A Week With: 2022 Nissan Frontier Pro-X Crew Cab

The Nissan Frontier has been one of the most popular and dependable vehicles in the automaker’s model line for years. During that time, it has gained a legion of loyal fans who appreciate the midsize truck’s practical size and steady performance. 

For the 2022 model year, the Frontier was given a complete makeover by Nissan’s Detroit-based, light-duty truck engineering group. 

Overview

The result is a truck with a more comfortable interior that is easier to drive and equipped with the latest in advanced driver assistance features. It is also a practical, comes with ample power and is equipped with a solid suspension for off-road travel. 

The new Frontier also is deliberately designed to serve as a platform for all sorts of personalization. The 2022 Nissan Frontier Pro-X Crew Cab I drive looked as it was born to serve as a sport truck. The trimmings served to set it apart from the other trucks in this segment, which is growing increasingly competitive much to the benefit of truck buyers everywhere. 

Exterior

A pickup truck must have a pickup truck’s highly specific and highly functional shape. But the 2022 Nissan Frontier Pro-X Crew Cab has been dressed up with a handsome front facia. The truck’s face, which is built around Nissan’s signature grille, is a key part of the Frontier’s personality. You can see it from a long-way off and in traffic. 

The front is balanced with well-designed light fixtures in the front and at the rear. The exterior is finished with bold decals, a spray-in bedliner and four adjustable tie-down cleats inside the pickup bed. There is also a trailer hitch with the necessary wiring and 17-inch painted wheels at the truck’s four corners. 

Interior

I found the interior of Nissan Frontier quite comfortable — and very straight forward. The materials used throughout certainly were not cheap. But even with the leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, they did not seem expensive. Instead, they were functional and fit nicely into the overall design. 

The center stack in the Frontier featured an up-to-date, easy-to-read touchscreen. But the entertainment and heating system are equipped with the hefty, old-school knobs, favored by the drivers of pickup trucks. The interior of the truck also has plenty of storage space and the forward visibility from the driver’s seat was excellent as was the quality of the sound system. 

Powertrain

The 2022 Nissan Frontier I drove was equipped with a 3.8-liter, V-6 engine, which is matched up with a 9-speed automatic transmission. The combination produces 310 horsepower and 281 pound-feet of torque. The U.S. Environmental Protection agency has given the Frontier with the V-6 engine a combined rating of 20 miles per gallon, a city rating of 18 mpg and 24 mpg on the highway. 

Safety and Technology

The safety equipment on the 2022 Frontier includes Nissan’s Advanced Airbag System, which includes dual stage airbags for protection in front- and side-impact collisions. The Frontier is equipped with automatic emergency braking with forward collision warning. 

It also has advanced driver assistance features such as lane keeping, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, parking and high-beam assistance, intelligent cruise control and traffic sign recognition. It also comes with Nissan Connect Services, Bluetooth connectivity, Fender Audio, satellite radio, voice recognition and Nissan’s Door-to-Door Navigation. It is also equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 

Driving Impressions

The 2022 Nissan Frontier Pro-X Crew Cab has excellent driving dynamics. It is much smoother on the road than the older versions of the Frontier. It also is quite maneuverable, making it easier to park. It also has a beefed-up suspension on regular of dirt thanks to the Bilstein Off-Road Shocks and Rear Stabilizer Bar as well as four-wheel disc brakes. 

The V-6 engine I drove also had more than enough power, though the 9-speed transmission seemed slow to shift when the truck was pointed up hill both the highway and on a rather ordinary suburban road.  

2022 Nissan Frontier Pro-X Crew Cab specifications:

Wrap Up

The overall on-road improvement from earlier versions of the Frontier along with the long list upgrades in the truck’s cabin were most impressive and make the Frontier a serious contender in what is becoming one of the industry’s genuine competitive battlegrounds. But brace for the rising prices. This version of the Frontier was loaded, equipped with a long list of advanced driver assistance features as well as the connectivity features. I suspect longtime fans of the Frontier will find the increase in vehicle price rather steep. The price for the version I drove was $44,220 or the equivalent of the price of a luxury vehicle not all that long ago. 

2022 Nissan Frontier Pro-X Crew Cab ­— Frequently Asked Questions