Frontier vs. Tacoma

[nissangirl74]

And the winner is.........


The Frontier!!!

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/10 ... d+Blogs%29

The Frontier out-performed the Tacoma in performance, quality, and safety.

"....That leaves the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier as the primary alternatives to today's full-size, entry-level trucks. Between them, which one's the best way to cover all the pickup bases?

We'll spare you the drama, but do read on. The Nissan Frontier's been one of the highest-rated pickup trucks on TheCarConnection for the past few years, and in our head-to-head ratings, it easily outpaces the Tacoma, even though Toyota's truck has just been updated for the 2012 model year...."

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Haha wow they really hate on the QR25.

Food for thought:
http://www.thecarconnection.com/overvie ... uator_2011
Same thing as a Frontier (built on the same line and everything), with a better warranty.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Someone should swap a juke engine into a frontier. That would rock.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Haha wow they really hate on the QR25.

I owe them a doppelbock.

[Rev_D21]

My company has a 2007 2wd reg cab Tacoma. Compared to older Toyota trucks I think the styling is awkward. I dislike the dash a lot. The steering wheel placement is way too close to the gauges. The acceleration is decent but lifeless. The good, it is reliable and cheaper to run. It is not good for hauling some of our bigger crash jobs, we use an MB powered Dodge Sprinter 3500 Dually High Top for those.

I'd take the Frontier and the design has been growing on me...slowly. I am still married to my D22 Frontier for now but it's nice to see Nissan b****-slapping Toyota in the truck realm. It's sad but 30 years ago you had so many choices in minitrucks but now you have only two, and they are mid-sized!! Someday America will regret letting the minitruck market die.

[Jesda]

The Tacoma, regardless of which generation, has never scored as well as its competitors in crash tests.

I put a few thousand miles on a brand new 2009 V6 Frontier and used it for hauling all kinds of stuff around the country. It was comfortable and roomy inside. Ride quality was pretty good. The factory stereo was awful.

Driving it, however, was terribly boring. In dialing out the mechanical trucky feel (which is what makes driving a truck so much fun) Nissan turned it into a Buick Century with a cargo bed.

Real world prices explain why small trucks are unpopular. The 152hp king cab version of the Frontier starts at $18700. You can get a new 390hp Dodge Ram shortbed for $20k.

Less than $2000 separates a big V8 half ton from a midsizer. You take a 5mpg hit in fuel economy in exchange for much more capability.

[nissangirl74]

And truck people know going in that they aren't gonna get great mileage anyway. I'd pay the extra $2K for a bigger truck, absolutely.

[Rev_D21]

With gas prices where they are right now Nissan would be wise to release another Hardbody sized truck that sports 25+mpg like the old ones did.

[Jesda]

With gas prices where they are right now Nissan would be wise to release another Hardbody sized truck that sports 25+mpg like the old ones did.

I would drive such a truck.

[MinisterofDOOM]

And truck people know going in that they aren't gonna get great mileage anyway. I'd pay the extra $2K for a bigger truck, absolutely.

Exactly. The real problem is that "compact" pickups have gotten too big. They used to be compact. Ford's Ranger was the last truly-compact pickup and they killed it off this year. A genuinely SMALL pickup, like the Ranger, which gets by just fine on 4 cylinders, is what's needed. With the way used compact pickups hold their value (check KBB or autotrader for late-90s Frontiers, Tacos, and Rangers and you'll see what I mean) and the current MPG-whiner atmosphere, I would think tiny trucks would be a very obvious choice for automakers. Practical, versatile, cheap to own, basic, and dependable. The last 3 seem to have been forgotten in recent years.

The way I see it, if we're going to make the Frontier as big as it is, just put the VK56 in it and call it a day. I know lots of people who want the utility of a truck without the disadvantages associated with half-ton sizes. A genuinely capable but parkable truck seems like just as obvious a product as the compact.