2022 Nissan Frontier unveiled

Highlander

The Strong, Silent Type
One thing I forgot to take a notice of is this sentence in the article about the 9 speed:

The new crawl ratio is 54.4:1 which is only bested by the Jeep Gladiator in the mid-size class

Now, if this is really true than the Frontier would be more attractive for the off-road inclined truck costumers.
I wonder what other mid size trucks offer in terms of the crawl ratio?

One of the reasons I am not into those new SUV style hill descent is that the most of them lack the low gear, aka L4.
Once I was sitting in my friend's Outback and she went on to a down hill. She put it in the L and engaged the hill descent... the outcome was not impressive or even safe.
The low makes a huge difference in those situations.
 
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Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
One thing I forgot to take a notice of is this sentence in the article about the 9 speed:



Now, if this is real true than the Frontier would be more attractive for the off-road inclined truck costumers.
I wonder what other mid size trucks offer in terms of the crawl ratio?
Off topic, I was poking around Bring a trailer the other day and noticed a Range Rover that looks identical to the one in your avatar.

 

Highlander

The Strong, Silent Type
Yeah... those were my childhood dream cars...
Growing up in Eastern Europe those were beyond affordable.
As kids me and my brother saw a caravan of the 90s dicos and ranges passing through our town, with the UK plates, going to Siberia. it was as if the Martians visited us.
While the quality of the model was bad, it was a marvelous piece of engineering.
 

skrypj

Well-known member
I have had a bunch of Frontiers as rentals on work trips. All of them were SV Crew cab 4x4's. While I generally like the truck for when I am alone, it was terrible with the wife and infant son. There was not enough room in the rear seat for his car seat and my wife was smashed up against the dash as a result.

The other thing I hated was the turning radius. It was really bad. Like I drive a crew cab long bed F150, so I know what its like to have a crappy turning radius, and I was always surprised at how bad the Frontier was. I would totally miss spots expecting it to just cut right in. My guess is this might be a result of it sharing the frame with the first gen Titan, but has shorter control arms than the titan. I wonder if the tires just get too close to the frame.

I believe the 2022 is basically a remodel of the old truck. I wanna say that the frame is essentially the same and I believe the cab might be a carry over from the previous gen. The 3.8L and 9 speed are essentially carryover too since they had them in the last 2 model years of the previous gen. So I suspect my two biggest complaints about this truck have not been addressed at all and they essentially just reworked the front and rear and left the rest the same.
 
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skrypj

Well-known member
One thing I forgot to take a notice of is this sentence in the article about the 9 speed:



Now, if this is really true than the Frontier would be more attractive for the off-road inclined truck costumers.
I wonder what other mid size trucks offer in terms of the crawl ratio?

One of the reasons I am not into those new SUV style hill descent is that the most of them lack the low gear, aka L4.
Once I was sitting in my friend's Outback and she went on to a down hill. She put it in the L and engaged the hill descent... the outcome was not impressive or even safe.
The low makes a huge difference in those situations.

Here is the ratios for the 2021 which i assume are the same:

88e18efbbe86096eeca3f66b793f0f2c.png


Its all in the first gear. That transmission has an insane spread. The ford/gm 10 speed is like 4.7:1 to .63:1
 

Grassland

Well-known member
That first gear and reverse are awesome. Good reduction on the transfer case as well. In two years when these finally hit central Canada I'll have to take a look.
Probably a 60k Canadian truck tho.
 

Highlander

The Strong, Silent Type
I wanna say that the frame is essentially the same and I believe the cab might be a carry over from the previous gen.

This is interesting.
I wonder, why do they, the manufacturers, almost always keep the frame across the models? Toyota did the same with the Tacoma too.
Is it that hard build a new frame?

@Grassland
Yeah the gear reduction numbers are great, probably the best in the segment.

central Canada

Must be very beautiful up there now... the big sky, the clouds, sunsets...
Absolutely adore that part of the country.
In 2017 me and my wife. than gf, crossed the border at ND and spent driving 2 days driving in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Things got a bit surreal. The shear scale was astonishing.
But we decided to cross back to the state, because we were driving my Saab wagon, with a clearance of 2", on dirt roads and it could brake down any moment. It was not a proper car for that place.
 

Grassland

Well-known member
Anything without a long travel suspension isn't a proper car for our typical highways lol.
If sky is your thing we have that in spades.

Unfortunately we are last in line to get anything. If it's released in the US, it takes a while to become available in Canada, and it will be in Ontario and maybe BC long before it gets to Manitoba.
 

skrypj

Well-known member
This is interesting.
I wonder, why do they, the manufacturers, almost always keep the frame across the models? Toyota did the same with the Tacoma too.
Is it that hard build a new frame?

@Grassland
Yeah the gear reduction numbers are great, probably the best in the segment.



Must be very beautiful up there now... the big sky, the clouds, sunsets...
Absolutely adore that part of the country.
In 2017 me and my wife. than gf, crossed the border at ND and spent driving 2 days driving in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Things got a bit surreal. The shear scale was astonishing.
But we decided to cross back to the state, because we were driving my Saab wagon, with a clearance of 2", on dirt roads and it could brake down any moment. It was not a proper car for that place.


I suspect Toyota doesn’t because they can sell 250,000 Tacomas a year without even trying. Why bother putting effort into it.

And even though the ranger is catching up, it doesnt look like the ranger sales are coming out of the Tacoma sales. Its coming out of the Colorado/Canyon and Frontier.

Nissan is probably just barely committed to the NA Truck market after the Titan flopped. I actually think the XD is a great concept but they kinda missed the mark with the Cummins. And if you get the 5.6L with 400 hp that gets 12 mpg, why not get an F250 with the 7.3L making 430 hp getting 11 mpg?
 

Grassland

Well-known member
Nissan didn't do themselves any favors leaving the frontier to wither on the vine as long as they did.
I didn't mind the Titan but was too expensive and no extended cabs.
I'm one of the few guys who doesn't want a crew cab I guess.
At least the new Rogue looks great. I actually enjoyed driving the previous generation on a road trip in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Comfortable, handles like a car compared to any of the vehicles we own. Good visibility. Reasonable fuel economy.
 

Jc1986.carter

Active member
Did anyone have a problem with the second gen frames? They shared the alpha frame with the titans, they were super stout and fully boxed unlike many of the current mid size competitors. I haven’t heard anyone snapping a Frontier frame, there were plenty of examples of Toyota’s, gm-s and even jeep frames folding in half (most were user involved, except for the class action lawsuits Toyota faced for their frames rusting amd snapping. Toyota had to warranty replace tons of frames on Tacoma’s)

 

llamalander

Well-known member
The fully boxed frame is impressive, good steel (if it isn't Spanish), stiff, and they worked hard to fit everything above it so it stays protected.
The turning radius is crap, but I don't know enough to say that's a matter of the frame. While that is worth fixing, the rest of the frame performs well--
not sure if it's worth "making better" if you risk new sets of problems from the economy of that aim. Apparently the suspension has had a bunch of work.
Upgrading to OME was a big improvement from stock, so there was plenty of room there to improve ride quality and handling.
 

utherjorge

Observer
I truly thought that Nissan was going to bow out...but recent products look good, and the new Frontier has been well-thought of by the places I generally trust for reviews. I comp test will be good to see when it happens.

As Nissan generally has gone after the sub-prime market, this might be the start of a window where you can get a Frontier for cheaper than you might when the secrets out. Of course, it could be like the Mazda 5: they sell exactly how many they plan to, with no interest in selling many more. In which case...no deal for you.
 

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