Nissan Kicks vs Dacia Duster

With a striking exterior appearance and a surprisingly roomy cabin, the Nissan Kicks is a smart small SUV with a functional side. Its powertrain leaves us craving, particularly when driving at highway speeds, but as a city-focused driver, the Kicks is, um, a kick. Standard gear is generous and comprises driver-assistance hallmarks and famous infotainment techs such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Nissan also gives loads of possibilities for personalization via a bright color palette and many choices and assistants. One thing that’s missing that may increase the eyebrows of SUV customers is all-wheel drive, but this SUV’s urban focus places more stress on fuel efficiency than off-road skill.

The Dacia Duster is a simplistic small SUV with pretty strong appearances and a roomy, if spartan, interior. It’s an excellent option if you have a stringent budget and need fuss-free family transportation. At entry-level, the Duster is the fork and knife of the automotive world – it’s rather straightforward to receive your head around. It’s considerably more affordable than any likewise valued SUV option but that’s because you hardly get any accessories as standard – there’s no radio or air-conditioning in the Introduction model.

Comfort

The model you want is the Comfort (leaping the spartan Essential variant) and then you get a well-equipped Duster for a still-reasonable volume of money. Certainly, there are still loads of solid, scratchy synthetics dotted about the cabin, but at least you get some flashy chrome trims, more supportive front seats, and a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with built-in sat-nav, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Not bad for such an affordable SUV.

Interior styling is less popular than the exterior layout of the Kicks, but it is well-built, seems grown-up, and has a user-friendly interior. An adult-sized rear seat suggests it can drag people and cargo without the crowded atmosphere one might encounter in competitors such as the C-HR. Dashes of color everywhere in the cabin do an excellent work of dividing up the boredom of what would differently be an all-black interior.

Size

Notwithstanding its diminutive size, the Kicks surprised us with its effects in our freight tests, meeting and overcoming some bigger competitors. We achieved to hang 19 of our carry-on cases with the rear seats collapsed. Small-item storage is at a premium in the baggage area and the back seat, but front-seat residents won’t notice the pinch gratitude to massive door pockets and a big glovebox.

The new dash seems contemporary and simply elegant, and it’s well-assembled. Surely, none of it is soft-touch plastics, but that just appends to the sense of worthy value. It still seems stronger than some of the low-cost competition. The switchgear and air-con controls work finely enough. You have to go to the third trim level before receiving a leather-wrapped steering wheel though. Glance around the cabin and you also see other simplistic, cost-saving resolutions.

Headlight

The headlight leveling functions by an old-school cable, not by an electric motor. Likewise for the air recirculation lever. The middle rear seatbelt is attached from the roof, so the seat-back doesn’t require strengthening. No rear armrest either. The driver’s seat height adjusts but not the passenger’s. The dash has high-mounted drains, and there are five of them so you can intend a pair between the front seats towards the back, sparing Dacia from placing rear outlets.

With a shot of a glimpse at the Nissan Kicks exterior, you cannot avoid the atmosphere that it displays by its attitude. The brilliant LED projector headlamps accompanying with DRLs fascinate your eyes and you won’t be able to catch your eyes off. While the brave Nissan trademark V-motion grille combines a futuristic impression, the floating roof rails in combination with the boomerang tail Lamps intensify the SUV’s exterior.

At the front, the exterior of the headlight clusters has been improved, while the headlights themselves have been pushed closer to the parallel edges of the front end to accentuate the Duster’s width. There’s a fresh grille, while the bottom of the car’s windscreen has been carried forward by 100mm and the screen itself is now more steeply collected (or less upright) to provide the impression that there’s more extent in the cabin.

Every Kicks model is powered by a 122-hp four-cylinder engine that produces sufficient but far from exciting acceleration. A continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) manages to change services and pushes the front wheels; an all-wheel drive is not given. If the comfortable 9.7-second run from zero to 60 mph performs the Kicks appear slow, that’s because it is. Nevertheless, the test results we listed are only half the story.

Active

Throughout town, it seems plenty active so long as you’re ready to rev the engine. The Kicks is quick and more fun to throw around than some bigger SUVs, but it’s not specifically a thrilling drive on a twisty street. The suspension system is tuned more for comfort, and it presented a well-cushioned drive even over the pitted and crumbling streets around our facilities. The steering is honest and correct, but there’s precious small feedback that gets up from the street to the driver’s hands.

The 1.5-liter dCi diesel engine is taken over from the old Duster, but Dacia has earned a few tweaks to give it more powerful and effective than before. There’s a simple 5bhp hike above the old diesel, with the fresh unit delivering 113bhp. An overboost capacity produces a torque rise, while an AdBlue system has cut emissions. The acceleration would be best defined as enough, with the Duster diesel 4×2 hitting 62mph in 10.5 seconds or 12.1 seconds in the 4×4. The highest speeds are 111mph and 108mph individually. The 4×4’s short gearing can deliver the Duster hard to drive sleekly. A new 1.3-litre TCe petrol unit with either 130PS or 150PS is also now available.

Speed

The higher-powered model races from 0-62mph in 10.4 seconds, and performs the Duster handle even more grown-up, providing the SUV the clout to catch on models running several thousand measures more. For those uninterested in additional power, there’s the entry-level 1.0-liter 100PS petrol engine that appeared with Access, Essential, and Comfort trim levels. Dacia has got an exciting start in giving a 1.0-liter 100PS turbo three-cylinder Bi-Fuel engine, that can go on either petrol or LPG. The aim is to produce lower emissions, increased fuel consumption, and an improvement in series.

The Kicks has gained great EPA fuel-economy grades; in our 75-mph real-world highway fuel-economy examination, it drank fuel more like an economy vehicle than an SUV. Its 37-mpg result is tied with the Toyota C-HR. Notwithstanding its heavenly result in our analysis, the small 10.8-gallon fuel tank abbreviates its cruising range.

If you’re traveling long distances or your commute to work includes motorways and double carriageways, the Dacia Duster diesel is the most suitable option. A figure of 57.9mpg is strongly effective for an SUV, and although it falls to 51.3mpg in the 4×4 variant, it remains an efficient statement. Nevertheless, emissions do undergo if you opt for the 4×4; 147g/km versus 128g/km for the 150PS 4×2 version.

Nissan presents a multitude of standard driver-assistance technology, and automated emergency braking is standard over the range. The Kicks traveled through the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s crash tests, earning a Top Safety Pick selection but missing the Top Safety Pick+ award by two tests. It also received a four-star class from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Essential safety highlights comprise:

•  Standard automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection
•  Standard lane-departure warning
•  Available adaptive cruise control

With the budget, the price gets one or two compromises, but safety is something many customers will be unwilling to surrender. In an age when many vehicles appear to take a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, the new Dacia Duster can only muster three stars. Safety accessories such as autonomous emergency braking and lane-keeping assist simply aren’t available, while blind-spot monitoring is only allowed on the top-spec Prestige model.