Compare the2025 Nissan KicksVS 2025 Jeep Compass

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 Jeep Compass 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 help 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 Compass 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 Compass 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 Compass doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

Both the Kicks and the Compass 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view 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 Jeep Compass:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

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 Compass:

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 Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 34 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Nissan vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Nissan 7 places higher in reliability than Jeep.

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

The Kicks has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Compass. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

The Kicks has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Compass doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Kicks stops much shorter than the Compass:

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 Compass Trailhawk’s standard 65 series tires.

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 Compass doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Kicks’ wheelbase is .8 inches longer than on the Compass (104.6 inches vs. 103.8 inches). The Kicks AWD’s wheelbase is 1.1 inches longer than on the Compass (104.9 inches vs. 103.8 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Kicks is .7 inches wider in the front and 1.1 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Compass.

The Kicks SR AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Compass Sport pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Kicks SR AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.6 seconds quicker than the Compass Trailhawk (28 seconds @ .59 average G’s vs. 29.6 seconds @ .53 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Kicks’ turning circle is .5 feet tighter than the Compass Trailhawk’s (34.8 feet vs. 35.3 feet). The Kicks’ turning circle is 1.5 feet tighter than the Compass 4x4 Sport/Latitude/Limited’s (34.8 feet vs. 36.3 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Kicks has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Compass (8.4 vs. 8.1 inches), allowing the Kicks to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Nissan Kicks may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 to 650 pounds less than the Jeep Compass.

The Kicks has .5 inches more front headroom, 1.5 inches more front legroom and .9 inches more rear hip room than the Compass.

The front step up height for the Kicks is .4 inches lower than the Compass (19” vs. 19.4”). The Kicks’ rear step up height is 1.7 inches lower than the Compass’ (19” vs. 20.7”).

The Kicks has a much larger cargo volume than the Compass with its rear seat up (30 vs. 27.2 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 Compass’ liftover is 31.1 inches.

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 Compass’ rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

The Kicks is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Compass doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.