of late, I have become quite accustomed to even mass-produced small hatchbacks having good handling at higher speeds. Some small cars have even surprised me with handling that you would have thought is far above their price band, the Hyundai Grand i10 comes to mind here. The Kicks, on the other hand, feel old. That is because it is old, based on the first-generation Duster platform. In fact, the Duster and Kicks have been upgraded with this engine and transmission at the same time. Initially, I thought this car did not have traction control as there was no ‘off’ switch for that feature. But later, I discovered that it did have a permanently enabled TCS. Maybe the TCS needs a bit of fine tuning but it is a good thing that owners cannot switch it off at the push of a button. It’s because the Kicks will teach you understeer if you hit a corner a bit aggressively. But at speeds that the Korean twins and even the S-Cross can manage fairly nonchalantly. However, in a straight line, the Kicks Turbo is fabulously fun.

The other issue I have with this car, in addition to the silly card-like keys that Nissan and Renault keep using, are the quality of the interiors and the plastics. The seats with their quilted leather are very comfortable but the instrument cluster keels rather like a low-end display, given the display on competition cars. The Kicks’ remarkably tiny pedal area still feels small even with one pedal removed.

The plastics also feel a bit low-end and you feel that on the bare plastic steering wheel in particular and with the blanked out area for steering controls. You can get better interiors for the price, even though the mid-spec Korean twins that the Kicks goes up against (in price) are not as fancy as their top-spec versions. On the XV CVT that I was driving, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto came as standard through the touchscreen but I did find the factory-fitted speakers a bit off the mark. Rear-seat comfort while cruising is no better nor worse than the competition but the sharply raked rear means that storage space might feel a bit compromised.

That said, if you like driving and most importantly, you understand some nuances of cornering and dealing with power, the Kicks is amazing albeit it might prove to be unforgiving and can easily catch you out. But 150+ horsepower at 13 lakh on-road, if you buy the manual, is stunning value for power!

NISSAN KICKS 1.3 Turbo XV

Engine: 1330cc Turbocharged Petrol

Power: 156PS

Transmission: CVT Automatic

Ex-Showroom Price (as tested) Rs 13.44 Lakh

Milage (rated/tested): 14.2 kmpl/11 kmpl

Rating: 6.5/10

Competition: Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti

S-Cross, Renault Duster Turbo

“Lots of power for the money but not for the untrained driver”