The all new Kicks moves sharply upmarket. The previous Kicks, rebranded the Kicks Play, takes care of buyers unwilling to migrate to the pricey new Kicks.

After a long seven-year run, Nissan has renewed the compact Kicks nameplate in a bigger, more expensive format. With available all-wheel drive, the Kicks also replaces the now-discontinued Qashqai. With the availability of all-wheel drive, the Kicks migrates from the tall hatchback segment to the Crossover arena. Interestingly, the previous Kicks will return as the Kicks Play.

The styling reflects a new design vocabulary from Nissan. The so-called “V-Motion” grille, long a Nissan design flourish, has been replaced by a very tall, horizontal grille flanked by the type of multi-segment, Jack-O-Lantern type lighting first seen on the current Hyundai Tucson. The flanks are clean and a new look for Nissan. The rear styling is clean but the tailgate window is small. The driver faces a now ubiquitous wide computer tablet, with vehicle information facing the driver and infotainment over the dash centre stack. The dash itself is nicely shaped, as is the rest of the cabin. With large cupholders in the centre console and large door bins, cabin oddments storage is good. Rear seat legroom is tighter than expected. Cargo capacity is regularly-shaped and deep below the window line.

Engine size increases from 1.6L to 2L, with horsepower now 141, up from 122. The sole transmission on offer is a CVT. The previous beam rear axle has been replaced by a multi-link setup on all-wheel drive models.

Nissan seems to specialize in offering “just sufficient” power in their cars. The new Kicks has enough speed and is quiet when cruising but anything beyond modest acceleration reveals a distressing lack of refinement for what is now an expensive ($27,000 to $40,000) vehicle.

Steering is light and lacks feel but is accurate enough and holds its line on the highway. Like other Nissans, ride is reasonable over a single bump but loses its composure over a series of disturbances.

All-wheel drive is standard on SV Premium, SR and SR Premium trims and a $2000 option on the S and SV trims. All-wheel drive trims feature multi-link rear suspension in place of the beam axle holding up the rear or the car on front-wheel drive variants. Using all-wheel drive trims as a point of comparison, the base S, with forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, active cruise control, blind spot, rear cross traffic and lane departure warnings, L.E.D. headlights and a wireless version of the iOS-Android cellphone interface, is very well equipped. Moving up to the SV trim adds alloy wheels, deep tint glass, auto temperature control, remote start, leather wraps for the steering wheel and shift knob, a heated steering wheel two extra speakers and wireless cellphone charging, and is tremendous value. The SR model upgrade includes a panoramic sunroof for a tempting price. The SR Premium upgrade does not add anything of note.

Nissan has been abandoning its CVT transmission on their larger models but have retained in for their smaller cars, including the Kicks. The transmission often has a short life, sometimes expiring shortly after the powertrain warranty ends. Nissan has other issues related to faulty ball joints, premature exhaust failures as well as early expirations for components like door locks and air-conditioning compressorx. Leasing is recommended, especially because of the CVT failures which Nissan is unwilling to address.