Test Drive with Nik Miles – 2022 NISSAN FRONTIER
March 8, 2022
Join Nik Miles as he goes over the ins and outs of the new 2022 Nissan Frontier. Nik takes us on a test drive and tells us about all the newest upgrades, how the car feels while driving, and gives us an honest review of the vehicle.
After the video make sure to check out our amazing selection of Nissan Frontier’s at our dealership on McLoughlin in Portland.
I’m Nik Miles and we’re at Dick Hannah Nissan on McLoughlin to show you the new 2022 Frontier that has best in class horsepower, some great tech features, we’ll check out the inside, the outside, and put it on the road to see how it handles.
Best in class horsepower under the hood from this engine, that’s 310 horsepower and 281 pounds-feet of torque. This makes the perfect family vehicle or something for a small business owner. Now Nissan has done a lot of work on improving the drive and handling of this vehicle. The steering has been improved to make it more precise and to make this vehicle more comfortable to drive over long distances. And they’ve also improved the way the cabin feels on a ride. In fact, the way the cabin’s mounted onto the chassis has been changed for an 80 percent more comfortable ride. So, take this on a long journey and you’ll notice how comfortable the vehicle is to ride as well. The noise on the interior of the cabin has been improved with a lot of the noise baffling on the inside of the cabin so you won’t hear the road noise as much, you won’t hear the wind noise as much with the vehicle. And that ride quality has been improved with the new hydraulic mounts in the cab. So, whether you have a fully laden truck bed or you have nothing in the truck bed you’ll feel a much more comfortable ride as well when you’re driving the brand new 2022 Nissan Frontier.
Also, this vehicle has been specially designed to do some off-roading. When you have the PRO-4X version of the vehicle you have an electronically locking rear differential which means that you can get out of sticky situations and muddy situations a lot easier. This means that this vehicle is now more capable than it has been in previous generations, and it means a lot more fun to drive if you’re gonna take it for those off-road excursions. A lot of people now choose to take these small trucks on adventures for the weekends and take them camping or overlanding. And this vehicle has been specifically built to do that, with lots of accessories available including sort of camping equipment as well that can go into the bed or onto the roof of the vehicle whether it be from Nissan or from aftermarket companies as well.
The fuel economy is also really good in this. You talk about the two-wheel-drive version you can get 20 miles a gallon combined and talk about the four-wheel-drive version, and you can get 19 miles a gallon combined, and that’s good fuel economy for a truck. So that puts a lot of smiles on people’s faces knowing that you have 310 horsepower under the hood. That makes this a perfect vehicle for work and play.
The interior of the vehicle was inspired by adventure, so everything is laid out for somebody who wants to take an adventure. Look at the way the gauge is, and everything is laid out, not just for the driver but to be equally shared by driver and passenger alike, so they both have access to everything in the vehicle. As well as on the upper trim levels having some interesting stitching, you can have contrast stitching for instance in this PRO-4X version that we’re in today. It has bright orange stitching against a black charcoal style background. That gives the vehicle just a little bit more presence, a little bit more affluence than just maybe black-on-black stitching as well. Then you can talk about some of the really nice extras in the vehicle, the largest-in-class 7-inch screen in between the gauges here, which is a nice extra to have. You can get your information displayed any way you want it. In between your gauges that to me is really important because at a glance I like to be able to see the information I want. I choose to have my speed displayed in a digital readout along with my average fuel economy. And then the other information that you can get by toggling through it is is nice to be able to have depending on what environment you’re in as well. Plus, then you have your fuel, your temperature gauges, your tachometer, as well as your speedometer which are the traditional gauges that are displayed on either side of that thin TFT screen.
Let’s talk about storage and this is one thing where this vehicle is absolutely amazing. This has four liters of storage in the center console and that is the largest in class by far, 6.5 liters storage in the front doors that you’ll also find a lot of storage throughout the vehicle that there has been utilized by Nissan to take every space possible for storage. Plus, the other thing is you’ll find the heated seats up front have a two-stage seat heater and they are really aggressive. When I put them on and I’m driving this in colder weather I feel immediate satisfaction from the seat heater whereas driving an older truck which I have does not heat as much as I’d like it to heat. This is an instantaneous heat when you turn it on and it’s very aggressive which on a cold day really puts a smile on your face. Up to eight beverage holders on the inside of the truck which means that for all five passengers you have at least one beverage holder and a second for some of the other passengers in the vehicle. Plus, in the doors, you have bottle holders, so it gives you that ability to put those soda bottles or water bottles in the doors to keep those safe from rolling around on the inside of the vehicle.
One of my favorite things in this vehicle is the nine-inch color touchscreen display and that is best in class. So first of all, you won’t find any other truck that has that currently. Plus, you get wireless charging. That is an option. You get standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and the option of a Wi-Fi hotspot. Already we’re technologically advanced against a lot of the other competitive vehicles in this class, and that’s what makes Nissan stand out so much because they are really pushing the boundaries of technologies that are available inside a lot of their trucks.
A lot of companies are moving to USB-C chargers in the vehicle and Nissan is doing the same, but they know that we’re not all there quite yet, so you do get both USB-C and USB-A chargers in the front of this vehicle. There are two 12-volt outlets in the Nissan Frontier and that means you can plug in accessories in this vehicle to make sure that you can have something a little bit extra in here like a laptop that can be charged or something like that. So, as you go on your outdoor adventures you do get the opportunity to take some gear with you that needs a 12-volt.
The Frontier is going to be the first Nissan with Intelligent Around View Monitor with moving object detection and that is especially for off-roading. Therefore, as the vehicle is used for off-roading you can see those cameras around the vehicle and see any other object around the vehicle that happens to move. That can be quite useful if you’re off-roading with a bunch of friends or you’re off-roading and there is wildlife around the vehicle as well. So, it’s a useful thing to have that no other vehicle has yet and it’s also super cool because Nissan will probably filter that into the other Nissan vehicles, but this is the first to get it.
Taking a look at the exterior of the 2022 Frontier PRO-4X it was designed in San Diego, and you can see the new chiseled look from the hood down the front grille. Now the PRO-4X version gets this new lava red badge at the front. The grille very stand upright. Everything is very, very square, and rugged-looking. Now it also gets in the PRO-4X version LED standard headlights and fog lights. The chiseling doesn’t stop. Coming around the front very chiseled shoulders, nice black wheels on this version, again with the lava red insignia for Nissan in those wheels, monochromatic mirrors for this particular version. This has really nice steps on the version of the PRO-4X. Coming around to the side there are two different versions of this vehicle, a cab version you can get, and then in the bed, there is a lot of action that takes place in this Nissan Frontier.
A lot of people will be interested in towing. 6,720 pounds is what this Nissan Frontier is rated for towing, and that is when the vehicle is properly equipped. You also have to know that this vehicle has Sway Control and that means it will apply the brakes when it notes that swaying is beginning to happen. First of all, you should note damper tailgate. So, you’ll see the tailgate comes down softly. Now there are two-bed sizes, there is a five and a six-foot bed. The five-foot bed gets around 40 cubic feet of storage, the six-foot bed gets around 49 cubic feet of storage. There is a utility track system in the back so you’re able to utilize that for materials, there is also tie-downs, and you will find two lights in the back so you can use those in the nighttime to illuminate the bed to make sure you get all of your materials visible when you’re using the vehicle in low light or you’re using the vehicle at night so you can see what’s in the bed. And don’t forget there is the window at the back which opens, so if you’re in the back seat you can see in or reach in to the back window through the back window to actually get hold of or see what’s in the bed at any one time and a lot of trucks in this class don’t have that available.
Well, there you are. That’s the 2022 Nissan Frontier. And don’t forget there are 80 accessories from Nissan that you can upfit your 2022 Nissan Frontier with. If you’d like to test drive one, contact Dick Hannah Nissan on McLoughlin. They’d love to put one in your driveway.