We got to hear from Nissan about their new Frontier and it got us thinking…How does this stack up to the benchmark Tacoma?
Powertrains
Toyota gets a lot of flack for never updating their products, but the Frontier went almost a decade and a half without a new gen! The current gen tacoma is from 2016 so like cutting edge for toyota. But that bleeding edge modern tacoma isn’t exactly modern under the skin
Taco: The base engine in the Tacoma is a 2.7 I4 with 159 hp. Don’t get that. The engine you should get is the 3.5 NV V6 making 278 hp. You can get a 6 speed auto gearbox, but something that’s cool is you can still get a stick here. HOW MANY TRUCKS CAN CLAIM THAT TODAY – especially at the range topper TRD PRO. From there you can get a RWD taco or one with 4×4 and a 2 speed transfer case
Frontier: The frontier also only gets one engine option but this came out for 2020 and it’s the 3.8 NA V6 making 310 hp and 281 lbft. From there power goes through a 9 speed gearbox, but as of now no manual option available. Would be surprised if it came. You can also get the frontier in RWD or 4WD. The frontier has a bigger engine making more power but also more gears so fuel economy is within 1mpg of each other in either RWD or 4WD
Capability
These are trucks after all so let’s look at the things they can do
Tacoma:
Towing – 6800 lbs max (in RWD)
Payload – 1685 max payload
Bed size – from 5 foot to 6 foot
Frontier:
Towing – 6720 lbs max
Payload – 1610 lbs max
Bed Size – 5 to 6 foot
It’s close but point Taco
Offroad
For this category we’ll talk about the TRD Pro taco and the Pro 4x Frontier
Tacoma:
4WD
Transfer case
Locking rear
360 cameras
Crawl control
MTS
Atrac
Skid plates
Fox shocks
Goodyear wrangler AT tires
Approach: 35
Departure: 19
Breakover: 24
Clearance: 9.4 inches (based on 2021 data, new TRD gets an inch lift)
Frontier:
4WD
Transfer case
Rear locker
Bilstein shocks
Skid plates
360 camera
Hankook AT2 tires
Approach: 32
Departure: 22
Breakover: 20
Clearance: 9.8 inches
Some of the other information is embargoed so more to come, but this covers most of it
Livability
There’s a lot that goes into this category and we’ll dive deeper in a standalone video later this year, but for now let’s focus on the highlights:
Tacoma:
Both these trucks are midsize which apparently,in the case of the tacoma means the seating position makes no sense at all. I hit my knee of the steering column so to minimize that I have to put my seat all the way down which then puts my knees more bent. It’s just weird.
The normal stuff like the infotainment is fine though. It’s not cutting edge but you do get ACP and AA, but its not wireless.
The reverse camera is terrible, but you do have 360
The bilsteins on the TRD offroad are too stiff to the point I’m almost forced into the PRO cuz the ride is that much better.
Safety suite is pretty standard without a lot of the self-driving stuff
Honestly, living with the Tacoma is what i would call “fine” it’s not as comfortable as the Colorado or the Frontier, but most people are buying for the reliability and thats bulletproof
Frontier:
This also get bilsteins in the offroad models, but i havent actually gotten to test it on the road. In my experience with most bilsteins though theyre overdamped and stiff, but we’ll see
The frontier is actually smaller than the taco, but miraculously, the seating position is better. I seem to have more room which comes down to the dash design
The look is very similar to the Taco, but this has a bigger screen. ACP and AA same as taco
But safety shield improved and offers a couple more goodies than the Taco, btu again until i can actually test them on the road and in execution I cant say
Both trucks offer 4 full doors, but dont expect a lot of room in the back on either one
Price
To this point both trucks have been pretty evenly matched which isn’t super shocking, but I would have thought there would be more areas in which Nissan would have tried to cement a lead over the Taco seeing as it’s all new for 2022
Tacoma: starts at 26,400 goes all the way up to 44,325
Frontier: pricing is yet to be announced, but car and driver and Kbb think it’ll start at either 28 or 29k, which is more than the base SR taco, but that’s basically a bare bones work truck so that starting price is much more in line with the SR5
So let’s tally the points:
Powertrains: nissan
Capability: Toyota
Offroad: Toyota
Liveability: Nissan
Price: Toyota
Which means the Toyota actually wins which makes no sense as the Nissan is a brand new truck and i know i havent had it on the road yet, but I aslo gave the liveability point to Nissan so unless the price is actually much lower than what’s suspected that Toyota will still win regardless of how well the Frontier is on the road
That sums up the more factual part of this comparison so you can click off now, but if you want to hear some of my opinions on these trucks I’ll get into that now
Rant
Ok so with that stuff covered I want to cover some of the less tangible things you can consider.
First, we have to mention it becaus we’re talking Toyota – reliability. We don’t really know how the Nissan will hold up since it is so new and in fairness the frontiers have historically been pretty solid, but when the most famous car show in the world devotes an entire episode to trying to break your truck AND FAILS, you’ve won for life.
That being said, the transformation to the new gen has begun with the tundra and it’s coming for the taco and then it’s gunna be turbos and hybrid ans complexity, but same boat for the frontier eventually
Second, community. Toyota customers are passionate, loyal, and lifers. Especially the community around the TRD models. That enthusiast group is very well supported bythe aftermarket, there are huge communities online, and the ownership experience extends far beyond behind the wheel
I have not seen the same community for the Frontier. Sure the Pro4x is capable, but it doesn’t have the same heritage or community the TRD models do. There’s less aftermarket support for customizability, and therefor the ownership experience will be slightly lonelier. Toyota also sells the most so there’s inherently more people with your truck
Third, this one is subjective but here are my thoughts. The Tacoma is a very handsome truck, but until you get to the TRD Pro with the heritage grille it’s not very interesting looking. There’s so many of them on the road, they don’t look super special so you just kind of disregard them until you see a pro with that grille or one that’s been kitted out
The Nissan on the other hand is brand new and therefor has that special phase right now. The design is much more modern while staying with classic pickup proportions. Maybe it’s just because it’s new but I think the Nissan looks better. Inside and out
So ultimately, right now I’d have to stick with the market leading taco, but again i havent had the opportunity to fully explore the Frontier…either way very glad to see another more modern option in the segment