2018 Nissan Kicks Bags IIHS’s Top Safety Pick Award

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Nissan’s new crossover SUV, Kicks, which underwent a series of crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety earned the Top Safety Pick award.

According to the IIHS, the new crossover achieved a ‘good’ score in most of the crash tests except for the passenger-side small overlap frontal crash test, testing the level of impact tolerance of the car after hitting a stationary object, where the SUV earned an ‘acceptable l’ score.

However, on the bright side, the vehicle achieved flying colours with a ‘superior’ score for its standard automatic emergency braking system. The halogen headlamps on the SUV’s basic offering attracted a ‘poor’ score while the LED headlamps on the higher variants achieved an ‘acceptable’ score.

These tests were conducted on the 2018 Kicks considering that the company has not yet detailed about its 2019 model year specifications.

On the inside, the Kicks sports a seven-inch touchscreen display enabled with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as optional. The higher variants of the model also get a Bose personal plus audio system with 8 speakers including Bose Ultranearfield driver headrest speakers.

Safety assists on the car include an automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning, blind spot warning and rear cross driving alert. According to the company, the car delivers 15 kmpl on the highway and 13 kmpl in the city.

The 2018 Kicks’ 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine is capable of producing 125 bhp of power and 155 Nm of torque. The crossover SUV also possesses the Electronic Brake Force Distribution which helps in efficient braking in short distance.

Apart from the Kicks, the Nissan’s popular sedan Sentra, which also underwent the safety tests at the IIHS, scored poorly for its halogen headlights. However, the car scored well pertaining to its automatic emergency braking system which is standard in all its models.