The Nissan Kicks has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Soul doesn’t offer knee airbags.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Kicks has standard Rear Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Soul doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.
The Kicks SR has a standard Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Soul only offers a rear monitor.
The Kicks has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Soul’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kicks has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Kia charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning on the Soul.
Compared to metal, the Kicks’ plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Kia Soul has a metal gas tank.
The Kicks SV/SR has standard NissanConnect Services, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Soul doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Kicks and the Soul have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available daytime running lights and driver alert monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Nissan Kicks is safer than the Kia Soul:
|
|
Kicks |
Soul |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
139 |
142 |
| Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
1 inches |
| Abdominal Force |
172 lbs. |
259 lbs. |
| Hip Force |
347 lbs. |
490 lbs. |
|
|
Rear Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
318 |
422 |
| Spine Acceleration |
47 G’s |
73 G’s |
| Hip Force |
517 lbs. |
611 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
| Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
| HIC |
218 |
322 |
| Spine Acceleration |
30 G’s |
46 G’s |
| Hip Force |
535 lbs. |
1090 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, rear impact and roof-crush tests, its standard front crash prevention system, its “Good” rating in the new passenger-side small overlap crash test, and its available headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Kicks the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2019, a rating granted to only 192 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Soul has not been fully tested, yet.