2014 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X
What Would Grandpa Say?
What Would Grandpa Say?
All together now, in your best “grandpa” voice, repeat after me: When I was your age, trucks are what people bought when they couldn’t afford a car.
There, now, wasn’t that fun? If I were going to offer a rebuttal to my “grandpa” voice, it would be this: Gramps, back in your day, trucks weren’t outfitted with shift-on-the-fly four-wheel-drive, or equipped with SiriusXM Satellite Radio, or loaded with heated leather bucket seats!
And then my inner grandpa would tell me to go have a bowl of ice cream and all would be right with the world again.
The 2014 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X is also about as right as a bowl of ice cream -- in the compact pick-up segment, that is. And while we’ve seen the category shrink over the past decade (Ford Ranger is gone, Colorado and Canyon are on the comeback, Tacoma remains) the Frontier holds steady, offering maneuverability and utility in a world dominated by 20-inch wheels and clean mud flaps. My own grandpa would have called that “all sizzle and no steak.” Well, the Frontier has sizzle AND the steak to back it up. The body remains unchanged this year, but comfort options and upgrades are new. My test vehicle was outfitted with the PRO-4X Luxury Package, which added a navigation system with a color display and voice recognition. My son enjoyed placing a call to his dad, literally without lifting a finger. The touch display, though nice, was often hard to read in daylight, even accounting for brightness adjustment. The package also includes very comfortable heated leather seats, heated side mirrors, a power moonroof, and a roof rack with cross bars.
Off road, the Frontier handles easily and confidently, whether on snow-covered surfaces or muddy roads. A simple twist of a knob, and I was Queen of the Hill. Cruising around town or down the highway, the 4.0-liter V6 seemed thirsty, but performed just fine, picking up speed as needed and maintaining speed down winding canyons. The ride was trucky of course, but not abusive. The cabin remains quiet even at higher speeds. Having tested a very beefy and brawny full-size pick-up the week before, I especially appreciated the maneuverability and easy agility of this small truck. I will say that it was definitely much easier to park! Ride height was comfortable for my 5 1/2 foot frame, especially with power adjustable seats. The kids had plenty of space in the back, with 38 inches of headroom and 25 inches of legroom.
Knobs and controls on both the steering wheel and center stack were user-friendly without being intrusive or cumbersome.
On one particular trip, I made good use of the bed extender when I brought home a media console table for my basement. The factory-applied spray-in bed liner made loading it worry free as well as slip free -- a big plus here in the freezing mountain-top winters.
All in all, I’d say the Frontier is a small truck capable of doing big jobs. The V6 is rated to tow up to 6300 pounds and has a payload capability of 1,215 pounds. Fuel economy is rated at 21 city and 15 highway. The trip computer told me I averaged about 17 mpg during my week with the PRO-4X.
In the compact truck segment, the Frontier can get the job done. Pricing on my test vehicle topped out at $36,050. Base pricing, however, starts under 20K.
There, now, wasn’t that fun? If I were going to offer a rebuttal to my “grandpa” voice, it would be this: Gramps, back in your day, trucks weren’t outfitted with shift-on-the-fly four-wheel-drive, or equipped with SiriusXM Satellite Radio, or loaded with heated leather bucket seats!
And then my inner grandpa would tell me to go have a bowl of ice cream and all would be right with the world again.
The 2014 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X is also about as right as a bowl of ice cream -- in the compact pick-up segment, that is. And while we’ve seen the category shrink over the past decade (Ford Ranger is gone, Colorado and Canyon are on the comeback, Tacoma remains) the Frontier holds steady, offering maneuverability and utility in a world dominated by 20-inch wheels and clean mud flaps. My own grandpa would have called that “all sizzle and no steak.” Well, the Frontier has sizzle AND the steak to back it up. The body remains unchanged this year, but comfort options and upgrades are new. My test vehicle was outfitted with the PRO-4X Luxury Package, which added a navigation system with a color display and voice recognition. My son enjoyed placing a call to his dad, literally without lifting a finger. The touch display, though nice, was often hard to read in daylight, even accounting for brightness adjustment. The package also includes very comfortable heated leather seats, heated side mirrors, a power moonroof, and a roof rack with cross bars.
Off road, the Frontier handles easily and confidently, whether on snow-covered surfaces or muddy roads. A simple twist of a knob, and I was Queen of the Hill. Cruising around town or down the highway, the 4.0-liter V6 seemed thirsty, but performed just fine, picking up speed as needed and maintaining speed down winding canyons. The ride was trucky of course, but not abusive. The cabin remains quiet even at higher speeds. Having tested a very beefy and brawny full-size pick-up the week before, I especially appreciated the maneuverability and easy agility of this small truck. I will say that it was definitely much easier to park! Ride height was comfortable for my 5 1/2 foot frame, especially with power adjustable seats. The kids had plenty of space in the back, with 38 inches of headroom and 25 inches of legroom.
Knobs and controls on both the steering wheel and center stack were user-friendly without being intrusive or cumbersome.
On one particular trip, I made good use of the bed extender when I brought home a media console table for my basement. The factory-applied spray-in bed liner made loading it worry free as well as slip free -- a big plus here in the freezing mountain-top winters.
All in all, I’d say the Frontier is a small truck capable of doing big jobs. The V6 is rated to tow up to 6300 pounds and has a payload capability of 1,215 pounds. Fuel economy is rated at 21 city and 15 highway. The trip computer told me I averaged about 17 mpg during my week with the PRO-4X.
In the compact truck segment, the Frontier can get the job done. Pricing on my test vehicle topped out at $36,050. Base pricing, however, starts under 20K.
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