I spent a week with a new Frontier

[dmeyer302]

I got a rental for a work trip, SWMO <> DFW area. It had 6000 miles, and I put an additional 1000 on it.

In no particular order...

Pros:

• Drives very nicely
• Feels really tight and quiet
  • Quietness is comparable to my truck after I put dynamat in the doors
• The bed sides are low and very accessible
• 450-500 mile range on a tank of fuel!
• CarPlay is one of the greatest inventions ever for those who bounce around in rentals fairly often. You don't have to learn a dozen crappy vehicle interfaces. Plug your phone in and never look back.

Neutrals:

• Engine had good torque on the low end, but got kind of wheezy at high RPMs
  • It's hard to give up your turbo once you get used to how one drives
• Very good interior storage in the front row, but back row is equivalent to the Ranger
  • I really liked the flat tray just in front of the center arm rest, it was a great place to lay my phone.
  • In the Ranger, I put my phone alongside the handbrake but it falls out a lot.

Cons:

• Blocky hood is a little hard to see over
  • Looking inside the hood, there does not appear to be a functional reason for this, it's all styling
• The whole thing feels lighter and cheaper overall
  • Frame is noticeably smaller
  • Tailgate was kind of flimsy and the damper action was not smooth at all
  • The hood hinges are VERY flimsy and they move the whole fender around
• I missed adaptive cruise quite a bit. (I'm not sure if this is an option for the Frontier. I understand this comparison is not exactly apples to apples with my Lariat)
• MPG down a couple points from what I would normally get in the Ranger (20 southbound with headwind, 22 northbound)
• Poor transmission control
  • The manual mode is what we are used to when using the buttons in "D" mode (it locks out upper gears), but there is no "S" mode as we know it.
• I didn't like the steering wheel button layout
  • No skip track controls
  • Cruise and volume are on the wrong sides
    • Cruise should be on the left where my arm is resting more comfortably
  • The buttons don't have the tactile indicators and it's really hard to tell which button you're resting on without looking

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[9zero1790]

i wanted the fronty pro 4 x but they took so long to come out with the new one i gave up.

 

[AzScorpion]

Nice review and I wonder how much different the Pro 4x would be? I know what you mean about driving a non turbo once you're use to one. When I was trying to decide which motor to order on my Jeep I test drove the 3.6 V6 and the 2.0 turbo. Both have there pluses and minuses but overall I just love the turbo and power and built mine with the 2.0.

The mileage range is impressive but might not be worth the sacrifice with al the cons but you might want to put the damper in the neutral column, Even though it wasn't as smooth as ours at least it comes stock with one. ?

 

[MountainGoat]

Man that thing is ugly

 

[Wytchdctr]

Co-worker went with one because he couldn't find an Ranger XLT like mine. His 3.5 ecoboost did the timing chain thing and a rear main seal at the same time..... then learned about the burnt valve issues the v6 has on the Frontier.... Yikes. I'll take the oil in fuel (mine hadn't shown that yet in an extreme way) and carbon on intake valves (it will because GDI) over burnt valves IMO.

 

[GitRDone]

Nice review. Sounds like if the mpg is down from the Ranger but the fuel range is higher, the Frontier must have a bigger tank.

 

[9zero1790]

from what ive seen the old body style frontier was one tough lil truck. better have been, they kept it the same since like 2004. thats plenty of time to work out any bugs.

 

[Mellow]

Too bad they didn't go with the Navarro, I think it would have been a better offering but maybe would need a lot of changes to do that so they just overhauled the entire thing...

 

[Dgc333]

Nice review. Sounds like if the mpg is down from the Ranger but the fuel range is higher, the Frontier must have a bigger tank.

FWIW, a buddy of mine just got a 22 Frontier Pro4X. He is getting 22 to 23 mpg back and forth to work on secondary roads with few traffic lights compared to the 20 to 21 I am getting in the same area. The gas tank is bigger 21 vs 18 gal.

It has considerably more HP (310) vs 270 and less torque 280 vs 300, it gets this power on 87 Octane. I suspect the Ranger would win a drag race but the Frontier doesn't feel under powered.

I like the interior, his is cloth and the fabric is nicer than the fabric used in the Ranger. Can't say anything about the functionality of the interior.

 

[Jason B]

That front end looks like an afterthought. Like they took in from a Titan and stuck it on the smaller Frontier.

 

[Progeny2021]

An interesting take on the new Frontier - still super rare in my area. My neighbor's Gladiator Pickup (3.6) is interesting, especially with the folding convertible top. Seems to be pretty well loaded out otherwise. Wishing my Lariat had the powered moonroof and powered rear sliding window....

 

[D Fresh]

Nissan hasn't made vehicle with a soul since the 90's. Surprised it doesn't have a CVT.

Also, that thing is hideous.

 

[9zero1790]

the new frontier in pro4x trim may be a future ride for me. I love the ranger so far, but im a lil skeptical on the 6th gen ranger to hit the states.

 

[RedDakooter05]

Still been looking to test drive one but they're so rare and far away from here.
Had a couple test drives lined up only to get called they were sold shortly afterward.

 

[Dgc333]

My buddy wound up with the Frontier because the dealers in our area didn't have any Rangers, Tacoma's or Colorado/Canyon's to chose from.

I think he said they had 5 or 6 Frontiers to chose from and they were going at MSRP.

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