Nissan India has been making headlines with its soon-to-be launched Kicks compact SUV in India. The Kicks comes in at a time when the Japanese stalwart aims to launch a fresh onslaught to gain a reasonable foothold in the Indian market. In contrast to the global version of the Kicks, the India spec model is designed for the sub continent and is bigger than the model being retailed abroad. Nissan has positioned the Kicks on the same platform used for the Terrano - it will, in fact, replace the latter in India. Auto Tech Review drove the Kicks to the Rann of Kutch to understand what Nissan is offering and here is what we made of it.
INTRODUCTION
To begin with, the Nissan Kicks is masculine, broad and bold to look at. That said, one cannot help but compare it with the other contenders in the segment. Doing so, we find out that Kicks is not only longer and wider than most of its competitors, but is also taller. Being built on the Duster’s platform, Nissan has moved away from any design similarities with Renault as seen earlier in the case of the Duster and Terrano. But Nissan has not just stopped at that; the car maker has also packed in many exciting new features for comfort and convenience. Safety technology is also one of the highlights on the new Nissan Kicks, and when we were testing out the compact SUV, we realised that it offers a lot more than its competitors in the segment.
PLATFORM, SUSPENSION & DRIVING DYNAMICS
The new Nissan Kicks has been underpinned on the M0 platform that also supports the Renault Duster and Nissan Terrano. The tough and rigid platform will also enable Nissan to keep prices in check due to heavy localisation of parts. Coming back to the platform, the Kicks in India features a longer wheelbase than its international version that has enabled Nissan to create more room inside the cabin. The overall length of the compact SUV measures 4,384 mm, while in terms of width and height, the Kicks stands at 1,813 mm and 1,656 mm respectively. The wheelbase of the Kicks on the M0 platform stands at 2,670 mm. The robust looking alloy wheels house 215/ 60 R-17 tyres. This has also enabled the SUV a good clearance of 210 mm.
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