Compare the2025 Nissan KicksVS 2025 Kia Seltos

Safety
Warranty
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Kicks have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Kia Seltos doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

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 Seltos doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Kicks SR offers an optional front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Seltos doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

With its standard Autonomous Emergency Braking, the Nissan Kicks is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Kia Seltos, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

	Kicks	Seltos
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
	Crossing Child - DAY
12 MPH	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
25 MPH	AVOIDED	-20 MPH
	Crossing Adult - NIGHT
12 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	-1 MPH
12 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
25 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	-13 MPH
25 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	-3 MPH
	Parallel Adult - NIGHT
25 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
25 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
37 MPH Brights	-27 MPH	-21 MPH
Warning Issued-Brights	2.4 sec	1.4 sec
37 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	-5 MPH
Warning Issued-Low beams	1.3 sec	.3 sec

The Kicks SR has a standard Around View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Seltos only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.

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. Only the Seltos S/EX/X-Line/SX offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kicks has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Seltos S/EX/X-Line/SX offers Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning.

Both the Kicks and the Seltos have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, driver alert monitors and available all wheel drive.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Nissan Kicks is much safer than the Seltos:

	Kicks	Seltos
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Structure	GOOD	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	158	234
Torso	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	1.02 in	1.42 in
Shoulder Force	245 lbs.	290 lbs.
Torso Deflection Rate	6 MPH	8 MPH
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	POOR
Pelvis Force	915 lbs.	1383 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	182	258
Torso	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Shoulder Deflection	1.5 in	2.17 in
Shoulder Force	268 lbs.	335 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	1.34 in	2.01 in
Torso Deflection Rate	6 MPH	14 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	669 lbs.	759 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

The Nissan Kicks achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Seltos is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

Warranty

The Kicks’ 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Seltos runs out after 100,000 miles.

Nissan pays for scheduled maintenance on the Kicks for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Nissan will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance (up to 3 visits). Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Seltos.

There are over 36 percent more Nissan dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Kicks’ warranty.

Engine

The Kicks’ 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 8 lbs.-ft. more torque (140 vs. 132) than the Seltos’ standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Kicks gets better mileage than the Seltos:

			MPG
Kicks
	FWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/35 hwy
	AWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/34 hwy
Seltos
	FWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/34 hwy
	AWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/31 hwy
		1.6 turbo 4-cyl.	24 city/27 hwy

The Kicks has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Seltos doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Kicks’ standard brake rotors are larger than those on the Seltos:

	Kicks	Seltos
Front Rotors	11.6 inches	11 inches
Rear Rotors	11 inches	10.3 inches

In an emergency stopping situation, many drivers don’t press the brakes with enough force to stop the vehicle in the shortest distance. The Kicks has a standard Brake Assist to detect emergency braking situations (by how hard and how quickly the brake pedal is pressed) and then automatically apply maximum braking immediately in order to help prevent a collision. The Seltos doesn’t offer a brake assist feature.

Tires and Wheels

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Kicks SR has standard 19-inch wheels. The Seltos’ largest wheels are only 18-inches.

The Kicks has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Seltos doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

The Kicks has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Kicks flat and controlled during cornering. The Seltos 4x2 suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Kicks’ wheelbase is 1.1 inches longer than on the Seltos (104.6 inches vs. 103.5 inches).

The Kicks SR AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Seltos S pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Kicks SR AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Seltos S (28 seconds @ .59 average G’s vs. 28.8 seconds @ .56 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Kicks has a 1.1 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Seltos (8.4 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the Kicks to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Passenger Space

The Kicks has 1.3 inches more front legroom and .1 inches more rear headroom than the Seltos.

Cargo Capacity

The Kicks has a much larger cargo volume than the Seltos with its rear seat up (30 vs. 26.6 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Kicks easier. The Kicks’ cargo hatch lift-over height is 27.9 inches, while the Seltos’ liftover is 29.4 inches.

Ergonomics

The Kicks’ power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch. The Seltos has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

The Kicks’ front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Seltos’ standard power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. Only its driver’s window opens automatically.

The Kicks has a standard Push Button Start that allows you to start the engine without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Only the Seltos S/EX/X-Line/SX offers a Smart Key.

The Kicks’ standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Seltos’ manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Kicks SR’s optional wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

The Kicks’ LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the Seltos’ standard projector halogen headlights and light instantly. LED lights also last over twenty times longer than halogen.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Kicks’ headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Seltos’ headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Poor.”

On extremely cold winter days, the Kicks SR’s optional heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The Seltos doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

Recommendations

The Nissan Kicks outsold the Kia Seltos by 11% during 2023.

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