Another day, another brand new turbo petrol engine for
Interior –
While there are no significant changes to the inside, the kicks remains comfortable and solidly built. So, the kicks as ever a blend of some ordinary plastics on the desk, some otherwise very good quality stuff of course these seats are amongst the best. Look at the leather clad dashboard really nicely done. Touch-screen with these metallic highlights nerd, volume control knobs, very practical shortcut keys, carbon fiber trim just below the touch-screen, nicely glad gear lever, cruise control a bit disparate on two sides of the steering wheel. You also get start stop now and generally a decent driving position. Still some tall drivers would have liked the seat to go a bit lower and there are some ergonomic faux pas. Cup holders for example are missing up front and your elbow often makes painful contact with the elbow rest. Now the kicks was always reasonably comfortable in the back and of course with no changes it's exactly the same. A decent amount of thigh support, good amount of space for your legs, a couple of vents below to keep you cool, a 12 volt socket no, usb but you can put an adapter here and the nice armrest, you have also a fair amount of headroom actually pretty good and feels large spacious and comfortable. Even the boot is fairly large and conveniently shaped.
Engine –
But first a closer look under the hood. A co-developed by Nissan, Renault and Daimler. This new engine has been designed to replace punchy diesels. This is why it has a generous 254 Nm of torque comes in from just 1600 rpm and the turbo uses an electric wastegate for better control. It also gets high pressure direct injection at 250 bar, a six hole injector and variable cams, low friction mirrorball coating has also been borrowed from the Nissan’s GT-R sports car to reduce friction. So can this new engine breathe new life into Nissan's unconventional but intriguing Kicks. Lets find out.
Driving Review -
Before we begin, let's use the remote engine start. This can be uniquely started from the key card. Hold the button down for around three seconds and the Kick turbo starts up. You can cool your cabin before you get in and as straightforward is that. So in the kicks turbo, an idle is actually pretty smooth and silent but when you put on the air con and the compressor load comes in, it is a bit of a vibration, it also isn't as light or as easy to drive in traffic as some of its rivals. With its lag below 2000 rpm, a slightly heavy clutch and a gearbox that needs a bit of a firm push this isn't exactly the friendliest of cars to drive in the city. You will have to put in a bit of effort. It's another matter entirely once the turbo comes in. 2500 rpm is when it really starts pulling and then there's a nice slug of torque which carries on. Now the kicks is always straining at the leash. Even on a light throttle. The 1.3 turbo is happiest spinning between three and five thousand where there's plenty of urge, there's a lot of grunt and even if you upshift, that feeling of continuous power remains.
Unlike volkswagen's TSI motors, this one doesn't really like to rev high and hard. It's more of a slugger and does its best work in the mid range. The surge in the mid range in fact is so strong put your foot down and the kicks just shoots forward. So how quick is it, 0 to 100 comes up in 11.85 seconds, but this time isn't representative of how fast it feels, problem is the traction control keeps cutting in when you launch and there's a revloc so that initial strong burst of acceleration, that's missing. In gear times gives a better indication, 20 to 80 for example comes up in 11.16 seconds. Not too far off from the 10.05 seconds recorded by the Kia Seltos and that incidentally does a 0 to 100 in a blistering 8.9 seconds. With its 210 mm of ground clearance and the tough duster derived suspension, the kicks however is superbly engineered for rough roads. There is a hint of stiffness in the suspension and some small amount of road noise but what it does do is take on our damaged and broken roads quite brilliantly, you can drop it into some really bad patches and not feel worse for a while. The kicks also feels fairly agile on a fun and interesting road like this, it does sit fairly high off the ground so there is a bit of roll but since the steering is nice and accurate and body control is pretty decent, it doesn't flop around all the time. You can actually enjoy a winding road like this one (in the image). Whack the throttle open and there is quite a bit of torque steer and you can feel it on the wheel. This is especially true when you're cornering the car hard and you have the weight on one of the wheels and the kicks tends to follow ridges in the road and trim line as well. But overall it's so much fun. It even feels like a bit of a rally hero especially on a gravel stage.
Features –
The kicks turbo also comes with kit like connected car tech, a 360 degree parking camera, remote engine start, voice recognition, idle stop start, automatic headlights, cornering lights, ESP hill start assist, cruise control, rain sensing wipers and led headlamps. Features like cool seats and wireless charging found on the competition like the hyundai creta are however missing. There's little doubt that the turbo is easily the best kicks yet. Thrilling to drive over good and bad roads. It offers easy to access performance and a solidly built chassis that's willing to play. The cabin is a comfortable place to spend time. It is well appointed and even reasonably well equipped. The insides aren't as sophisticated as the Creta or the Seltos. Refinement isn't as good. It's not quite as well equipped and it doesn't perform as strongly either. In fact for all its headline numbers the performance of the kicks isn't as impressive as we'd expected and unless you go for the CVT automatic, the heavy clutch and gear shift mean, it isn't light and easy to drive in traffic either. What puts the kicks back on an even keel with its two korean drivers, however is the fact that it is approximately two lakh cheaper. It may not be for everyone and it may still be rough around the edges but does the kicks turbo have what it takes to be a credible alternative at a more affordable price absolutely.
Key Specifications -
|
Dimensions |
Descriptions |
|
Overall Length (mm) |
4384 |
|
Overall Width (mm) |
1813 |
|
Overall Height (mm) |
1669* |
|
Wheelbase (mm) |
2673 |
|
Fuel Tank Capacity
(L) |
50 |
|
Minimum Turning
Radius (m) |
5.2 |
|
Ground Clearance
(mm) |
210* |
|
Boot Space (L) |
400 |
|
Engine & Transmission |
Descriptions |
|
Displacement (cc) |
1330cc |
|
Number of Cylinders |
4 Cylinder In-line |
|
Max. Engine Power |
115 kW (156 PS) @
5500 ± 100 RPM |
|
Max. Engine Torque |
254 Nm @ 1600 ± 100
RPM |
|
Transmission Type |
6 Speed Manual
Transmission / CVT |
|
Fuel Injection
System |
Gasoline Direct
Injection |
|
Tyre |
Descriptions |
|
Size |
215/60 R17 Alloy (XV, XV
Pre, XV Pre Option) 215/65 R16 Steel (XL) |
|
Spare Tyre |
R16 Steel^ |
|
Type |
Tubeless |
|
Brakes |
Descriptions |
|
Front |
Disc |
|
Rear |
Drum |
|
Suspension |
Descriptions |
|
Front |
McPherson Strut with Coil
Spring, Stabilizer Bar & Double Acting Shock
Absorber |
|
Rear |
Torsion Beam with
Coil Springs & Double Acting Shock Absorber |
Price -
Variants -
