Redesigned 2025 Nissan Kicks gets more power, optional AWD

The 2025 Kicks is growing up, Nissan announced Friday. Gaining more interior room, more horsepower and most critically, all-wheel drive, Nissan's smallest U.S.-market crossover has formally graduated from the class of hatchbacks-on-stilts to the ranks of "proper" crossovers, whatever that means. 

As you can probably see from the photos, this is no mere refresh. The new Kicks was redesigned from the ground up with more interior passenger and cargo room to go with its upgraded powertrain, but fans of the little crossover's diminutive form factor need not fret; while it did grow in virtually every dimension, it did so with restraint. The new Kicks is just under three inches longer, less than an inch wider and virtually the same height as the model it replaces. This translates to more than four more cubic feet of cargo space in front-wheel drive models. The AWD system intrudes into the cargo area, costing models so equipped approximately six cubic feet of cargo space. 

Regardless how you equip it, it's heavier — and by nearly 300 pounds across the board. The optional AWD adds another ~190 pounds. To make up for the added mass, the Kicks gets a larger engine with more power and torque. A 2.0-liter, naturally aspirated four-cylinder replaces the old 1.6. It makes 141 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque, up 19 horses and 26 lb-ft over the smaller engine it replaced. That's an almost 16% bump in power for a 13% increase in base curb weight in the FWD Kicks — a reasonable trade-off. The picture isn't so pretty for AWD models. 

The redesign makes the Kicks look more SUV-like on the exterior and offers more practicality inside, Nissan says. The center console was designed around holding a 30-ounce coffee tumbler, while the door inserts can hold a 32-ounce Yeti. Both rows of seats have been upgraded to Nissan's "Zero Gravity" design for this generation. All Kicks models come with two screens; the standard driver display and infotainment screens measures 7 inches diagonally; the SR gets 12.3-inch units for both, and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are available on upgraded units. 

All Kicks models will ship with Nissan's updated safety suite, which includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, rear automatic braking, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, high beam assist and adaptive cruise control. The SR model gets an upgrade to Nissan's ProPilot Assist highway driving suite, which provides light-touch assisted highway driving. 

Nissan says the new Kicks will go on sale this summer in the U.S. and Canada; look for full pricing details as we get closer to its on-sale date.