Yes it's a small step up, if you have a tripod, the 18-55 3.5-5.6 should be no problem at all.
I used to have that lens as well.
The 18-55 IS sucks!, It's soft beyond F8 and every image needs a lot of sharpening. I've never liked the 18-55 personally and even the 100-300mm macro D destroys it in quality!
No wonder it's cheap and feels like plastic