2008 Nissan Frontier

Imagine having a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III as your private airplane. Your friends would be mightily impressed that you had the ability to haul either some 100 paratroopers or an M1A2 Abrams tank. But some might snicker behind your back when you spend far more time flying alone in a huge, expensive, thirsty airplane. For the vast majority of truck owners, driving one of today's full-sized—which are really super-sized—trucks is similar to having a military transport as a personal aircraft.

Styling

That's where the Nissan Frontier comes in. For all but a handful of truck buyers, the Frontier is more than plenty big enough and capable. Equipped like our Crew Cab LE test vehicle, a Frontier can comfortably swallow five adults, tow a 6,530-pound trailer, and carry about 1,440 pounds of stuff in its optional six-foot one-inch bed. Inside the wheel arches the bed is a bit more than 44 inches wide, while it's just over 61 inches wide above the arches. That'll accommodate a huge load of the things needed for the vast majority of jobs. On top of that, its 4.0-liter double overhead cam V6 pumps out 261 horsepower and 281 pound-feet of torque. The standard 2.5-liter DOHC four cylinder makes 151 horsepower and 171 lb-ft of torque: That's as much as many V-8s from not that very long ago.


Unlike the super-sized pickups, driving the Frontier doesn't make you feel as if roads, parking places, and garages have been washed in too hot water and shrunk to doll-sized proportions, similar to what most of us have done to a favorite wool sweater. The Frontier, which Nissan calls a "mid-size", fits in most garages and can even share a two-car garage with a car. If it's possible to squeeze one of super-sized pickup into your garage, it'll almost certainly be by itself. More likely, it'll have to spend the night outside.

Features

Something else to consider: Even those of moderate height and age find it a challenge to climb up into the super-sized pickups. The Frontier's side-step rails are mainly for appearance and children. Those who plan on taking their truck seriously off-road would be well advised to either skip this option or remove them before the terrain removes them for you.


The Frontier comes in two models: The King Cab and Crew Cab. The King has rear-hinged rear doors and a smaller interior. The Crew has larger rear doors and more interior room. Both are available with either the standard five-foot-long bed or the optional six-footer. The Frontier comes in four trims: the budget-minded XE, the mid-level SE, the off-road-oriented NISMO, and the opulent LE. A five-speed manual transmission is standard with the four-cylinder engine, while a five-speed automatic is standard on the V6 and a six-speed automatic is optional.