There’s just something nice about proven inventions. The Buick one-gallon V6. The Weber barbecue. The chicken. Obviously, this line of thinking extends to midsize trucks, but that’s a difficult line to walk in an age where everyone seems to be going with new downsized, turbocharged engines with only a few years of history around entire engine families. Well, almost everyone. The 2025 Nissan Frontier may be updated, but it’s still exactly the truck you expect it to be, and if that isn’t reassuring, I don’t know what is.
On the outside, tweaks are relatively minor but meaningful. With a single-frame grille, extra trim around the fog lamps, new wheels, and a tailgate applique on PRO-X and PRO-4X trims, the updated styling looks right for the truck, and successfully pulls off the tricky mid-cycle refresh thing. However, there’s a good chance you care less about the way the Frontier looks and more about what’s underneath, and that’s where Nissan’s made some useful upgrades while still sticking with what’s known to work.
Let’s start with towing capacity, up around 500 pounds across the board. The base King Cab S 4×2 model can now tow 7,150 pounds, while the lowest tow rating belongs to the long bed Crew Cab PRO-4X trim at 6,310 pounds. All other trims than that long bed PRO-4X are rated to pull at least 6,500 pounds. That’s pretty useful, and so is offering a six-foot bed on more crew cab trims. For furniture pickers and DIY-ers, that longer bed option could be a great middle ground between a Ford Maverick and a full-sized pickup truck.
There’s more good news, too — Nissan hasn’t changed the powertrain. We’re still looking at a 3.8-liter naturally aspirated VQ38DD V6 making 310 horsepower and 281 lb.-ft. of torque, coupled to a stout if occasionally firm-shifting nine-speed automatic transmission licensed from Mercedes-Benz. Sure, all models get direct injection, but that’s really it when it comes to advanced technologies. No turbos, no downsizing from a V6 to an inline-four, nothing overly complex to give you pause about longevity (even though, if we’re fair, many modern turbos have been through thorough durability testing).
On the inside, the updated 2025 Nissan Frontier gets a larger 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment screen on SV, SL, PRO-X, and PRO-4X trims so you can see your wireless Apple CarPlay or new wireless Android Auto really nicely, and all trims finally get a telescopic steering column, but that’s as far as big changes go. Aside from the aforementioned notables, some new air vents, and a big Frontier badge, everything else is more-or-less just downloaded equipment including a standard sliding rear window on all trims, standard 17-inch alloy wheels on SV trims, and a standard 360-degree camera system on SL trims. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
While the Toyota Tacoma has historically been the buy-it-for-life midsize pickup truck, that truck’s new powertrain/drivetrain combined with the known durability and support of Nissan’s midsize truck powertrain suggests the 2025 Nissan Frontier might be a truck worth keeping for the long-haul. Sure, it’s not the fanciest midsize truck on the market, but it’s upgraded where it counts, simple where it can be simple, and shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. While Nissan hasn’t yet released pricing for the 2025 Frontier, we wouldn’t be surprised if it sticks fairly close to the pricing of the 2024 model, which starts at $32,020 including freight and rises to $46,190 for the most expensive Hardbody Edition. Expect more news on pricing closer to when the new Frontier rolls into showrooms later this summer.
(Photo credits: Nissan)
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Does the frontier come with a real locking rear diff or just some fake abs brakes trick. I looked all over the build and price and stuff on the Nissan website and It looks like even the pro-4x does not have a real locking diff.
The Pro4x has always had a locking diff on a dana axle – it used to be the m226 (d44) in the last gen.
Thanks. it looked like on the nissan website it said it was only rear break modulation to simulate a locking dif.
Biggest problem with these is having to deal with a Nissan dealer to get one.
Worst dealer experience I have had is at a Toyota dealer. They all suck.
I chose a ’24 Pro4X for my company car because I had everything but Home Depot runs covered with other vehicles. There are odd head-scratcher features (Homelink is an option?!) however it’s a solid, comfortable truck that manages to tick all the boxes.
The big change is that they added a tilting AND telescoping steering wheel. Truly a master class feature for 2025
AUTOPIAN AS TEAM CHICKEN CONFIRMED
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…also, can they not with that gaudy F R O N T I E R across the center of the dashboard? Good grief.
Quack
Cluck.
“ (even though, if we’re fair, many modern turbos have been through thorough durability testing).”
Many? All production engines, all of them, have been through durability testing. And they all passed, even the turbo ones.
If you think that some of them aren’t reliable you should see the shit show that is prototype engine development. We’d sometimes have several engine test cells catch fire per day.
I feel like the Frontier is the spiritual successor to my 2008 Tacoma. Fairly basic in most everything it does, not really anything special to write home about and even still looks pretty comparable in the looks department
The exterior changes were unneccessary, it looked better before. The interior changes are welcome.
Thomas, I generally agree with everything you said about this years Nissan truck – also known as year 27 AH (after hardbody).
The one thing that I can’t agree with is an obscure reference to a Weber “barbecue” Torch, as a fellow North Cackalacky native, back me up on this. Barbecue is a product and not a device right?
One uses a grill or cooker to produce barbecue and “going to a barbecue” is a phrase that certainly wouldn’t fly in NC 😉
The fact that you can only get an extended cab option from Toyota and Nissan is truly depressing.
The Frontier’s reign as the low-key most handsome truck on the market is apparently over
Perhaps, one day, when Nissan stops building these, we can get Elon Musk to space the final Frontier.
There are two things missing from this truck. The first, like all other existing similar types of vehicles, is a manual transmission. The second is a long bed… and I mean a real long bed. The bed should be long enough to put an 8 foot long sheet of plywood, even if it only fits over the wheel wells. This is the way it used to be. I can understand not having a manual transmission, but not having the choice of a proper long bed is very unfortunate.
These truck designs have gone on the way side. They were work trucks, then folks started buying them and turning them into pleasure vehicles so with more potential sales, companies have concentrated on pleasure trucks. This is fine but the switch is to the extreme. There are no proper small sized work trucks any longer. Also, these vehicles should also be designed for easy maintainability. There are too many electronic bells and whistles on these things that are unnecessary as a work truck.
I tried to build one on the Nissan website. They don’t have any transmission or engine options. I cannot believe at this time that they couldn’t come up with an engine that has better gas mileage then 18/23 mpg. Holy cow. My 1997 Frontier XE Extended Cab 4 banger had way better gas mileage than that and I believe it was carbureted. I should have kept that truck!
What mid-sized truck (available in the US) has ever had an 8′ bed?
Couriers and Rangers had 6′ bed standard, 7′ bed optional.
I’m sure the other manufacturers were similar.
So yeah you could easily haul an 8′ sheet of plywood home in a small longbed truck.
What’s stopping you from hauling plywood in a 5′ bed?
I haul an 8′ sheet of plywood in my Frontier all the time and my bed is like just over 4′. If you know how to tie stuff in, it’s no problem. This is the default truck bed size for 90% of the world and works fine.
I liked my 8ft box toyota regular cab and I think my ranger regular cab may have been 8 ft box also.
Regular cab ranger had a 7′ box. That Toyota was likely a T-100 which is an odd duck, as it was bigger than mid-size trucks of the time, but smaller than the full-size.
I was renting an electric vehicle last week and Thrifty seemed to be going out of their way to really disincentivize me from doing so. When I landed and went to choose my vehicle, they told me I had to wait for my EV but could get a Frontier for an extra $10/day.
The listed MPG was 17 and that was a big fat lol.
I bought a proto-Frontier in 1995 new off the lot; $10,800 + tax if I recall.
Yes it was 2WD, yes it was a regular cab, yes it had manual windows and locks, and a 5-speed manual transmission. It did have an AM/FM Cassette deck with two speakers and A/C, though. It also had 0 airbags and drum brakes on the rear.
1995 model year was required to have a drivers side airbag in all light trucks
Maybe they were required to, but Nissan didn’t add one until 1996 and the value truck package lost the power mirrors to compensate.
They weren’t quite required in light trucks yet as there were a few that didn’t have an airbag in MY1995. Some like the 4Runner, Pathfinder, and Sidekick/Tracker added airbags for 1996. Others faded out anyway after 1995: Samurai, Isuzu Pickup, Mitsubishi Mighty Max (although that shows in brochures into MY1996).
If my testing of every midsize truck (not every trim level though) The Frontier was the best driving midsize truck before the others uodated to turbo 4s. Some of the 9-speeds had issues, but overall is a pretty stout powertrain. I do prefer the turbo 4s from both Toyota and GM with the GM being my favorite midsize truck now, taking the crown from the Frontier.
Personally, I avoid first model year chickens. I’ll let the early adopters work out the bugs for me.
Did you even read the article?
“There’s more good news, too — Nissan hasn’t changed the powertrain.”
Did you even read my comment? It’s about chickens.
Which is maybe more of a point to buy the Frontier, engine and trans have been out since 2020. You are correct though, if you want reliability, let some of the teething problems of new designs get worked out before purchasing a new model. I.e. Toyota recalling 100k 3.4 V6 twin turbos. I have no doubt these high boost pressure, small displacement engines will become reliable with time, right now it’s still a question.
Toyota leaving a bunch of machining debris in the block doesn’t have to do with it being a boosted engine.
So, this is (and I don’t say this angrily) a regurgitation of the press release.
When will you drive and review it?
I would say it slightly angrily if I were you. How does regurgitating press releases with no original insight play into
The Autopian exists to serve the car enthusiast community by creating content that informs and entertains, while celebrating the unifying quality of automobiles.
or
The Autopian is the ultimate car-culture website run by obsessive car nerds who want nothing more than to make people laugh while teaching them about geeky car minutiae.
I think the exterior looks pretty good tbh. The interior looks disappointing. Did they find NOS climate control knobs from a 90’s GM to operate the 4WD system?
You know they could had saved even more money by moving everything to the screen.
I am sure Toretto would love the NOS knobs 😉
That is a lot of orange.
Oh no..that giant “Frontier” logo on the inside is definitely going to be a debadge.
Will probably be a $300 option for a factory delete. I’d say it would be worth it.
I want a replacement that says “More Fronty” and also have a Titan rebadged to say “Frontiest”
“offering a six-foot bed on more crew cab trims…”
A crew cab with a six foot bed is not a midsize anything. I remember when they wouldn’t even make a half ton pickup with a crew cab and a six foot bed, because they weigh so much that if you want to retain a useful payload you get pushed into 3/4 ton GVWR territory.
“…a great middle ground between a Ford Maverick and a full-sized pickup truck.”
Again, it’s not a middle ground between a Maverick and a fullsize. A Frontier with a crew cab and a 6′ bed is barely 7 inches shorter than a 2024 crew cab short bed F150, it’s longer than 2024 single cab F150s, and it is longer than my 8′ bed F150.
it’s a good middle ground for people that want a nice long bed but don’t need sumo wrestler cabin space, 7-ton towing capacity, or a loan payment rivaling their house.
Seats 4 with a V6 and longer bed. But lacking the girth and heft of full-size is a real sweat spot if you ask me.
“lacking the girth and heft of full-size is a real sweet spot”
See, that the thing: it doesn’t, because it is not practically smaller than a fullsize.
It is longer, taller, and heavier than my F150, with a worse turning circle. According to Car and Driver, it has a curb to curb circle of 43.5′, which is worse than some 2024 F150s.
Nissan Frontiers are notorious for large turning circles. They need to adjust their steering rack and geometry.
The Frontier is much more narrow than an F-150, can’t fit 3 car seats in the back. Is there a shorter crew cab truck with a 6′ bed?
Not shorter, but the Cybertruck is the same length(224″) with a 6′ bed. The Cybertruck which is not midsize in any way.
Width is the only metric by which “midsize” pickups are any smaller nowadays.
Midsized goes by width not length.
That’s what she said.
LOL!
Yes, midsized goes by width. Nowadays, only width.
Midsized pickups used to be smaller in width, length, height, weight, and capacity. Now just width.
This is the change that I am trying to comment on, and IMO width alone is not enough to make it a completely different class of vehicle. Especially because useful width does not necessarily have much to do with exterior dimensions.
Ok
The difference is larger in width and bed height. I can fit SIGNIFANTLY more stuff in the bed of my Silverado than I could in my Colorado.
A 6′ bed Frontier has 49 cubic feet of bed volume, only slightly less than the 52 on a 5.5′ F150.
“coupled to a stout if occasionally firm-shifting nine-speed automatic transmission”
The one that was recalled multiple times and is under a class action lawsuit?