Compare the2025 Nissan KicksVS 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale

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 Alfa Romeo Tonale 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 Tonale doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 Tonale doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Both the Kicks and the Tonale have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger 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.

Nissan’s powertrain warranty covers the Kicks 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Alfa Romeo covers the Tonale. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Tonale ends after only 4 years or 50,000 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). Alfa Romeo doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Tonale.

There are almost 10 times as many Nissan dealers as there are Alfa Romeo dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Kicks’ warranty.

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 Alfa Romeo vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 60 more problems per 100 vehicles, Alfa Romeo is rated below average.

On the EPA test cycle the Kicks gets better mileage than the Tonale running its gasoline engine:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Nissan Kicks uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Tonale requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Nissan Kicks higher (6 out of 10) than the Alfa Romeo Tonale (5 to 6). This means the Kicks produces up to 6.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Tonale every 15,000 miles.

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 Tonale doesn’t offer a CVT.

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 Tonale doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Kicks offers an optional space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Tonale; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

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

The Kicks SR AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Tonale Veloce pulls only .83 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Kicks’ turning circle is 3.1 feet tighter than the Tonale 1.3 PHEV’s (34.8 feet vs. 37.9 feet). The Kicks’ turning circle is 3.2 feet tighter than the Tonale 2.0T’s (34.8 feet vs. 38 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Kicks has a 2.8 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Tonale (8.4 vs. 5.6 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 750 to 900 pounds less than the Alfa Romeo Tonale.

The Kicks is 6.4 inches shorter than the Tonale, making the Kicks easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Kicks has .9 inches more front headroom, 1 inch more front legroom and .3 inches more rear headroom than the Tonale.

The Kicks has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Tonale with its rear seat up (30 vs. 27 cubic feet). The Kicks has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Tonale with its rear seat folded (60 vs. 54.7 cubic feet).

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 Tonale only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

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

The Nissan Kicks outsold the Alfa Romeo Tonale by almost 20 to one during 2024.