Unnamed Automotive Podcast · Unnamed Automotive Podcast

Episode 428: 2026 Nissan Kicks

·49 min·3 clips

The previous Nissan Kicks sold well over 100,000 units across Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.

Sami Haj Asad and Benjamin Hunting start with the familiar give-and-take that sets the pace. They joke, tease, and find their rhythm before the car talk takes over. The Nissan Kicks becomes the main subject. The review leans less on first-glance style and more on how the vehicle is put together and how it behaves in daily use. One of the main complaints is the dashboard design. Nissan has split the display into pieces, with a color infotainment screen on one side and a separate cluster treatment on the other. The result feels unusual enough to draw attention for the wrong reasons. The speed readout looks deliberately old-school, almost like a small LED alarm clock. Around it sits a lot of unused black space, which makes the whole arrangement feel even stranger. The hosts do not call that a fatal flaw, but they do question the decision. They then move into a more practical problem. When switching units for Canadian and U.S. writing, the car does not update everything consistently. Some temperature and trip-readout behavior changes, but the core speed and odometer display stay stubbornly in kilometers. That inconsistency is irritating because a unit switch should affect the whole dashboard, not just selected menus. The issue becomes especially obvious when photographing the vehicle for different markets. The hosts explain that it forced an awkward camera angle to hide the mismatched units. A small UI bug turns into a broader critique of how complete the interface really is. Their tone stays dry rather than dramatic. They are not outraged, but they are clearly unconvinced by the execution. The episode keeps circling back to the gap between what the Kicks seems to be trying to do and what the interface actually lets it accomplish. Even when the conversation drifts, the practical judgment stays front and center. The car is treated as a product that has to work for people, not just in marketing copy. The result is a review that feels lived-in, skeptical, and specific. It uses the Kicks to talk about design choices that look deliberate until you have to live with them. The hosts keep their focus on whether those choices help or get in the way of real ownership. By the end, the episode makes its point through observation rather than hype. It leaves the listener with a clear sense of what bothers the hosts and why that matters. The review feels like two car people thinking out loud until the verdict sharpens. That is the episode's strength. It does not sell the Kicks. It examines it.

As heard by us

A Nissan Kicks discussion that gets most interesting when the dashboard stops cooperating.

This Nissan Kicks review keeps its attention on the dashboard, and that is where the real argument sits. Sami Haj Asad and Benjamin Hunting look past first impressions to ask how the cabin holds up once the novelty fades.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Hear why a small Nissan crossover can be more annoying than it should be.

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