Compare the2026 Hyundai VenueVS 2025 Nissan Kicks Play

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

Safety

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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 Venue are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Kicks Play doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Venue Limited has a standard Blue Link, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Kicks Play doesn’t offer a GPS response system, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Venue and the Kicks Play have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Hyundai Venue is safer than the Nissan Kicks Play:

	Venue	Kicks Play
	Driver
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	32%	32%
Neck Stress	270 lbs.	374 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	3 Stars
HIC	280	326
Neck Injury Risk	48%	79%
Neck Stress	206 lbs.	392 lbs.
Neck Compression	70 lbs.	138 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	152/207 lbs.	370/209 lbs.

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

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 Hyundai Venue is safer than the Nissan Kicks Play:

	Venue	Kicks Play
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	275 lbs.	347 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	223	318
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	12 inches

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

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Venue is 1.2% less likely to roll over than the Kicks Play.

Warranty

The Venue comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Kicks Play’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Venue 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Nissan covers the Kicks Play. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Kicks Play ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Venue’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Kicks Play’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 2 places higher in reliability than Nissan.

Engine

As tested in Motor Trend the Hyundai Venue is faster than the Nissan Kicks Play:

	Venue	Kicks Play
Zero to 30 MPH	3.1 sec	3.7 sec
Zero to 60 MPH	8.8 sec	10.5 sec
Zero to 80 MPH	16 sec	19.3 sec
Passing 45 to 65 MPH	4.9 sec	5.8 sec
Quarter Mile	16.8 sec	18 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	82.1 MPH	77.5 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

The Venue has 1.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Kicks Play (11.9 vs. 10.8 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Brakes and Stopping

The Venue stops much shorter than the Kicks Play:

	Venue	Kicks Play
60 to 0 MPH	112 feet	133 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	138 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

The Venue SEL’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Kicks Play’s 60 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Venue SEL has standard 17-inch wheels. The Kicks Play’s largest wheels are only 16-inches.

The Hyundai Venue’s wheels have 5 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Nissan Kicks Play only has 4 wheel lugs per wheel.

Suspension and Handling

The Venue has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Kicks Play’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Venue SEL handles at .81 G’s, while the Kicks Play pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Venue SEL executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Kicks Play (28.6 seconds @ .58 average G’s vs. 29.2 seconds @ .55 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Venue’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the Kicks Play’s (33.2 feet vs. 34.2 feet).

Chassis

The Venue is 10 inches shorter than the Kicks Play, making the Venue easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Hyundai Venue amounts to more than styling. The Venue has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .34 Cd. That is lower than the Kicks Play (.334 to .344). A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Venue get better fuel mileage.

Passenger Space

The Venue has 1.2 inches more front hip room, .9 inches more front shoulder room, .1 inches more rear headroom, .8 inches more rear legroom and .5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Kicks Play.

Ergonomics

The Venue SEL has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Kicks Play doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The power windows standard on both the Venue and the Kicks Play have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Venue is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Kicks Play prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Venue’s power window, power lock and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Kicks Play’s power window (except driver window) and power lock switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

In addition to a parabolic reflector, optical-grade lenses in the Venue’s projector headlights precisely focus the beam, providing more even illumination of the road for better visibility and a sharp cut-off that prevents blinding oncoming drivers. The sharp cutoff allows the use of a stronger light. The Kicks Play’s uses a simple reflector to direct its standard headlights.

To shield the driver’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side window, the Venue has a standard extendable sun visor. The Kicks Play doesn’t offer extendable visors.

The Venue SEL’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. The Kicks Play doesn’t offer heated side mirrors.

The Venue SEL has standard heated front seats, which keep the driver and front passenger extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated seats aren’t available in the Kicks Play.

The Venue SEL’s standard automatic temperature control maintains the temperature you set, automatically controlling fan speed, vents and temperature to maintain a consistent, comfortable environment. The Kicks Play doesn’t offer automatic air conditioning.

To direct the driver from any location to a given street address, a GPS navigation system is standard on the Venue Limited. The Venue’s navigation system also has a real-time traffic update feature that offers alternative routes to automatically bypass traffic problems. (Service not available in all areas.) The Kicks Play doesn’t offer a navigation system.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Hyundai Venue SEL has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the front center console. The Kicks Play doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Hyundai Venue and the Nissan Kicks Play, based on reliability, safety and performance.

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