2023 Nissan Kicks Review and Test Drive | Can it Conquer the Snow?

Welcome back to another video here guys. Today we're doing something a little different. We got dumped on last night. It's about minus three out today. So we decided today we're gonna take the Nissan Kicks out in the snow, put it through the paces, give it a little road test to help you guys determine if this is the right car for you. So if you're looking to buy an SUV, the Nissan Kicks might be on your list. It's a very inexpensive SUV. Nissan classifies it as a crossover and in my world it's more of a hatchback or a car. However, it does do well in the snow. You need to decide where you live and if you're thinking of buying this and you live in an environment where there is snow, certainly something to consider. If there's a lot of snow, maybe I would recommend going up to an SUV, something larger. So the Nissan Kicks power plan comes with a 1.6 four-cylinder engine which gives you about a hundred and twenty-two horsepower. Now the problem here is this vehicle is only front-wheel drive. You cannot get an all-wheel drive drivetrain. So if you have lots of snow, maybe going to a vehicle that's all-wheel drive will make a big difference. The other thing is snow tires will make a big difference. So right now we're doing this test right how the car comes from the factory. We're just testing it out with the regular all-season tires. Now if you want more traction and more control, more stopping distance, snow tires are definitely going to make a big difference. However, compared to some of the sedans, this car has a little higher ground clearance. So it does push well through the snow and the front-end torque does help with the snow. I would say if you are in an area where you get more than like five to six inches of snow, that's where this car is going to struggle. Once you hit that five inch mark, it's really going to be hard for it to push through that snow. So if that happens frequently, then yeah go up to something with more ground clearance or something all-wheel drive. But if you're in an area where it only snows maybe 10 to 15 percent of the times you're driving and it only snows like two to three inches, kind of like the area where we live in here in Niagara, Ontario, then yeah this car is going to do the job no problem. There's a few features that it has that is gonna make it better in the snow. The hill start assist will help you if you're going up steep hills when it's snowing, just helps you grab more traction. It has things like vehicle dynamic control, traction control, and things like that which is all gonna make it easier. Overall it's doing pretty well. We've had a couple slips, a couple fishtails, but that's kind of expected when you're in a front-wheel drive car with no snow tires. But you want to just also be cautious, take things slow, and make sure you know when you're in control of your car. So you don't want to be flying down the highway to get somewhere you need to go. If it's snowing or there's slippery conditions, definitely use caution and that's gonna go a long way no matter what what car you're in. But overall I do feel like the Kicks is really good in the snow. Like we took it out today, we went through some motions here, we went on some unplowed roads, and we didn't get stuck. So put in the comments if you guys have questions about purchasing this car in the snow. If you guys want to know what snow tires, I would recommend just asking the comments. But whatever car you buy, I recommend getting snow tires. That's a little PSA from Cars Unlocked. They definitely help with the stopping distance. All-wheel drive is gonna help when you're slipping and sliding, but snow tires will help you just come to a stop and brake a lot quicker and a lot smoother. So comment below. Did you guys learn something here today? Give this video a thumbs up if we helped you with your buying experience. And as always for more Nissan content, subscribe to our channel and we'll see you in the next video.