2027 Nissan Kicks Rock Creek Adds Light Off-Road Capability

• What's new: The 2027 Kicks family adds a new Rock Creek package with standard AWD, an Off-Road drive mode and rugged styling.
• Why it matters: At $30,385, Rock Creek gives buyers more capability for snow, gravel roads and light trails without stepping up to a larger SUV.
• Edmunds says: The Rock Creek adds useful capability and distinctive looks, but it doesn't address the Kicks' biggest weakness.

Rock Creek also bundles features that could prove useful even if the closest it gets to a trail is a snowy driveway. Heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, heated mirrors and rear heater ducts are included, along with ambient interior lighting, rear automatic braking and a surround-view camera system.

The regular Kicks already has some strong everyday qualities to add to that. The front seats are comfortable, the controls are straightforward, and the boxy shape is helpful for visibility and practicality. Cargo capacity reaches 30 cubic feet behind the rear seats, giving the little Nissan useful space for its footprint.

This is not a quicker Kicks

The Rock Creek retains the Kicks' 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, rated at 141 horsepower. That means the new trim doesn't solve one of our biggest complaints about the model: acceleration. In testing, a Kicks needed 10.3 seconds to reach 60 mph, making it the slowest vehicle in its class at the time.

The broader 2027 Kicks lineup starts at $24,335 including destination, while AWD models start at $25,835. The new Rock Creek AWD costs $30,385, or $2,350 more than the SV AWD on which it is based. For buyers spending around $30,000, the decision is more interesting: The Rock Creek brings the extra bad-weather and light-trail hardware, while the $30,335 SR AWD remains the road-focused alternative and offers ProPilot Assist.

The 2027 Kicks reaches dealerships later this summer.