- Thread starter
- #1
So I rented a car for work two weeks ago and it was a 2026 Frontier SV. I currently own a '24 SR5 Tacoma and have put around 30,000 miles on it so I'm pretty familiar with all aspects of the Tacoma and thought I would compare it to my opinion of the 2026 Frontier SV if anybody's interested. The first thing I noticed which surprised me given what I'm used to, was with a full tank the range came up as 347 miles. That's way different than what I get in my Tacoma when the tank is full. It definitely had that kind of range because driving it pretty hard and heavy for the entire week only burned up about half a tank and I think I would've been at 3/4 of a tank with the Tacoma. The extra 3 gals the Frontier tank holds makes a lot of difference! Another thing I noticed is at least in the model that I was in was the 12.3" touch-screen display just works a LOT better than the 8" JBL that came with my SR5. It can't be all that more expensive to bump to a 12" or 14" screen so that's a bad on the Tacoma.
Those are the only two real positives that made a difference for me. Let's talk about the engine and suspension and stuff like that. The engine is extremely smooth and I can see why people really like that naturally aspirated V6 that it has. It sounds good, runs good, and definitely has sufficient power. What I did not like was the 9-speed transmission. If you're driving and give it gas like you're trying to get through a yellow light or light that's just turned yellow real fast? When giving it full gas suddenly the Frontier just totally lags. Like dangerously so. When I do that with the Tacoma, it's extremely responsive, so responsiveness of the transmission is a big thing. Didn't seem to hunt for gears in normal driving, though.
Next, I was driving on some corrugated dirt roads and at a decent speed, I noticed that the back end of the truck was skipping out on me. I don't and have never experienced that with my Tacoma. It was bad enough that I had to slow down a little bit just to keep the backend from skittering around. The ride of the Frontier is very stiff. Speaking of which, the steering is very, very heavy. I'm spoiled with the Tacoma's electric steering.
In terms of build quality, one thing that was very noticeable to me was the rearview mirror seemed extremely cheap and flimsy. The same with the visors of the truck. Next where you insert the buckle is tucked way low down in the seat. Makes it harder to just click in, but I'm sure you get used to that eventually. I'd recommend if you're considering the frontier to check those two things out. While it sounds like a small thing, long-term it would really bug me. Seats were super comfortable and power adjustments. I wouldn't say the seats are all that much more comfortable than the Tacoma, but they were pretty comfortable for the driving I was doing.
The following week I drove the '26 Pathfinder SL and while the interior was better quality, the powertrain issues were the same. I personally would never own a Nissan, but this truck isn't all that bad! Anyway, feel free to ask me anything, and if I know the answer, I'll let you know!
Those are the only two real positives that made a difference for me. Let's talk about the engine and suspension and stuff like that. The engine is extremely smooth and I can see why people really like that naturally aspirated V6 that it has. It sounds good, runs good, and definitely has sufficient power. What I did not like was the 9-speed transmission. If you're driving and give it gas like you're trying to get through a yellow light or light that's just turned yellow real fast? When giving it full gas suddenly the Frontier just totally lags. Like dangerously so. When I do that with the Tacoma, it's extremely responsive, so responsiveness of the transmission is a big thing. Didn't seem to hunt for gears in normal driving, though.
Next, I was driving on some corrugated dirt roads and at a decent speed, I noticed that the back end of the truck was skipping out on me. I don't and have never experienced that with my Tacoma. It was bad enough that I had to slow down a little bit just to keep the backend from skittering around. The ride of the Frontier is very stiff. Speaking of which, the steering is very, very heavy. I'm spoiled with the Tacoma's electric steering.
In terms of build quality, one thing that was very noticeable to me was the rearview mirror seemed extremely cheap and flimsy. The same with the visors of the truck. Next where you insert the buckle is tucked way low down in the seat. Makes it harder to just click in, but I'm sure you get used to that eventually. I'd recommend if you're considering the frontier to check those two things out. While it sounds like a small thing, long-term it would really bug me. Seats were super comfortable and power adjustments. I wouldn't say the seats are all that much more comfortable than the Tacoma, but they were pretty comfortable for the driving I was doing.
The following week I drove the '26 Pathfinder SL and while the interior was better quality, the powertrain issues were the same. I personally would never own a Nissan, but this truck isn't all that bad! Anyway, feel free to ask me anything, and if I know the answer, I'll let you know!
Sponsored
