By Len Ingrassia
Automotive columnist

Know that there is extra pressure on Nissan’s Frontier truck line with the demise of its big Titan – discontinued following lagging sales up against the Big Three. There is speculation that a similarly named electric variant may pop up down the road though.

The 2025 Frontier has unveiled a mild refresh including a rugged looking front fascia, grille and bumper design across its lineup. It also benefits from a longer wheelbase to accommodate an available six-foot bed, an increased tow rating, larger touchscreen and telescoping steering column to help driving positions.

The midsize truck comes in two-door King Cab and four-door Crew Cab, the latter being our tester for the week. The Frontier has hefty competition from redesigned Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado and Ford Ranger vehicles.

High points include its handling in city and highway travel where the Frontier has added grip around curvy roadway and serves well as a mild off-roader. Road imperfections are no match for the Frontier as it absorbs most bumps while delivering a compliant ride.

All Frontiers are powered by a single gasoline engine – a 3.8-liter V-6 making 310 horsepower mated with a nine-speed transmission. Our top-of-the-line SL Crew Cab reached 60 miles per hour from a dead stop at our independent testing facility in a leisurely 7.7 seconds, about average in this segment of all-wheel drive trucks.

Curiously, we found the Frontier’s heavy power steering problematic especially while negotiating parking spaces. Its power-less feel extends to off-roading too. Go figure.

The Frontier is available in five trim levels – S, SV, Pro-X, Pro-4X and SL with base prices ranging from the low $30 to mid $40s – slight increases from last year.

Buyers can pick between five and six-foot beds, rear or all-wheel drive and King or Crew cabs to match needs and budgets.

EPA fuel economy ratings list the Frontier at 19 miles per gallon, a figure we were able to confirm in our 100-mile evaluation.

Our tester included a full suite of driver safety equipment including adaptive cruise control, emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, rear automatic braking with sonar, tire pressure monitoring and high beam assist.

Its rugged look is enhanced with 17-inch machine painted alloy wheels, steel front skid plate, full LED lighting and 120-volt bed and rear console outlets.

As expected, inside treatment on our SL included a 12.3-inch color touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, Nissan navigation and a premium 10-speaker Fender sound system.

Other amenities in our near $50,000 tester included full leather seating, six-way power adjustable driver’s seat with lumbar, four-way adjustable passenger seat, dual zone front climate control, trailer sway control, tow/haul mode switch and remote engine start.

Rear legroom in the Frontier comes up short, literally, when compared with rivals’ Ranger and Colorado. Unfortunately, rear passengers have no air vents.

Cargo space is also less with the short bed comparison although the six-foot bed measurement exceeds both.

We recommend test drives with rivals listed as well as the superior Honda Ridgeline.

What was reviewed:

2025 Nissan Frontier SL

Engine: 3.8-liter V6, 310 horsepower, 281 lb.-ft torque

EPA rated mileage: 17 city, 21 highway, combined 19

MSRP/as tested: $45,610/ $47,750

Assembled: The new Frontier is assembled at a Nissan Vehicle Assembly Plant in Canton, Mississippi where the Frontier has been assembled since 2012. U.S./Canadian parts content – 40 percent; major source of foreign parts – Japan -20 percent; country of origin – engine U.S. – transmission Japan.

Crash test ratings: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in partial testing, gave the Frontier Crew Cab five stars, its highest rating, in side crash protection and three stars in rollover protection. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in partial testing, gave the Frontier its highest rating of “Good” in overall evaluation and moderate overlap crashworthiness, second-best “Acceptable” in side crash testing and front crash prevention – pedestrian.

Warranty: 3-year/36,000-mile bumper to bumper; 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain. Three scheduled oil changes within 2 year/24,000 miles.

Contact independent automotive columnist Len Ingrassia at editor@ptd.net.