KELSEY MAYS
Living Editor
It’s good to see that Nissan is back in style. The trucks, I mean — their cars have sported the same look for a couple of years now.
Until this year, the trucks were stylistically a mixed bag. The enormous Armada SUV and Titan pickup returned to the bold, three-section grille and slab-front headlights from Nissan trucks of yore last year, but the remaining trucks — the Xterra and Pathfinder SUVs and the Frontier mid-size pickup — still carried generic, trendy-in-2000 designs.
Fortunately, Nissan recreated all three this year with more power, size and, most noticeably, the same chrome-streaked lines as their big brothers.
Excluding the wacky Murano — that’s a car-based SUV, so I’ll let it off the hook — Nissan’s trucks now carry much more family resemblance than, say, archrival Toyota’s.
On the Frontier, the tough styling gives more bragging rights than substance, as the truck is not appreciably more butch than a Toyota Tacoma or Chevy Colorado. The Frontier is all-new for 2005, the third generation in a line of trucks originally introduced in 1997 as replacements for Nissan’s generic pickup. The ’05 Frontier is longer, taller and wider than its predecessor, and it drops the previous generation’s old iron-block V-6 for an aluminum engine with dual overhead cams and variable-valve timing.
The new engine is an extension of Nissan’s VQ-series V-6. In its application toward truck duties, including usage in the Pathfinder and Xterra, displacement gets enlarged to 4.0 liters (versus 3.5 in the car-based V-6) for increased torque. The resulting motor makes 265 horsepower and 284 pounds-feet of torque in the Frontier, both standout numbers for this segment.
There is also a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine in base Frontiers. My test vehicle was a four-wheel-drive Frontier Crew Cab LE, effectively the topper in a range of short- and long-cab models that start at $15,600. With an assortment of options including leather seats, premium audio and a sunroof, the total price came to $31,630. Keep such extravagances off the options list, and a modestly-equipped, four-wheel-drive Crew Cab can be had for under $27,000.
The V-6 provides plenty of gusto from a standing start, and it belts out a good old-fashioned roar at full throttle. I never had a chance to load the short bed, but with five full-grown men in the cab, the engine never broke a sweat.
It’s too bad the transmission is not as well-groomed. The five-speed automatic in my test vehicle (a six-speed manual is available on some models) felt a bit jerky shifting through the bottom gears, and it would sometimes let the engine wind all the way down to 1,500 rpm – a point at which it becomes quite difficult to maintain speed – before downshifting. One virtue of having five gears instead of four is the ability to quickly find a gear that suits a particular driving situation. It seems the Frontier doesn’t really explore its full potential here.
The transmission is generally well-adapted to off-pavement areas, though. It includes both a high and low setting for the optional four-wheel drive, and it handled a series of rocky trails without any major hiccups. An optional hill descent feature on the test truck modulates brakes in either of the four-wheel-drive modes to keep the vehicle at a crawl going down a rocky slope or gravel patch. The idea is to free up a driver’s attention to steer clear of obstacles instead of constantly toeing the brake pedal. But switching into the low four-wheel-drive setting while in first gear essentially does the same trick.
A much more useful feature is a hill start aid, also an option on the tester. It applies the brakes for two seconds following a pedal change (from brakes to gas) while on an incline to prevent momentary rolls forward or backward. It came in handy crawling up rocky inclines as well as negotiating hillside parallel parking spots.
The suspension allows 10.1 inches of ground clearance, a measurement that easily beats the Tacoma, Colorado and Dodge Dakota. An optional locking rear differential (not on the test vehicle) certifies the Frontier as the off-roader of the bunch.
On the road, it’s not quite the standout. Road and wind noise are apparent at any speed, and the suspension allows plenty of sway. Standard brakes on all Frontiers are four-wheel discs with ABS, and they stop the vehicle without undue surprise.
The interior is functional but rather cheap in appearance. In the test vehicle’s Crew Cab layout, storage space includes four door pockets, two glove compartments, eight cup holders and an under-seat storage compartment in the rear. The rear seat also packs a fold-down center armrest and more legroom than the short seat cushions would suggest.
Practical aspects notwithstanding, interior quality ranges from average to poor. Dash panels, air vent controls and seat-pocket materials have a substandard feel to them, and even the instrument panel seems like an uninspired, parts-bin piece. The door handles are finished in attractive chrome, but they are inconveniently positioned as far foward as possible.
Buyers will have to consider those demerits against the stout engine and classy exterior.
That’s a winning equation for some. This year, Nissan has delivered more than 61,000 Frontiers through October. That puts it on par with the previous-generation Frontier’s sales, though nowhere near the Tacoma, Colorado or Dakota.
With these trucks, the macho style game ultimately splits more hairs than buyers. Besides, the Frontier’s key advantage is not its heft or overall quality — it’s in the engineering that goes under its hood.
With Nissan, that seems to be a recurring trend.
11-17-2005
