PickupTruck.Com: 2002 Buyers Guide - Nissan Frontier
Following the 2001 Frontier's dramatic restyling and addition of the first available factory-installed supercharged V6 in the compact truck class, the 2002 model adds two new major enhancements - a completely upgraded interior with an available Rockford Fosgate powered audio system (Crew Cab only) and the Frontier Crew Cab Long Bed, with the longest bed in the compact crew cab truck class.
2005 Nissan Frontier Reviews 2005 New Nissan Frontier Review ...
Ask yourself if any of the following spells a formula for greatness: arriving unprepared, missing customer expectations, using outdated parts, and making things up as you go along. The Nissan of 1998 seems to have thought so. How else to explain the first Frontier that stumbled into the light with four overburdened cylinders, two doors, and zero back seat space - all on 12-year-old mechanicals? Instead of introducing the all-new Frontier piece by piece, Nissan has all their pieces ready from the outset, and those pieces are much better. First is the platform, a shortened version of Nissan's "F-Alpha" truck basis, which dates only to 2004, making the Frontier the Titan's little brother, literally.
Road Test: Nissan Frontier vs. Toyota Tacoma
Nissan, which won't have its first true full-size truck until '04, is now using a supercharged V-6 as part of its effort to improve the image of its once dowdy Frontier. As a replacement for the Hardbody in '97, the then-new Frontier disappointed prospective buyers with its styling, performance, and driving dynamics. Following a similar path, Toyota updated its compact Tacoma line for '01 with the addition of the fun-to-drive S-Runner sport truck and the utilitarian Double Cab, a worthy match for Nissan's Crew Cab. Toyota doesn't supercharge its Tacoma pickup at the factory, but a Toyota Racing Development blower is available as a dealer-added option, with full factory warranty. These supercharged versions of Nissan and Toyota's four-door cabs have a great deal of appeal to the active youth market. They deliver decent torque and horsepower, are spacious inside, and can tow up to a 5000-lb trailer.
2003 Nissan Frontier Review, Prices, Photos: New Car Test Drive
Frontier continues to be a leader in innovation among compat pickups. Last year, the Nissan Frontier became the first compact pickup that didn't force you to give up bed length in order to gain a full-size back seat. Nissan builds Frontier in nearly three dozen possible permutations of cab style, bed length, driveline, and trim level. Retail prices range from $12,989 to $26,939. Frontier does not, however, offer what most pickup manufacturers call a standard cab. Instead, buyers choose between extended King Cab or four-door Crew Cab. King Cabs have two doors, front bucket seats and additional seating for two passengers in fold-down rear jump seats. Desert Runner is based on the 4x2 King Cab V6 and emulates the specially prepared trucks used by teams to pre-run big desert races. Like those trucks, Desert Runners have two-wheel drive, but feature the same heavy-duty chassis, ride height and stance as the rugged 4x4 models. Nissan claims that the Desert Runner is roughly 500 pounds lighter than a standard Frontier King Cab V6 4x4 (eliminating four-wheel-drive alone saves 296 pounds), giving it the best power-to-weight ratio of any Frontier pickup. Desert Runners come with fender flares, skid plates for the engine and fuel tank, a full-size spare and four-wheel ABS.
usnews.com: Auto reviews: 2005 Nissan Frontier (7/11/05)
It's not a dozen cupholders or integrated booster seats that are improving the usefulness of trucks, however, but clever workbench innovations that haulers and handymen will appreciate. The newly designed midsize Frontier, for instance, comes with more options for the pickup bed than used to be available on an entire truck. There's a "spray-on" bedliner that protects the surface of the bed from dings and scratches and seals more thoroughly-so Nissan claims-than aftermarket liners that most truck owners use. A system of utility rails in the floor and walls of the bed, along with removable cleats, let you tie down cargo almost any way you see fit, instead of lining it up with fixed fasteners. And a menu of accesssories lets the finicky trucker compartmentalize his bed with more storage bins and trays than one of those closet displays at the Container Store.
Test Drive Notes: Nissan Frontier King Cab SuperCharged 2001
The new Nissan Frontier is a case of an auto maker trying to juice up a dated design to buy time until it can get a redesigned model into the showrooms. For 2001 Nissan gave the Frontier a face lift, adding a redesigned front quarter along with new, Terminator-style fenders and a supercharged engine. The Frontier wasn't the most advanced design back in '98 when it was last redesigned, and its guts haven't changed a whole lot since then. The rough ride and stiff handling will leave you with no delusions that you're behind the wheel of a sedan: this is a truck, in the truest sense of the word.
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Whether it's everyday or just on the weekends, the Nissan Frontier forges ahead with the heart of a warrior. With the highest horsepower in its class, an incredibly sturdy ladder type frame and tenacious styling, it has the muscle to back up some seriously rugged looks.
USATODAY.com - Powerful new Frontier can run with big boys
The new Frontier is bigger than the old one - and old it was, based on a frame and other pieces in use more than 15 years, Nissan says. The new Frontier uses a scaled-down version of the frame that underpins the full-size Nissan Titan pickup. It is heavy steel and twist-resisting boxed construction instead of the open "C" channel frames still common on trucks. That allows firm but compliant suspensions that treat you to the high, wide and handsome, fully-in-charge feeling integral to pickup satisfaction. In the fashion of the day, Nissan has enlarged Frontier because buyers always want more room for people and stuff. In fact, to hear the automakers tell it, compact trucks are extinct (except for the Ford Ranger). Bruce Robinson, Nissan senior development engineer, says the new Frontier's longer wheelbase - nearly 10 inches longer than the most-popular version of the '04 - makes the truck harder to turn sharply.