The Nissan Frontier: A Honest and Reliable Mid-Size Truck

When it comes to mid-size trucks, there are several options available on the market. One such option is the Nissan Frontier, which has gained popularity in recent years due to its no-frills approach and focus on practicality. In this article, we'll take a closer look at the Frontier and explore what makes it tick.

The Frontier's driving dynamics are not bad, but they're certainly not exceptional either. It's a truck that feels like a truck, with a solid and stable ride quality that's similar to that of other mid-size trucks in its class. However, unlike some of its competitors, the Frontier doesn't try to be something it's not. It's a truck that's designed for real-world use, with no unnecessary bells and whistles to weigh it down.

One of the things that sets the Frontier apart from its competitors is its lack of pretension. Unlike some trucks that try to be upscale or luxurious, the Frontier is content with being a straightforward, no-nonsense workhorse. It's a truck that's designed for people who need something reliable and practical, not for those who want to make a statement.

In terms of performance, the Frontier's 3.8-liter V6 engine is a clear standout. While it may not be the most powerful engine available in its class, it's certainly more than capable of handling everyday driving duties. And with an estimated 310 horsepower and 281 lb-ft of torque, it's no slouch either.

The interior of the Frontier is another area where it shines. Unlike some other trucks that feel like they were designed by committee, the Frontier's interior is cohesive and well-designed. The materials are solid, and the build quality is top-notch. It's a truck that feels like it was put together with care, rather than being thrown together as an afterthought.

However, the Frontier is not without its flaws. One area where it falls short is in terms of tech features. While it has some modern conveniences like Bluetooth connectivity and a touchscreen infotainment system, it's clear that Nissan was holding back on unnecessary frills in favor of simplicity and practicality. And while this approach may appeal to some owners, others may find themselves missing out on the latest and greatest in truck technology.

Despite its lack of tech features, the Frontier is still a capable off-road vehicle. The four-wheel-drive system is reliable and effective, and the truck's suspension is designed to handle both on- and off-road driving with ease. And with an estimated towing capacity of over 6,000 pounds, it's no slouch when it comes to hauling heavy loads.

So, who is the Nissan Frontier for? In short, it's for anyone who needs a reliable and practical truck without all the bells and whistles. It's not for someone looking for a luxury experience or a vehicle that's going to make a statement. But if you're looking for a solid workhorse that can handle everyday driving duties with ease, the Frontier is definitely worth considering.

In comparison to other mid-size trucks on the market, the Frontier holds its own surprisingly well. While it may not be as powerful as some of its competitors, it's certainly more refined and enjoyable to drive on the road. And when it comes to off-road capability, the Frontier is right up there with the best of them.

One thing that sets the Frontier apart from some of its competitors is its natural aspiration V6 engine. In an era where turbocharging and supercharging have become the norm for many truck engines, Nissan's decision to stick with a naturally aspirated V6 is a breath of fresh air. It may not produce as much power as some other engines on the market, but it's certainly more enjoyable to listen to and feel in action.

The Frontier also stands out from its competitors when it comes to interior quality. Unlike some trucks that feel like they were designed by committee, the Frontier's interior is cohesive and well-designed. The materials are solid, and the build quality is top-notch. It's a truck that feels like it was put together with care, rather than being thrown together as an afterthought.

Overall, the Nissan Frontier is a reliable and practical mid-size truck that's worth considering for anyone in the market for a vehicle of this type. While it may not have all the bells and whistles, it's a solid workhorse that can handle everyday driving duties with ease. And when it comes to off-road capability, the Frontier is right up there with the best of them.

But, as with any vehicle, there are some areas where the Frontier falls short. One area where it needs improvement is in its tech features. While it has some modern conveniences like Bluetooth connectivity and a touchscreen infotainment system, it's clear that Nissan was holding back on unnecessary frills in favor of simplicity and practicality.

In terms of pricing, the Frontier is relatively affordable compared to other mid-size trucks on the market. With a starting price in the mid-40s, it's an attractive option for anyone looking for a reliable and practical vehicle without breaking the bank.

However, as with any vehicle, there are some things that may need to be considered when buying a Frontier. One area where owners have reported issues is with the truck's infotainment system. Some models can be slow to respond or have other issues, so it's worth doing your research and reading reviews from other owners before making a purchase.

Despite its flaws, the Nissan Frontier remains a solid mid-size truck that's worth considering for anyone in the market for a vehicle of this type. With its reliable V6 engine, cohesive interior design, and off-road capability, it's no wonder why this truck has gained such popularity in recent years.

In conclusion, the Nissan Frontier is a well-designed and capable mid-size truck that's worth considering for anyone looking for a practical and reliable vehicle without all the bells and whistles. With its natural aspiration V6 engine, cohesive interior design, and off-road capability, it's no wonder why this truck has gained such popularity in recent years.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe all-new 2022 nissan frontier this is the first time this truck has received a major update like this since 2005 so to say the least this is a pretty big deal for nissans in this video we're going to walk you through the engineering they put in this thing give you a brief overview of the all-new cabin and then take this thing for a drive speaking of the interior space if you take a look at this and how everything's laid out it's going to feel old school or being generous it's going to feel dated it's not a bad thing though to be honest because the company this truck keeps in its segment are things like the tacoma colorado and ranger all those trucks feel just as old if not older than this thing when it comes to the interior control layout it's no bs there are no gimmicks in this truck which i'm greatly thankful for all the controls are physical logically laid out and all within hands reach and you can use them wearing gloves because they're nice and chunky the head unit is typical nissan it's the identical ui you've seen in things like the rogue the armada and all their other vehicles which means the resolution of the screen isn't cutting edge by any means particularly for things like their backup cameras but it's fast to react and the menu structure is fairly logically laid out plus it also has apple carplay all of this goes through a fender audio system which for a mid-size pickup truck isn't bad by any means it's not going to blow away audio files but compared to something like the honda ridgeline's audio system or the bang olufsen found in the ford it's not bad they've done a good job in this generation of frontier by reducing a lot of the nvh and i'll walk through how in the shop segment when it comes to the rest of the ergonomics of this cabin the door cards are nice and large and there's a nice cutout for a water bottle the center arm rest is huge there's a lot of storage in this the glove box is big you have good head room for a driver who's a little bit taller and there's good visibility the rear seats in this at least in this four-door variant are okay if you are a larger person you may struggle back there but the seats do fold up this truck comes in both king and crew cab configuration and also has a five or six foot bed one nice thing about the bed is it has a ton of tie downs and led lighting if you need to load this thing up at night but past that i think it's time for us to head into the shop so i can walk you through some of the engineering hey welcome to 2004 jack this looks like some retro chic stuff but uh it's not no it was just redesigned in the first time for over a decade i was like nine years old when the last truck was introduced so this is new it is new okay all right well mostly new well i mean it looks it still has that old school look which is probably a good thing if you need to do any serious uh wrenching yes that's the one nice thing about the new frontier is that if you like old school trucks they built you an old school truck in 2022 but let's talk about what they changed first the suspension geometry has been slightly altered the frame has been altered though it is largely carryover from the last truck it has all new sheet metal all around this it's supposed to look like the old hard body nissan which i do think it looks fairly handsome this is the pro 4x model which means you get all the skid plates and the bilstein dampers this has the four wheel drive setup or goes into high low or four low it does not have an auto mode it is still a rear wheel drive based truck it has a liver axle leaf springs but the big deal is them trying to add a little bit more refinement to this so it has an all new steering rack it is still hydraulic but is supposedly more direct you have added a new front stabilizer bar and they added a rear stabilizer bar to this thing there are hydraulic cab mounts on this to make it a little bit more pleasant on the inside as i mentioned in the interior commentary mark they've done a good job making this a much more quiet vehicle in the cabin they added far more nvh material to the cab itself to the dash and they added acoustic glass to make it a more pleasant experience but past that the big story of course is the new v6 they added it in 2020 in the last generation vehicle it's a 3.8 liter it's a vq it has direct injection it has 310 horsepower and they mated it to a 9-speed automatic but other than that i think it's time for us to take this thing out on the road mark last question yes this is not the hard body it's not the hard box why did they change the hard body in the 1980s probably oh really yeah i don't know why do you have a heart i haven't had a hard body since 94. jack what are we in the frontier yeah are you a frontiersman now i am now especially now that i've activated special mode oh that's a real kick in the pants a v6 over 300 horsepower a good nine-speed automatic what's the hate it's quick the transmission performance is snappy it doesn't feel uh lethargic at all it's always got enough pep and it's stepped to create a real dramatic experience behind the way unlike the ranger the tuning is consistent yes the ranger is the four cylinder with the turbocharger but that's why this has a leg up on it it feels consistent no matter what naturally aspirated feeling feeling good it's so you the only thing i can compare it to is kind of like the tacoma the but that v6 feels ancient oh my god it feels so sluggish i mean you know it's going to last forever but this has some quickness to it it's got some character in it in the drivetrain and it's much like we talked about with the titan it's the drivability is surprisingly good for a truck like this um so what's its competitors let's talk about that briefly ranger colorado and the tacoma which is about to be updated and kind of the ridgeline which doesn't tow anything anywhere as much as this and it's not really yeah it's not a truck truck it's a unibody vehicle so where this where this does better uh to me is it still maintains that feeling that you're in a truck versus the colorado all these other trucks are really trying to uh elevate themselves upward towards more of a luxury experience i guess the closest thing you can compare it to is a tacoma in terms of feel and all of that the ranger it just feels a thousand years old now like not in a good way either this this feels old school but it doesn't feel like a total turd the driving the driving dynamics are not bad the ride quality is truckish but good like it's everything is just cohesive here yeah honestly i didn't like this when i first got into it but during my loan i've actually come to really appreciate what this thing is and we we overuse it with a lot of these older products we call them honest but it is i mean yes there are some bs things that i don't like there's no reason this should not have a telescoping steering wheel it's only tilt yeah or the the v6 is kind of thirsty but you pass that as a truck something you're going to keep for a long time this isn't going to be a lease vehicle this isn't meant to be a fleet vehicle something you were going to spend your own money on it does everything well it rides better than the front rides better than the titan for example it has good ish body control the four wheel drive system works pretty well and i've driven it in some snow and when it's in two-wheel drive you can have fun like that yeah i mean that's that's rear-wheel drive trucks in general the back end is always kind of moving around way too much but again they haven't isolated all of that out and they've done a again they've done a good job at keeping what works well and what doesn't they've updated the interior enough where you're not going to be like it doesn't feel like you're in a rental car let me just put it that way the rent the ranger had a huge problem where it just felt like this was designed to go to fleet customers only there's no attention to detail no effort in a lot of it at least this feels closer to its price point and everything's super expensive now so i mean i don't want to this is in the mid 40s the way it's specked out we of course because it's a press car only get the most expensive possible trim level but again i think the fact that you can tow a decent amount with this over 6 000 pounds it's relatively inexpensive sort of i mean i hate to say that but it's not like seventy thousand dollars it's in a good place for a regular person to own would i pick this i mean to me and the mid-size area really it's tacoma on this i i mean the ranger is a no-go until they update it and then you have uh the colorado which is you know certain trims are good of the colorado today now in the beginning of 2022 this is a stronger driving on-road vehicle than the tacoma i'm curious to see what the tacoma becomes yeah i know it's supposed to get a four-cylinder it's about to get updated but as of now i like this better than the tacoma yeah oh it's way better to drive on the road i mean that doesn't make it a better truck overall but it is more enjoyable to drive every single day because of it's just more i don't know it's more refined in many ways better engine yeah more reliable but makes more power better gearbox let's send it out jack that was a weak burnout you know i'm not johnny burnout like you i burn out in other ways final thoughts on the nissan frontier much like it's stablemate the titan this is for a particular person someone who wants a truck that isn't littered with gimmicks and a bunch of bs they want a truck that is going to be reliable going to be something they can keep for a long time and is utility first and that's what the frontier offers it is a honest vehicle and with the new tacoma being replaced with something with a four cylinder the ranger not being a particularly enjoyable vehicle this frontier offers a lot for not a ton of money and that's what i really really appreciate about it would i buy this for myself though i'm not a big truck person to be honest so i would probably pick something like a ford maverick or a full-blown f-150 but this is a nice in-between for someone who likes japanese products a naturally aspirated v6 and a good gearbox thanks for watching and i hope to see you soon youthe all-new 2022 nissan frontier this is the first time this truck has received a major update like this since 2005 so to say the least this is a pretty big deal for nissans in this video we're going to walk you through the engineering they put in this thing give you a brief overview of the all-new cabin and then take this thing for a drive speaking of the interior space if you take a look at this and how everything's laid out it's going to feel old school or being generous it's going to feel dated it's not a bad thing though to be honest because the company this truck keeps in its segment are things like the tacoma colorado and ranger all those trucks feel just as old if not older than this thing when it comes to the interior control layout it's no bs there are no gimmicks in this truck which i'm greatly thankful for all the controls are physical logically laid out and all within hands reach and you can use them wearing gloves because they're nice and chunky the head unit is typical nissan it's the identical ui you've seen in things like the rogue the armada and all their other vehicles which means the resolution of the screen isn't cutting edge by any means particularly for things like their backup cameras but it's fast to react and the menu structure is fairly logically laid out plus it also has apple carplay all of this goes through a fender audio system which for a mid-size pickup truck isn't bad by any means it's not going to blow away audio files but compared to something like the honda ridgeline's audio system or the bang olufsen found in the ford it's not bad they've done a good job in this generation of frontier by reducing a lot of the nvh and i'll walk through how in the shop segment when it comes to the rest of the ergonomics of this cabin the door cards are nice and large and there's a nice cutout for a water bottle the center arm rest is huge there's a lot of storage in this the glove box is big you have good head room for a driver who's a little bit taller and there's good visibility the rear seats in this at least in this four-door variant are okay if you are a larger person you may struggle back there but the seats do fold up this truck comes in both king and crew cab configuration and also has a five or six foot bed one nice thing about the bed is it has a ton of tie downs and led lighting if you need to load this thing up at night but past that i think it's time for us to head into the shop so i can walk you through some of the engineering hey welcome to 2004 jack this looks like some retro chic stuff but uh it's not no it was just redesigned in the first time for over a decade i was like nine years old when the last truck was introduced so this is new it is new okay all right well mostly new well i mean it looks it still has that old school look which is probably a good thing if you need to do any serious uh wrenching yes that's the one nice thing about the new frontier is that if you like old school trucks they built you an old school truck in 2022 but let's talk about what they changed first the suspension geometry has been slightly altered the frame has been altered though it is largely carryover from the last truck it has all new sheet metal all around this it's supposed to look like the old hard body nissan which i do think it looks fairly handsome this is the pro 4x model which means you get all the skid plates and the bilstein dampers this has the four wheel drive setup or goes into high low or four low it does not have an auto mode it is still a rear wheel drive based truck it has a liver axle leaf springs but the big deal is them trying to add a little bit more refinement to this so it has an all new steering rack it is still hydraulic but is supposedly more direct you have added a new front stabilizer bar and they added a rear stabilizer bar to this thing there are hydraulic cab mounts on this to make it a little bit more pleasant on the inside as i mentioned in the interior commentary mark they've done a good job making this a much more quiet vehicle in the cabin they added far more nvh material to the cab itself to the dash and they added acoustic glass to make it a more pleasant experience but past that the big story of course is the new v6 they added it in 2020 in the last generation vehicle it's a 3.8 liter it's a vq it has direct injection it has 310 horsepower and they mated it to a 9-speed automatic but other than that i think it's time for us to take this thing out on the road mark last question yes this is not the hard body it's not the hard box why did they change the hard body in the 1980s probably oh really yeah i don't know why do you have a heart i haven't had a hard body since 94. jack what are we in the frontier yeah are you a frontiersman now i am now especially now that i've activated special mode oh that's a real kick in the pants a v6 over 300 horsepower a good nine-speed automatic what's the hate it's quick the transmission performance is snappy it doesn't feel uh lethargic at all it's always got enough pep and it's stepped to create a real dramatic experience behind the way unlike the ranger the tuning is consistent yes the ranger is the four cylinder with the turbocharger but that's why this has a leg up on it it feels consistent no matter what naturally aspirated feeling feeling good it's so you the only thing i can compare it to is kind of like the tacoma the but that v6 feels ancient oh my god it feels so sluggish i mean you know it's going to last forever but this has some quickness to it it's got some character in it in the drivetrain and it's much like we talked about with the titan it's the drivability is surprisingly good for a truck like this um so what's its competitors let's talk about that briefly ranger colorado and the tacoma which is about to be updated and kind of the ridgeline which doesn't tow anything anywhere as much as this and it's not really yeah it's not a truck truck it's a unibody vehicle so where this where this does better uh to me is it still maintains that feeling that you're in a truck versus the colorado all these other trucks are really trying to uh elevate themselves upward towards more of a luxury experience i guess the closest thing you can compare it to is a tacoma in terms of feel and all of that the ranger it just feels a thousand years old now like not in a good way either this this feels old school but it doesn't feel like a total turd the driving the driving dynamics are not bad the ride quality is truckish but good like it's everything is just cohesive here yeah honestly i didn't like this when i first got into it but during my loan i've actually come to really appreciate what this thing is and we we overuse it with a lot of these older products we call them honest but it is i mean yes there are some bs things that i don't like there's no reason this should not have a telescoping steering wheel it's only tilt yeah or the the v6 is kind of thirsty but you pass that as a truck something you're going to keep for a long time this isn't going to be a lease vehicle this isn't meant to be a fleet vehicle something you were going to spend your own money on it does everything well it rides better than the front rides better than the titan for example it has good ish body control the four wheel drive system works pretty well and i've driven it in some snow and when it's in two-wheel drive you can have fun like that yeah i mean that's that's rear-wheel drive trucks in general the back end is always kind of moving around way too much but again they haven't isolated all of that out and they've done a again they've done a good job at keeping what works well and what doesn't they've updated the interior enough where you're not going to be like it doesn't feel like you're in a rental car let me just put it that way the rent the ranger had a huge problem where it just felt like this was designed to go to fleet customers only there's no attention to detail no effort in a lot of it at least this feels closer to its price point and everything's super expensive now so i mean i don't want to this is in the mid 40s the way it's specked out we of course because it's a press car only get the most expensive possible trim level but again i think the fact that you can tow a decent amount with this over 6 000 pounds it's relatively inexpensive sort of i mean i hate to say that but it's not like seventy thousand dollars it's in a good place for a regular person to own would i pick this i mean to me and the mid-size area really it's tacoma on this i i mean the ranger is a no-go until they update it and then you have uh the colorado which is you know certain trims are good of the colorado today now in the beginning of 2022 this is a stronger driving on-road vehicle than the tacoma i'm curious to see what the tacoma becomes yeah i know it's supposed to get a four-cylinder it's about to get updated but as of now i like this better than the tacoma yeah oh it's way better to drive on the road i mean that doesn't make it a better truck overall but it is more enjoyable to drive every single day because of it's just more i don't know it's more refined in many ways better engine yeah more reliable but makes more power better gearbox let's send it out jack that was a weak burnout you know i'm not johnny burnout like you i burn out in other ways final thoughts on the nissan frontier much like it's stablemate the titan this is for a particular person someone who wants a truck that isn't littered with gimmicks and a bunch of bs they want a truck that is going to be reliable going to be something they can keep for a long time and is utility first and that's what the frontier offers it is a honest vehicle and with the new tacoma being replaced with something with a four cylinder the ranger not being a particularly enjoyable vehicle this frontier offers a lot for not a ton of money and that's what i really really appreciate about it would i buy this for myself though i'm not a big truck person to be honest so i would probably pick something like a ford maverick or a full-blown f-150 but this is a nice in-between for someone who likes japanese products a naturally aspirated v6 and a good gearbox thanks for watching and i hope to see you soon you\n"