2012 Nissan Frontier 6 Cylinder Reviws Consumer Reviews
The Car Connexion Expert Review
Editorial Director
February 15, 2012
Likes
- Trucky styling
- Five-6 is strong
- Hauls and tows confidently with Five-6
- Crew Cab is spacious
- Good rubber scores
Dislikes
- Ride can feel decorated
- Grainy, plasticky interior
- Bed is six feet long, at best
Ownership tip
features & specs
2WD Crew Cab LWB Automatic SL
2WD Crew Cab LWB Automatic SV
2WD Crew Cab SWB Automatic S
You may non need to go total-size--the 2012 Nissan Frontier pickup truck can cover a lot of the same ground a bigger pickup can.
Built on the same frame as the bigger Nissan Titan, the Nissan Frontier is more than a meaty pickup. Information technology's a mid-sizer in the mold of the onetime Dodge Dakota and today'due south Toyota Tacoma, and every bit such, it'south the perfect downsize from a full-size truck when cabin room and pickup capacity are still important. And yet, the Borderland also excels when frugality's at the top of the list, since it still comes in a iv-cylinder, blank-bones model.
Since it'south gone almost a decade without a major redesign, the Frontier could be judged a trivial stale-looking. By truck standards it'south nevertheless handsome, masculine and chunky, with just enough detailing to pick out a distinct Nissan identity without going to the roofline extremes you'll see on the larger Titan pickup and Armada SUV. The interior'southward where its age shows through: the dash is plasticky and grainy to the touch on, and less fluidly shaped than the latest pickups, particularly the newest Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra.
If you absolutely must take a V-8 engine in your truck, the Frontier's off the curt shopping list. Only its 4.0-liter V-half dozen is worth a shot for total-size fans. It makes 261 horsepower and teams up well with a five-speed automated, twisting out plenty of torque for strong mid-range acceleration and powerful passing. In that location's a transmission transmission bachelor and it'southward fine, though the lever throws are adequately long. Properly equipped, the six-cylinder Frontier can tow upwardly to 6500 pounds. There's a four-cylinder selection as well, and information technology's rated higher for fuel economic system, though the spec-canvas ratings could disappear as yous button the 152-hp, 2.5-liter 4 with heavy payloads and extra passengers.
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The Borderland's available in rear- or iv-wheel-drive grade, with either an extended "Rex" cab or a iv-door "Coiffure" cab offered on almost trim levels. The Crew Cab is the style to go if you regularly behave more than two front-seat passengers. The King Cab model has seats for occasional back-seat passengers, and it has a pair of rear-hinged doors to make it easier for them to arrive, but in all, the space is puny and those flip-downwardly seats are uncomfortable for even short trips. In front and in dorsum of iv-door Frontiers, the seats are supportive, and the truck has a proficient, upright seating position, with a somewhat high flooring forcing taller drivers into a stretched-leg position. Near the only downward side for condolement is the Borderland's ride, which can get pretty choppy.
For hauling cargo, the Frontier has a choice of small to not quite equally small beds; the longer one's yet half-dozen feet long, a couple of feet shy of the usual full-size length. Yet, there's a stout pickup frame underneath and the Frontier's bed has some cracking features not found on other trucks in this segment. The pickup bed gets a mill-practical spray-in bedliner, and there's a organization of tracks and tie-downs that helps drivers sort out gear that would otherwise coil around in back.
Rubber is amidst the best of compact and mid-size trucks. The IIHS calls the Frontier "adept" on all its tests, but since stability control at all four wheels is not standard on all models, information technology's not a Meridian Safety Pick. There are no options for features similar a rearview camera, but Bluetooth is bachelor.
The Frontier starts in very basic grade, and can be trimmed out into very specific forms. The base four-cylinder Frontier S models remain very bones and become without air conditioning, power windows, and even a tilt steering wheel. SV models get more popular equipment, like larger 16-inch alloy wheels, chromed bumpers, a sliding rear window, tilt steering, cruise control, air workout, keyless entry, tilt steering, and power windows and locks. Acme SL models, just offered in the Crew Cab trunk mode, get a roof rack, step rails, fog lamps, necktie-downward cleats, the Utili-Track system, plus heated leather seats and Bluetooth hands-free, in add-on to a Rockford Fosgate eight-speaker audio organisation. The PRO-4X remains the manner to become for those who plan to need serious off-road capability; it comes with upgraded Bilstein off-road shocks plus sideslip plates. Options on the Frontier include a express-slip differential, leather seats, a high-powered Rockford Fosgate audio organisation, and a pick of either XM or Sirius Satellite Radio.
The Frontier's outside is the coolest of the smaller trucks; the motel puts its money on immovability over way.
It'south difficult to cleave new styling territory out of the truck market. Once you've sketched in a bed and room for upward to five passengers, you're 95 percent done. Nissan takes a few more steps to give its Frontier some stardom, and to us, it'due south the coolest of the smaller trucks every bit a issue.
It's the not then little things that count. The Borderland's carlike fenders swell and curve at the cycle wells. The grille makes a valiant attempt to fair itself into the surrounding metal, to make some harmony where it normally doesn't exist. The overall look strikes a sweet spot between spartan and spunky, peculiarly equally a four-door. It has charisma.
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Inside, the design is quite straightforward, with inexpensive-looking materials but a tasteful layout. It'southward a petty more plasticky, a little less fluid in layout, than the newest pickups, specially the larger ones.
Six cylinders are the mode to go with the Nissan Borderland.
Of all the mid-size and meaty trucks on the market, the Frontier's a favorite of ours, not merely for its correct-sized dimensions, merely besides for its gutsy 5-six performance.
Nosotros haven't forgotten the 4-cylinder versions, simply unless you bulldoze a Borderland for someone else, information technology'due south likely y'all've skipped information technology, too. The wheezy ii.5-liter, 152-horsepower 4 strains to provide the kind of dispatch nigh drivers want and need, and fuel economy isn't all that much higher than the half-dozen-cylinder versions.
The Frontier's four.0-liter V-6 makes for a bully substitute for V-eight ability in this scaled-down truck. Information technology makes 261 horsepower, and comes with a pick of manual or automatic transmissions. The manuals tend to have long shift throws simply the clutch is more precise; the five-speed automatic isn't the newest shifter on the block, but information technology'southward set well with the six-cylinder's torque, making the virtually of its available power for launches and mid-range passing. Towing capacity rates up to half-dozen,500 pounds.
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Across the lineup, you'll find that the Frontier steers and handles quite well, with accurate, communicative steering and good body control—without the shudder and hop that bear upon some truck suspensions specially when lightly loaded. Almost the simply down side for condolement is the Frontier'southward ride, which can get pretty inclement.
The Frontier's front seats are comfortable; the rear seats on four-doors are less ideal, and interior trim is more rugged than refined.
The Borderland splits the difference between old-schoolhouse compact trucks and today'southward smallest full-sizers. For many drivers, information technology'due south simply the right size, especially when configured as a four-door pickup.
No matter which trunk style you choose, the Frontier'southward supportive front end seats afford a squeamish, upright driving position with good outward visibility. As a Male monarch Cab, the Frontier sports a pair of rear-hinged access doors twinned to the full-size front end doors. That opens upward the expanse behind the front seats to some more cargo, and technically, to a pair of jump seats that flip upward against the motel when not in use. They're puny and cramped no matter what, and we don't recommend them to whatsoever passengers except in emergencies. The Frontier Coiffure Cab has four full-size doors, and its back seat has enough seat room for small adults--or a trio of very close big guys who don't need to go further than the nearest Chick Fil-A on lunch hour.
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The Frontier tin haul cargo—which is, after all, what matters most for a large subset of pickup buyers—just as well as other compact or mid-size trucks, although its stout frame is certainly upwards to the task. Beds for the Borderland are half dozen feet long at well-nigh. But the Frontier offers several features not otherwise establish in pickups in this price range. The cargo bed includes a factory-applied spray-in bedliner, and for those who need to secure small or heavy items in back, we recommend the available Utili-Track cargo necktie-down system.
The Borderland scores well in crash tests, and it'southward one of the few pickups to do well in roof force, also.
Nissan'southward earned many kudos for the Frontier, and it's our superlative-rated mid-size pickup. One of the reasons is safety. The Frontier gets ameliorate crash-test scores than any other mid-size or compact pickup on the marketplace today.
Sharing its frame runway with the bigger Titan seems to take paid off. Though the National Highway Traffic Rubber Administration (NHTSA) hasn't updated the Frontier'southward ratings since a 2011 change in criteria, the Insurance Establish for Highway Safety (IIHS) has. The IIHS calls Nissan's pickup "good" in front, side, and roof-crush tests, though it gets an "acceptable" rating for rear impacts. Those ratings are substantially better than other trucks in its class.
Otherwise, the Borderland has a reasonably good rubber-features list, though information technology'southward worth pointing out that four-cylinder models take a less expensive anti-lock braking and stability control organization that only controls the rear wheels--a less costly, but less than ideal solution.
There are no options for features like a rearview photographic camera on the Borderland, but Bluetooth is available.
The Frontier's features cater to hard-working, hardcore off-roading types; getting directions volition mean a stop at the gas station.
Like most pickups, the Nissan Frontier carves a few personalities out of its basic frame by bundling together the correct features.
Workhorse Frontiers wearable an Southward bluecoat, and not much else: they take no power windows, no air conditioning, no tilt steering. The SV's a rich human being'southward plaything, in contrast, with its xvi-inch wheels, cruise command, ability features, tilt steering, and keyless entry. The Frontier is positively gilded, with step rails, tie-down cleats in the bed, heated leather seats, Bluetooth, and a Rockford Fosgate audio system with eight speakers. Information technology'south only offered in the four-door Crew Cab torso mode, though.
Thinking of cut a new logging road in that pristine forest nearby? That may require the Borderland PRO-4X. This version remains the way to go for those who plan to need serious off-road adequacy; it somes with upgraded Bilstein off-road shocks plus skid plates, plus huge BFGoodrich trail tires.
Options on the Frontier include a limited-slip differential, leather seats, that same high-powered Rockford Fosgate audio organization, and satellite radio. There'due south no navigation organisation on the options list, so plan ahead with directions, buy a paper map, or stop and inquire directions--you know, how nosotros used to practise information technology.
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The Frontier nevertheless posts skillful four-cylinder fuel economy, but half-dozen-cylinders tin be thirstier than some full-size pickups.
With very few pickups in the four-cylinder business these days--the Ranger's gone, finally--the Nissan Frontier is one of the few mid-size trucks to even offer the gas-saving engines.
In that form, the Frontier does a decent job of improving on the gas mileage you'd observe in larger trucks. The in-line four gives the Frontier an EPA rating of 19/23 mpg in its most basic form, with a manual manual. Add an automatic, and the mileage drops to 17/22 mpg.
Stepping up to the six-cylinder Frontier erases the advantage, and the EPA numbers drop to sixteen/20 mpg at best. At worst, the Frontier checks in with a 14/19-mpg rating for automatic-manual, iv-bicycle-drive models--a effigy far off the base Ford F-150's 17/23 mpg, and most on par with the V-8 Fords. The 6-cylinder Frontier will save you gas--when it's compared to Nissan's larger Titan, aye, but the Titan is 1 of the thirstiest pickups.
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Source: https://www.thecarconnection.com/overview/nissan_frontier_2012
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