[DImPo]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Thank you for posting it.

As many mentioned, there seem to be some quarantine on Nissan kicks, as no major auto magazines have reviewed it yet. Being an enthusiasts' community, I recommend we take the lead in road-testing it.

Let me do my bit too.

I am also waiting to see the Nissan Kicks 1.3 Turbo MT & CVT review in this forum. Looking for a CSUV/Sedan in Rs.10-12 lac range. Shortlisted the Toyota Yaris, Honda City, Maruti Brezza and the S Cross. Have two minds on the Nissan Kicks. A full review will help me in my decision.

[Punatic]

Evinced interest in a test-drive on the Nissan website last night, and they promptly called me up this morning, Sunday and everything. Asked for my pincode and responded with "currently no dealer is operational in Pune" but they would be able to hook me up with a TD if I'd be willing to travel to Panvel...

Obviously not going to do that, not in these COVID days anyway, but still asked after the CVT. He was not sure if the "automatic" would be available right away because "there had been some delays at the Chennai plant" but the dealer would know about the availability better. Not contacting the dealer myself, but Mumbai folks might want to enquire.

Too bad, was really looking forward to trying out before choosing something else!

[veyron999]

Had gone to TD the BS6 Kicks at Speed Nissan, Chandigarh.
The showroom experience was by far the worst we've ever had. On walking in, it seemed that they never get customers, and were completely unprepared. There's still a registered BS4 Kicks(for sale) inside the showroom, with a sad exterior finish (not maintained).
A test drive vehicle was available for the BS6 1.3L petrol manual. The condition of the car was utterly disgusting from inside. Torn paper mats over the rubber mats, dust on the dashboard, and every fathomable place inside the cabin. On top of that, the fuel warning light was on, and the indicator showed no fuel left. The representative was confident it would complete the TD route
(by now)Unsurprisingly, the TD route was pre-decided, and a small round the block, where you cannot even shift to 4th gear. The road doesn't even have varying terrain, or heck even a speed breaker to test how the car handles.
On requesting a longer route, the SA went into the showroom to seek permission from the GM, who apparently denied, and asked us to take another round the block, to which we responded by sitting in our Octavia and driving away thoroughly disappointed.

With the limited time I had with the car, here's what I could notice:
- The engine is a bomb! It pushed you into your seats on hard acceleration. It seemed quite refined too.
- Gear shifts were rubbery.
- The AC seems to be very effective. Cooled down the cabin in no time at all.
- The driver seat is a bit high, and needs a bit of getting used to, I presume. The footwell seemed narrow, and the central console fouled with my left leg.
- Space at the rear was good.
- The speedo and MID felt basic at best.

From what I've read, the USP of the Kicks is the way it drives, which sadly I couldn't experience because of the short TD.

On a side note, on searching Nissan India for dealers near me, Speed Nissan doesn't even show up.
Dealers like these are literally the last nail in the coffin for Nissan, if things remain the same.

[W.A.G.7]

Originally Posted by dhruvritzed

14.I drove the XV Pre version which is 2nd from base and the versions above it mainly have leather seats and 360 degree camera as differentiators.
15.The variant naming is really confusing but 14.83 lacs on road delhi seemed a bit high for this version, both versions above this were 16+ on road, again on the higher side.

So, this can be considered as the mid version with a manual transmission and that costs 14.83 L on road? They should know better by now and if this is what they are going to price it (with the higher versions maybe touching 16L, 17L on road) this car is dead on arrival. I seriously feel sorry for what is such a good car, but the parent company is hell bent on killing it right away. I will wait for the official review on Team Bhp, but I have a feeling that this car is already out of the competition. I wouldn't trust YouTube videos anymore; literally any wannabe reviewer takes a Go-pro and records a video calling it a review. Speaking of the car, overall, it looks good enough, let's wait for the official review.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

So, this can be considered as the mid version with a manual transmission and that costs 14.83 L on road? They should know better by now and if this is what they are going to price it (with the higher versions maybe touching 16L, 17L on road) this car is dead on arrival. I seriously feel sorry for what is such a good car, but the parent company is hell bent on killing it right away. I will wait for the official review on Team Bhp, but I have a feeling that this car is already out of the competition. I wouldn't trust YouTube videos anymore; literally any wannabe reviewer takes a Go-pro and records a video calling it a review. Speaking of the car, overall, it looks good enough, let's wait for the official review.

If you look at the positioning and the pricing the trend is to price and position around the market leaders which is indisputably Seltos and Hyundai. The rest of the players either price it higher (Jeep, Skoda) or lower (Hector). They are simply not interested in investing what it takes to take market share away from the incumbents. This is due to the fact that they have squandered whatever goodwill the brand had by taking people for a ride by misusing the brand appreciation. Both Fiat and Skoda are classic example of this. Remember the heights of the Fiat Uno and the Skoda Octavia?

Nissan too falls in this bracket. The Micra was reasonable well recieved but what followed then was a mismash of products that were neither here nor there. Combine that with a failed service operation and the drama with Hover Automotive. The Datsun Go was another blot on the brand. Simply bringing the most powerful engine in it's class is not going to bring them the volumes they want and without projection of volumes they simply can't price it lower. I can't help but admire the vision of Hyundai and KIA management in taking the fight to Maruti so effectively.

It's difficult to see Kicks mount an effective challenge in this segment. The impending launch of the 1.5L SCross is going to be yet another blow.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[NFS2024]

Originally Posted by veyron999

Had gone to TD the BS6 Kicks at Speed Nissan, Chandigarh.
The showroom experience was by far the worst we've ever had. On walking in, it seemed that they never get customers, and were completely unprepared.

This reminded me of my visit to a Fiat showroom in 2013 when I bought my Punto. Deserted showroom, dirty car, no Sales person to attend to. Will never forget the Delivery experience (negative) either.

You need to sell a complete experience to a customer and its not just about a product with 150 PS or whatever power. Customers want holistic and good experiences pre delivery and post delivery as well. They are putting in their hard earned money. Unless Nissan understands this and significantly improves customer experience, they or any other manufacturer will not be able to sell.

[S.Shyam]

Finally got a test drive of the Manual Turbo XV Premium (O) today!

Some points i noticed -

The top end manual look amazing from inside and outside, far better than what it does in the youtube reviews. I repeatedly asked the SA if except the leather seats and leather on door/dash anything else is different on the CVT version - he said no its same but for these tidbits (can be upgraded IMO) (ofcourse fewer airbags, no 360 AVM also)

Ride Quality is definitely NOT as good as its sibling from Renault - Duster, but decent on Bangalore roads.

2nd and 3rd gear are enough for city and you don't feel the need to upshift even when you touch 80kmph (it started beeping on OLD Madras road) and I wasn't revving very high - there was plenty of scope.

Some people have commented that it feels jittery/vibrates in 1st gear. It does. but SA then told me there is Auto Off switch on the right side which if enabled, causes the car to go OFF when put in neutral and completely stopped. it starts the engine automatically when you press the clutch - but this starting mechanism probably causes the vibration in 1st gear - with practice probably we can avoid that. Or disable it

Interior quality was very good and NVH levels were negligible. I could talk to my wife in the rear seat without any trouble. AC is good - not noisy.

Lastly - the performance!
Amazing engine. Shoots off like a bullet on 2/3 gear. You can easily do 60 on 2nd gear and 80 plus on 3rd. when I hit 80, I immediately slowed down so in the 25min test ride I could never go to 4th gear.
Steering was slightly heavier compared to , say , Creta/Seltos but gives a lot of confidence even on slow speeds

I am waiting for the CVT as most of our use will be within the city of Bangalore. Unfortunately the SA had no clue when it would be available, but was pushing me to book it so I can get it early. Since i have already booked and Creta IVT SX and was waiting for this, iIsaid didnt want to book until you get me a TD first of CVT



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[Highh5]

SO, it looks to be true. CVT launch is only on paper, there are no dispatches to dealerships not even Test drive vehicle even after two months of launch. With Magnite launch pushed to next year, they should have atleast gave a proper re launch to Nissan Kicks.

It's like digging their own grave, with no introduction of new models and pseudo-launch of CVT variant.

[starke]

Originally Posted by Highh5

SO, it looks to be true. CVT launch is only on paper, there are no dispatches to dealerships not even Test drive vehicle even after two months of launch. With Magnite launch pushed to next year, they should have atleast gave a proper re launch to Nissan Kicks.

It's like digging their own grave, with no introduction of new models and pseudo-launch of CVT variant.

Well, CVT is coming but not soon. As I was also following up for a TD, I got some insider information that the CVT components got stuck midway and the Chennai plant shutdown has caused further delay. The media drive is also delayed due to the same reason it seems.

[jkmmenon]

I did a TD on the manual 1.3 Turbo today.
And yes, like many have already mentioned, Nissan showroom is a very deserted place (nothing to do with corona, there was ample staff, just that they were not motivated enough) where you have to go to people asking what you are looking for.
The engine is absolutely strong. The power and torque are evident at a very low band and the car practically shoots ahead in Turbo.
The braking feels very good and the car is really planted on the road and gives you that sense of confidence.
Features like idle start/stop and remote ignition are available in manual variants as well.
Steering was responsive, but slightly on the heavier side.
I felt the turning radius also was awesome for this size of a car.
360 degree camera and the infotainment are good, but not as good as the one I saw in the Seltos or Creta.
Interiors felt classy with the coffee brown and black combo, but the plastic quality of non-stitched areas felt bad.
The glove box is cooled, but I found it impractical as it is small and deep.
The quality of buttons is just average and cannot be compared to any other car in this segment.
The boot space felt more than that in Harrier/Creta/Seltos, though in paper, it was less (400 L).
The price is where things get very interesting and you think of the pros and cons of the features provided by competitors. I feel the pricing is truly aggressive. But in reality, most of the difference is due to the lack of features in the top trim compared to competition. They dont even have the option of a curtain airbag.
The salesman told me that the CVT will reach by 15th August and he will arrange for a TD, but the fact that they were ready to provide discount for a product that has not even hit the roads was testimony to the situation they are in.
I guess the question boils down to the confidence level of how long will Nissan-Datsun be staying in the market. Renault is doing ok. But Nissan just dont have the numbers or range of products to attract potential buyers. And in a price bracket where people are practically counting features offered in cars, a safety heavy vehicle riding on the USP of the engine in this segment might just not cut it.

[Venkatesh]

Nissan Kicks 1.3 turbo-petrol first drive review by Autocar India





https://www.autocarindia.com/car-rev...t-drive-418197

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Nissan Kicks 1.3 turbo-petrol first drive review by Autocar India

So, going by the Autocar review, the drive experience is somewhat disappointing. I had high hopes for this car and engine! A 0-100 time of nearly 12 seconds makes it slower than the Seltos, Creta, Vento, Rapid, and a whole host of other Turbopetrol cars and even NA engine'd cars like the City.

The traction control system seems to be the main culprit. Perhaps the CVT version will have a different configuration that makes it faster (Although this is unlikely as CVTs are generally slower than their manual siblings) Also not encouraging is the "somewhat heavy clutch", a notchy gearbox and some turbo lag.

[RaceHorse]

Just got a message from Vibrant Nissan Gachibowli.

"Most awaited SUV Automatic Nissan Kicks CVT is available for test drive at Gachibowli Showroom."
For test drive appointment please call.

I am scared to do test drive, as the vehicle is just arrived, there might be some rush for test drives.

Anyone interested can visit showroom and update us about your findings.

[jetsetgo08]

Originally Posted by RaceHorse

I am scared to do test drive, as the vehicle is just arrived, there might be some rush for test drives.

People in Hyderabad are busy with the diesel Seltos's and Creta's, the last I know they aren't even aware about a brand called Nissan.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

So, going by the Autocar review, the drive experience is somewhat disappointing. I had high hopes for this car and engine! A 0-100 time of nearly 12 seconds makes it slower than the Seltos, Creta, Vento, Rapid, and a whole host of other Turbopetrol cars and even NA engine'd cars like the City.

The traction control system seems to be the main culprit. Perhaps the CVT version will have a different configuration that makes it faster (Although this is unlikely as CVTs are generally slower than their manual siblings) Also not encouraging is the "somewhat heavy clutch", a notchy gearbox and some turbo lag.

I have to say it’s a wired review. We have a bunch of Youtubers (all of them influencers in their own eyes) calling the Turbo engine a stonker, even better than the Korean siblings. Now, you have Autocars calling it (overall) inferior to the Koreans; Honestly, quite slow also, even with the caveats.

Makes me feel either the Youtubers by have no idea what they are talking about, or Autocar’s review is prejudiced. Not sure whether there is another way to look at it!