2022 Nissan Frontier Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The 2022 Frontier represents the company’s latest step in its “Nissan Next” strategy: the promise to deliver 10 refreshed, redesigned, or debuting vehicles over the course of 20 months. After heavy refreshes to the Kicks and Armada and full redesigns for the Rogue and Pathfinder, and ahead of debuts for the all-new, all-electric Ariya and the new 400Z sports car, the Frontier arrives in 2022 as a dramatically new midsize pickup truck.

With blocky, rugged styling, the 2022 Frontier’s design reflects shades of the old Nissan Hardbody pickup from the 1980s and 1990s. Nissan’s project lead designer, Hiren Patel, described the design process for the 2022 Frontier as like taking a solid block of metal and then machining it down to create the truck’s shape.

Available in nine exterior colours including Tactical Green, Deep Pearl Blue, and Boulder Gray Pearl, the new Frontier also comes with two interior shades: charcoal (available with cloth or multiple grades of leather) and charcoal with red in the PRO-4X. Our test truck was painted Baja Storm—a shade of tan—and featured charcoal leather seating, an option exclusive to the off-road ready PRO-4X trim level.

The 2022 Frontier is slightly longer than the outgoing Frontier, particularly in the nose, but overall, the growth does not appear dramatic. This truck will fit fine in garages and parking spots alike. It’s not a competitor to the bourgeoning class of compact pickups, including the upcoming Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz, nor does it really compare cleanly with larger midsize pickups like the Jeep Gladiator or Honda Ridgeline. The Frontier’s closest competitors remain the Chevrolet Colorado, Ford Ranger, GMC Canyon, and Toyota Tacoma, and the team at Nissan was not shy about saying the Tacoma was their true target when engineering the 2022 Frontier.

Shoppers will be able to purchase a Frontier with either a King Cab or a Crew Cab. A regular two-door cab will not be available (it wasn’t on the second-generation Frontier, either). Instead, shoppers who need to move only two people at a time will be drawn to the King Cab, the backseat of which is far too small for big kids, let alone adults. King Cabs come with a 6-foot long bed, as does the Crew Cab SV Long Wheelbase model, while other Crew Cab configurations comes standard with a 5-foot bed.

Nissan sells an available spray-in bedliner and offers the Frontier with optional LED bed lighting and a three-channel tie-down system. The top of the tailgate features an integrated spoiler to help improve aerodynamics.

Inside, the 2022 Frontier looks like a massive step forward not just for Nissan’s midsize pickup, but for the entire segment. The front seats feature Nissan’s lauded Zero Gravity technology. Insulation improvements, including an acoustic laminated windshield (like the one we appreciated so much on the 2021 Armada), help reduce engine noise, wind noise, and road noise.

A new centre console offers more storage solutions, and there’s plenty of space ahead of the shift lever for your phone or wallet.

Finally, Nissan clearly recognizes customization as a massive business opportunity in the truck and off-road vehicle segment. There are now upwards of 80 optional accessories for the Frontier, including a sport bar for the truck bed, hood graphics, and easily removable off-road steprails.

The new Frontier’s powertrain is highlighted by its engine. But, like an eager kid too excited to wait until Christmas, Nissan unwrapped that 3.8-litre V6 engine back in 2020. Nissan reports that it has been retuned for the heavier 2022 Frontier, and it’s good for class-leading power specs of 310 horsepower and 281 lb-ft of torque.

Without a doubt, the Frontier has no problem getting out of its own way. Acceleration is strong and drivers have plenty of passing power at highway speed. The powertrain is also equipped with a tow mode that remaps the shift points for improved performance under load. The Frontier's maximum payload is 635 kilograms (1,400 pounds), and it has 2,944 kilograms (6,490 pounds) of towing capacity. Neither of those are class-leading, but they’re not far off, either.

Managing all that power is a nine-speed automatic transmission, controlled via a traditional centre-mounted shifter, to four-wheel drive (4WD) with 4-Hi and 4-Lo modes, a configuration that’s standard in Canada. A 4-wheel limited-slip system, hill start assist, and hill descent control are also standard. We found that the transmission eagerly shifts down as the truck climbs uphill, providing plenty of power when you need it. One the truck levels out or heads downhill, it quickly climbs back up the gear ladder to maximize fuel efficiency.

Speaking of fuel efficiency, the Frontier won’t help you save money at the pump like a smaller Ford Maverick or a diesel-powered GMC Canyon might. Natural Resources Canada estimates for the Frontier are 13.7 litres per 100 kilometres in the city, 10.6 on the highway, and 12.3 combined.

Toyota has moved to an electric steering system, but Nissan went with a hydraulic rack and pinion system for the 2022 Frontier. The steering feel is noticeably heavier than the Tacoma’s. Traditional truck purists may like this, but it makes the Frontier harder to drive around town.

Of course, except for Honda, every automaker in the midsize truck segment offers a capable off-road kit. For Nissan it’s the PRO-4X trim. With an electronic locking rear differential, Bilstein shock absorbers, steel underbody skid plates, and an aluminum front skid plate, the Nissan Frontier PRO-4X has plenty of gear to help it climb trails and cross terrain. A surround-view monitor with an off-road mode also helps drivers keep an eye on obstacles after they cross below their line of sight ahead of the hood or along the truck’s sides, and the Frontier boasts a best-in-class approach angle of 32.3 degrees.

There’s not another truck on sale today that combines comfort and capability as well as the 2022 Nissan Frontier.

At least in the front seats, the Frontier feels incredibly comfortable. Nissan’s hugely comfortable Zero Gravity seats have earned plenty of praise, and simply put, this level of luxury is uncommon in the midsize pickup truck segment.

Further, the Frontier provides genuinely convenient storage options—significantly more so than the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon. Compared with the Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma, it feels big and spacious behind the wheel.

Now, in the backseat, things are a slightly different story. The Crew Cab Frontier offers a manageable amount of headroom and legroom, but backseat passengers won’t be stretching out like they would if you were driving a full-size pickup. And the King Cab’s rear seats are just not suitable for human beings. The seats are essentially jump seats. They’re good for a toolbox or some groceries, but not for anything with legs. Although we’ve always appreciated the look of access-cab trucks, they just don’t provide the same utility as a Crew Cab.

Nissan has scattered eight cupholders around the Frontier’s Crew Cab cabin, four of which are large enough to contain a one-litre bottle. And, like most trucks, the Frontier also offers additional storage beneath the rear seat in the Crew Cab.

This truck just feels ahead of the pack. We expect Toyota and Ford to catch up quickly, but right now, the comfort points belong to Nissan.

Arguably no aspect of the Frontier advanced as much from 2020 to 2021 as its technology offerings. A standard 8-inch touchscreen comes on the lowest-level S and one-step-up SV trims. Buy a PRO-4X, and you’ll enjoy a sharp and clear 9-inch screen. Both look good, and we doubt SV buyers will miss the extra inch.

Nissan also does a good job of making infotainment tools and features easy to find within the touchscreen interface. There are physical knobs for volume and tuning, hard buttons for audio source, map, and camera, and a dedicated menu button—something we’ve seen too many automakers choose to omit. There are also a back button and buttons for skipping through tracks or stations. The rest of the controls are handled via the touchscreen, but thankfully Nissan has equipped it with big icons.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both standard equipment but require a wired connection—wireless projection is not supported. Bluetooth connectivity is also standard. A PRO-4X Frontier comes with wireless charging and Wi-Fi hotspot capability. Crew Cab Frontiers feature four USB ports; a USB-A and a USB-C in the front and rear. Finally, the optional 10-speaker Fender audio system sounds great, although its availability as part of a $2,000 Luxury Package with leather and upgraded trim is a bit frustrating.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) haven’t crash-tested the 2022 Nissan Frontier yet, but that’s common with major redesigns. We strongly suspect the 2022 model will perform better than the previous-generation Frontier, whose crash-test scores could be described as “middling.”

The new truck offers a bevy of standard advanced driver assistance features under the umbrella of Nissan Safety Shield 360, including safety features like blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, intelligent forward collision warning, lane departure warning, trailer sway control, rear-door alert, adaptive cruise control, and an easy-fill tire alert that honks the truck’s horn when you’ve reached the appropriate PSI for each tire. Eight airbags also come standard, and Nissan offers traffic sign recognition on the PRO-4X grade.

The 2022 Nissan Frontier has a starting price that’s in the typical range for a mid-size truck in Canada with an MSRP of $39,998 for an S trim Frontier King Cab. A $1,950 destination charge is extra.

Right now, Nissan doesn’t have a direct competitor to the nearly $60,000 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro. But its Frontier PRO-4X, which competes more directly with the Tacoma TRD Off-Road, is priced fairly competitively, but it costs over $2,000 more than the Toyota at $47,498.

If fuel efficiency is part of your calculus, then no midsize pickup is going to look like a cost-effective choice, not even the new Frontier, thanks to its 12.3 L/100 km combined fuel consumption rating. However, until Ford, GM, and Toyota start rolling out their own redesigned midsize pickup trucks, Nissan has the best one at the best price.

Note: Images show a US model.