Road Test: 2000 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab

Vehicle Tested: 2000 Nissan Crew Cab XE 2WD

Base Price of Test Vehicle: $18,860 (including destination charge)

Options on Test Vehicle: Value Plus Package ($599 - includes: P265/70R15 tires; alloy wheels; tilt steering wheel; tailgate finisher; passenger vanity mirror; variable intermittent wipers)

Price of Test Vehicle: $19,459 (including destination charges)

Vehicle Tested: 2000 Nissan Crew Cab SE 4WD

Base Price of Test Vehicle: $21,710 (including destination charge)

Options on Test Vehicle: Power Package ($1,080 - includes: power windows, power door locks, power mirrors, security system with remote keyless entry, cruise control)

Price of Test Vehicle: $22,790 (including destination charge)

The Cargo and Capacity Compromise

by Christian J. Wardlaw
Photos by the author

Say hello to the SUT (sport-utility truck). This 2000 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab is the first volley into a new niche market that combines the passenger space of an SUV with the practicality of a pickup truck. Dodge will debut a four-door Dakota this fall, and early next year, we'll see 2001 Ford models called the Explorer Sport Trac and the F-150 SuperCrew. Even luxury automakers are planning SUV/pickup hybrids. Lincoln will bring the ridiculous Navigator-based Blackwood to market within two years, and GM is rumored to be planning Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac crew cab ultra-shortbed trucks for introduction a couple of calendars from now.

But today, Nissan claims bragging rights to "the first compact truck with four full-sized forward-hinged doors offered for sale in the United States." Will these types of vehicles be a hit? Certainly at first, with fad-crazed Americans rushing out to buy them in droves, looking for the next way to stand out from the crowd at the local mall. But will they have staying power?

Our staff, a notoriously skeptical bunch, seriously doubts it. As one Frontier Crew Cab driver wondered aloud after a test drive: "I don't really get it. Nissan gave this truck a bed. But you can't actually haul anything. No couches, plywood, motorcycles - nothing except dirt and perhaps tall vegetation from the nursery. Anything else could be handled by an SUV while avoiding the elements at the same time. And Nissan gave this truck a rear seat. These are supposed to be useable by three adults, but they're not. So what do you do with this thing?"

We're still wondering after two weeks in two different, but visually identical, Frontier Crew Cabs. We tested a stripped XE two-wheeler with an automatic transmission in Southern California, and a decently equipped four-wheeler with a five-speed in central Colorado, both painted black. The price difference between the two vehicles was $3,331, with the SE including shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive, body-color bumpers and wheel flares, different exterior mirrors, 16-inch wheels and tires, side-step rails, fog lights, CD player, and leather wrapping the shift knob and steering wheel. Our SE also came with unique gauges, special cloth fabric, power windows, doors and mirrors, remote keyless entry with security system, and cruise control. Taking into account the fact that our XE had the slushbox, the premium for SE trim was actually more like $4,381.

Neither truck was equipped with some of the more interesting Crew Cab accouterments: tubular roof rack, locking tonneau cover for the bed, or a bed extender that, when deployed, gives this Frontier cargo volume rivaling that of compact extended-cab models from other manufacturers. We also missed out on the necessary floor mats, competent 100-watt sound system, available sunroof, and desirable limited-slip differential. Fully loaded, an SE 4WD Crew Cab would top out around $25,400, and that wouldn't include any of the dealer-installed goodies. To keep this price in perspective, consider that the 1999 Chevrolet Silverado LS 4WD Extended Cab we tested last year ran just $26,150.

Which brings us to our next point. Nissan says that the Frontier Crew Cab's "four full-sized doors allow up to five passengers to enter and exit the vehicle with ease." Yeah, well, compared to the current Frontier King Cab, this is true. But compared to the aforementioned Chevy Silverado, this is a real stretch. Notice they don't say "five adults." That's because the Crew Cab's rear bench seat offers legroom on par with a Ford F-150 SuperCab or Dodge Ram Quad Cab. There's not enough width to reasonably accommodate more than two people, and the bottom seat cushion is mounted so low that rear riders are forced to eat their knees. The Silverado is infinitely more comfortable for rear-seat passengers, and has optional access doors on either side of the cab for 2000.

What the Nissan Crew Cab is able to do is allow two adults and two or three kids to ride in relative comfort. But if they're toddlers in child seats, beware that front passengers will not be able to sit with the seats all the way back in the tracks so the little munchkins can have some foot room. This could be a problem for larger drivers. More than one of our averaged-sized staffers complained that the front seats didn't slide back far enough for adequate legroom as it is. Moving the seat up to accommodate for the kids' legs won't help matters in this regard.

In our humble opinion, if you need a truck that hauls both cargo and the family, and you're not necessarily concerned about vehicle size, pop the extra coupla grand for an extended cab Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra. You'll get a roomy back seat and a full-size cargo bed, along with superior towing capacity. But if exterior dimensions are an issue, the Frontier works well squeezing into tight places in the city and off the beaten path, if you don't mind squeezing the family into the cabin.

Our drivers in Los Angeles reported no problems wheeling the XE 2WD around the tight confines of the western suburbs, finding it easy to park and thread through traffic, partially because of the truck's excellent visibility. Off-road in the wilds of Colorado, our test driver emerged from the woods with nary a scratch on the Frontier's shiny black flanks. However, our driver did report that the Frontier's high cowl and obtrusive hood, coupled with a sitting-on-the-floor driving position, blocked the view forward over small rises when running off-road, turning four-wheeling into a guessing game much of the time. A seat-height adjuster would do wonders for visibility and front-seat comfort, as well as adding valuable foot room beneath the front chairs for back-seat riders. On washboard dirt roads, the steering column shook violently enough to cause our driver to think that the brittle plastic covering the column and surrounding dashboard might crack in two. Otherwise, the Frontier is a champ off road, with a capable suspension, reasonable approach and departure angles, easy-to-engage 4-Hi mode, and lots of torque down low for scrabbling up steep inclines.

A 3.3-liter V6 is standard on all Crew Cab models. It makes 170 horsepower and 200 ft-lbs. of torque. According to Nissan, 90 percent of the twist is available at 1,500 rpm, and we believe it. The Frontier pulls strongly at low rpm, but quickly runs out of steam as the revs climb. Our four-wheeler, equipped with a five-speed manual transmission shifted using a towering lever that reminded our driver of a school bus gear changer in both appearance and its agrarian shift action, couldn't beat a Chevy Corsica in the stoplight drag race. Out in California, our drivers reported that the automatic missed downshifts and exhibited slushy upshifts, and that the truck seemed much slower in general that it really was. Plus, the engine makes plenty of racket when pushed, and all the low rpm torque made the inside rear wheel squeal when accelerating around turns. Our four-wheeler's tail also slid easily when running in 2WD on dirt roads as the tires grappled for purchase on terra firma. But Nissan says the Frontier Crew Cab will tow 5,000 pounds when equipped with an automatic (3,500 pounds with the five-speed), and that's good enough to get the Waverunners from the garage to the beach.

Surprisingly, we found that the Frontier is a peaceful place to while away time. Running interstates, the truck's cabin seemed quieter than the Dodge Intrepid and new Chevy Impala, with wind noise from along the tops of the pillars the most intrusive aural annoyance. Tire whine and road rumble was virtually non-existent. And with more equal weight distribution than regular-cab and King Cab Frontiers, the Crew Cab gives a better, though still distinctly truck-like, ride around town. Though able to provide a quiet and smooth ride, the tires on our test trucks keeled over and begged for mercy in turns, howling alarmingly in curves even at moderate speeds.

The brakes, a four-wheel antilock system with discs up front and drums in the back, worked well and offered progressive feel and outstanding modulation. Steering, as can be expected from a recirculating-ball setup installed in a rugged ladder-frame truck, was devoid of feel and suffered a large dead spot on-center, but we appreciated the thick, perfectly sized wheel rim. Aside from the excellent brakes, one driver said that the Frontier felt "rubbery," from the steering response to the suspension damping to the shift action.

Rubbery would not describe the Crew Cab's interior. Plasticky, though not technically a word, is much more indicative of passenger accommodations. In the Frontier, plenty of expenses are spared, and it is blatantly obvious. Acres of plastic coat the Crew Cab's cabin, and it ain't pretty. It looks cheap, feels cheap, scratches easily, and reflects a high degree of gloss. Our basic XE 2WD test truck had five plastic dash inserts where optional equipment controls would have been installed, and these blank spots on our dash, according to one driver, would do nothing but "remind me that I'm the cheap loser who couldn't afford a real truck." Despite the added equipment on our SE 4WD model, our guy in Denver said the Frontier had a "hose-it-out look and feel to the interior."

But some folks care more about how things work than how they look. In this regard, the Frontier is mostly a winner, thanks to simple ergonomic design marred only by a few faux pas. On the downside, we lamented the fact that the stereo, marked with large lettering and big buttons, lacked a tuning knob. The rotary climate controls could have used larger pictographs to describe airflow functions. To engage the cruise control, you must push a rocker switch hidden low on the left side of the dash. A green indicator light that gets washed out in the sun is your only indicator that cruise is ready to accept a set speed, which is easy to do with the steering wheel-mounted controls. Finally, the dash-mounted parking brake, whose basic design dates at least three decades, is just plain silly and difficult to use.

Otherwise, we found the Frontier's interior acceptably accommodating and well assembled. Soft vinyl surfaces on both door and center-console armrests were appreciated. There's lots of storage in the large console and door bins, both of which were seemingly designed to hold CD jewel cases, as well as in the deep glove box. Our SE 4WD Crew Cab had five decently sized cupholders to use as intended or to hold assorted items like house keys and cell phones. The tilt steering wheel offers a widely adjustable range, allowing it to be positioned in a multitude of ways. We could not detect any squeaks or rattles in either test truck.

Our testers differed on two points concerning the interior. In California, drivers lauded the quick-cooling air-conditioning system, but our Colorado test driver found that the A/C cycled between blowing warm, moist air and cool, refreshing air, depending on how much power the engine was draining from the system. This issue was similar to one we reported in 1997 concerning an Infiniti QX4 when run on hot days at altitude. We also disagreed on the sound system. California drivers enjoyed the "good imaging and separation" the Frontier's speakers provide, while in Colorado, our driver could only get decent sound by fiddling quite a bit with bass and treble settings. Plus, this staffer noted that the CD player skipped easily on rutted roadways. We also had opposing viewpoints on the styling of this new breed of truck. Our Colorado test driver liked the way the Crew Cab looked, while Southern Californians called it out of proportion.

Whether you like the Frontier Crew Cab's styling or not, the important thing to keep in mind is that this newfangled genre of the SUV and pickup is a compromise. This Nissan is a vehicle for people with light-duty cargo and towing needs, who don't need rear-seat accommodations for adults and don't care if the stuff in the bed gets wet (though the optional tonneau cover should solve this latter problem). As one staff member summed up: "If you want to haul stuff around, buy a regular truck with a full-size bed. It works better. If you want to haul a family around, buy an SUV. It works better. But if you need both, this compromise between pickup and sport-ute might suit you."