Compare the2025 Nissan KicksVS 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
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 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Kicks are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

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 Outlander Sport doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Kicks has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Kicks SR has a standard Around View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Outlander Sport 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 Outlander Sport SE/SEL 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 Outlander Sport SE/SEL offers Rear Cross Traffic Alert.

The Kicks’ driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

The Kicks SV/SR has standard NissanConnect Services, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Outlander Sport 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 Outlander Sport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available all wheel drive.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Nissan Kicks is safer than the Outlander Sport:

	Kicks	Outlander Sport
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Restraints	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Steering Column Movement Rearward	1 cm	1 cm
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Femur Force R/L	.6/.6 kN	3.43/.93 kN
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	1%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Tibia index R/L	.55/.44	.68/.36

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 Outlander Sport is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

Warranty

The Kicks’ corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Outlander Sport’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

There are over 3 times as many Nissan dealers as there are Mitsubishi dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Kicks’ warranty.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Mitsubishi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 25 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mitsubishi is rated lower.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Kicks gets better mileage than the Outlander Sport:

			MPG
Kicks
	FWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/35 hwy
	AWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/34 hwy
Outlander Sport
	AWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	23 city/29 hwy
		2.4 DOHC 4-cyl.	23 city/28 hwy

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Kicks’ engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

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 Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Tires and Wheels

The Kicks S’ standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Outlander Sport S’ standard 70 series tires. The Kicks SR’s tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Outlander Sport ES/LE/SE/SEL’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Kicks SR has standard 19-inch wheels. The Outlander Sport’s 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 Outlander Sport doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

The Kicks SR AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Outlander Sport 4WD pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Kicks SR AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1 seconds quicker than the Outlander Sport SE (28 seconds @ .59 average G’s vs. 29 seconds @ .55 average G’s).

Chassis

The Nissan Kicks may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 50 to 300 pounds less than the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport.

Passenger Space

The Kicks has .3 inches more front headroom, 1.1 inches more front legroom, .3 inches more front hip room and .6 inches more rear headroom than the Outlander Sport.

Cargo Capacity

The Kicks has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Outlander Sport with its rear seat up (30 vs. 21.7 cubic feet). The Kicks has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Outlander Sport with its rear seat folded (60 vs. 49.5 cubic feet).

Ergonomics

The Kicks’ power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch. The Outlander Sport 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 Outlander Sport’s passenger windows don’t open or close automatically.

The Outlander Sport’s standard power locks don’t automatically lock the doors. The Kicks’ standard doors lock when a certain speed is reached. This is an important feature for occupant safety. Locked doors are proven to open less often in collisions, and they are also effective in preventing crime at traffic lights.

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 Outlander Sport SE/SEL offers FAST-Key.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Kicks has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Outlander Sport only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Kicks has standard extendable sun visors. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer extendable visors.

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 Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

To keep a safe, consistent following distance, the Kicks has a standard Intelligent Cruise Control, which alters the speed of the vehicle without driver intervention. This allows the driver to use cruise control more safely without constantly having to disengage it when approaching slower traffic. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer an adaptive cruise control.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Nissan Kicks SV/SR has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the front center console. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Recommendations

The Nissan Kicks outsold the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport by over four to one during 2023.

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