Boating World

Nissan Frontier Crew Cab XE

Nissan's new Frontier Crew Cab XE takes the compact truck/tow vehicle concept further.

February 1, 2004

In a perfect world, we'd all live in waterfront mansions with private boat docks. In a nearly perfect world, we'd all have our boats docked at a nearby marina, ready and waiting to take us out on a moment's notice. In the real world, though, most of us get our boats to (and from) the water the old-fashioned way - by towing it.

The happy by-product of this is that in addition to indulging our boating jones, we get to indulge our tow-vehicle fetish every time a new model comes out, something that seems to be happening about every other week these days. And while it may seem like sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) are the hot ticket when it comes to towing, there are a lot of us who still love pickups, especially crew cabs, because of their overall versatility. We're the people Nissan's designers had in mind when they introduced the 2000 Frontier Crew Cab XE.

There are times when it seems like SUVs are taking over the world - or at least the roads. And hardly a day goes by without one friend or another taking the plunge and buying a new SUV. But for a lot of us, and for all the SUVs' admitted allure, there's nothing like a pickup. Especially a crew cab. You get most of the benefits of an SUV or a car, but with the unmatched added bonus of that truck bed. The drawback, though, is that crew cabs tend to be extra-big and, worst of all, extra-pricey. But now that's all changed.

Nissan's new Frontier Crew Cab XE is being billed as the "first compact truck with four real (forward-hinged) doors," and while that may not seem like much to live up to, it is. When you're working within the confines of a compact truck chassis, every inch you allot to the cab is an inch you have to take away from the already smallish bed, and there simply aren't that many inches to work with. Shrink the bed too much and you lose the benefits and usefulness; keep the cab too small and the "four real doors" suddenly look like you borrowed them from Malibu Barbie's Beach Wagon. So does the interior.

2000-Nissan-Frontier-XE

This "Barbie Syndrome" is why a lot of us have been looking forward to the new Frontier Crew Cab with no more than cautious optimism. It's also why we're walking around with satisfied grins after spending time behind the wheel. The Frontier's not perfect, but it's about the best compromise anybody's come up with so far.

Right off the bat, you notice those four "real" doors. Unlike the "suicide" doors (doors that are hinged at the rear) that you find even on a lot of full-sized pickups, the Frontier's doors all hinge at the front, and they're all fulled-sized doors. As a result, the cab looks almost awkwardly large on the compact chassis, and you about half-expect to see a couple dozen guys in floppy shoes and red noses come tumbling out when you open the driver's door to take a look inside.

Your worries are for naught. So are your fears that you have to be jockey-sized to feel anything but cramped once you slide inside. The reality is that even if you're a little larger than average (say, 6-feet-plus and tipping the scales at well more than 200 pounds), you won't feel anything but comfortable in either the driver or the passenger bucket seat. The leg and headroom might not match up with that of a Chevy Suburban, but they're as much as you're ever going to find in a compact truck.

The rear seat, on the other hand, is a little tight if you're a big guy, but you will fit, and as long as you're not going cross-country, you'll make it okay. Nissan claims that the Frontier Crew Cab XE's rear seat is larger and roomier than any comparable extended cab truck, and until we've had the opportunity to check ‘em all out, we'll have to take the company's word for it. What is definite is that while Nissan claims you can sit three-across in the back seat, you probably won't - unless they're your three 9-year-olds.

The Frontier interior is comfortable, but it's not overly plush. The woven-cloth seats could use a little more cushioning, for instance. Still, the doors shut with a heavy, solid "thump," road and wind noise are negligible even at highway speeds, and driving the Frontier is a blast, so who needs plush?

Both 4x2 and 4x4 configurations (our test truck is a 4x2) are on the same chassis, so even the 4x2 provides welcome frame rigidity, ground clearance and ride height, three serious bonuses. Another bonus is the double-wishbone front suspension with stabilizer bar and rigid rear axle. The heavy-duty chassis includes a full-ladder frame that's been designed to improve torsional strength and resist twisting, giving a stronger, more stable tow even on twisting roads. The suspension smoothes out the ride more than you might expect in a truck this size, even under the strain of towing.

Towing, by the way, is one of the Frontier's strengths. Powered by a 3.3L, single overhead cam V6 that produces 170 hp, the Frontier comes with either the standard five-speed manual transmission with a towing capacity of 3,500 pounds, or an optional four-speed automatic transmission ($1,050, and well worth it) that can pull a full 5,000 pounds. Standard power steering and anti-lock brakes further enhance towing. Low-end torque and acceleration are solid, but the midrange is where the Frontier's engine seems to perform best. According to Nissan, the engine's been designed to provide 200 feet-pounds of torque, and to develop 90 percent of that torque at 1500 rpm, right where you want it for towing or for off-road use.

The transmission shifts unobtrusively, even under duress, and holds a highway speed without lurching from gear to gear even on hilly roads. This may not sound like a big deal, but if you've ever been stuck in a vehicle that can't decide which gear it wants to be in and spends the whole trip surging and slowing, you know how important well-engineered transmissions are. And this one works well.

But what about the bed? After all, the bed's what makes a pickup special, right? Absolutely. And the bed is where the Nissan engineers found the extra inches to offer up that roomy crew cab. So how compromised is the truck bed? Not too terribly. It's shorter than just about any bed in its class, about 20 inches shorter than the standard Frontier bed, and it does look even stubbier than it is because the cab's so big. You won't be able to fit a pallet-full of plywood in it, but you will be able to fit a full-sized inflatable mattress in the bed for a good night's sleep under the stars, and let's be honest - which would you really rather do, lug wood or doze under a clear night sky? Seriously, the bed is small, but it can be enlarged with the optional Bed Extender, a tubular aluminum "cage" mounted at the end of the bed. Folded in, the Extender creates a storage area for groceries or whatever else you might be toting that day.

Along with the Bed Extender, there are option packages that make the Frontier Crew Cab an even better value. The Value Plus Package ($599 on the 4x2 XE, $799 on the 4x4) adds a set of P265/70R15 tires, alloy wheels, tilt steering wheel, variable intermittent wipers, a front passenger vanity mirror, a tailgate finisher and an Off-Road decal (on the 4x4). The Power Package ($1,080) adds power windows and door locks, power mirrors, vehicle security, remote keyless entry and cruise control.

Sure, it's the Sport-Utility Age, and we may all wind up behind the wheel of a large SUV one of these days. Then again, we may not. After all, you can't just throw a sleeping bag in the back of that SUV and sleep under the stars. You can't fit a motorcycle in an SUV, either. You can do both, and a whole lot more, in the new Nissan Frontier Crew Cab XE.

Engine: 170-hp; 3.3L single overhad cam
(SOHC) V6
Max Tow Rating: 3,500 lbs. (five-speed manual transmission); 5,00 lbs.(four-speed automatic transmission)
Wheelbase: 116.1 inches
Standard Brakes: Power-assisted front disc/rear drum; 4-channel, 4-sensor, 4-wheel anti-lock
Fuel Economy (city/highways) 17/19 mpg, (manual transmission), 16/19 (automatic trasmisson)
Head Room: 39.3 inches (front), 37.8 (rear)
Leg Room: 41.4 inches (front), 30.7 inches (rear)
Fuel Capacity: 19.4 gallons
MSRP: $17,290 (4x2, manual five-speed); $18,340 (4x2, automatic); $19,890 (4x4, manual five-speed); $20,940 (4x4, automatic)
$25,799 (automatic transmission)

Nissan North America Inc.
P.O. Box 191
Gardina, CA 90248
(800) 321-4417

Verdict: Good choice for people looking for a compact truck that can tow. Cab size does mean compromising the truck bed size and capacity - it's about 15 percent smaller than the beds of other compact trucks - but with a towing capacity of up to 5,000 pounds, there's no compromise there. Offers the vertility of a pickup and a tow vehicle.