Nissan has long promised that its Frontier was being redesigned. The current second-generation model was new for the 2005 model year. A child born that year is able to get its drivers license this year. While Nissan has remained rather tight-lipped about the third-generation Nissan Frontier, AutomotiveMap has been able to nail down some specifics.
Nissan hinted at the future of Frontier with refreshed 2020 model.
Photo courtesy of Nissan North America
The 2021 Nissan Frontier will be lighter than the 2020.
Since the second-gen model came out, steel and aluminum combinations have been revised to strengthen the abilities of the materials. These changes make the models not just more crashworthy but also lighter, allowing for less material to be used to achieve safer vehicle bodies. This results in more passenger space and greater greenhouse. Lighter vehicles are also more fuel-efficient.
It will have the same engine as the 2020 Frontier.
Nissan debuted its new Frontier power plant this year. It’s a significant upgrade from engines available in previous model year Frontiers. The new engine is more fuel-efficient than its predecessor in the second-gene truck and you should expect it to be even more so in the third-get Frontier, which will undoubtedly be more aerodynamic.
Nissan is giving the truck a best-in-class 310-horsepower 3.8-liter V6 engine. Yes, 310 horsepower. That’s a 49-horsepower jump from the available 4.0-liter V6 in the 2019 model and more than double the amount of horsepower in the 2019’s base 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine.
The new V6 gets 18 miles per gallon in the city and 24 mpg on the highway. It’s paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission.
Nissan provided this image of how the new V6 fits into the 2020 Frontier.Photo courtesy of Nissan North America
We have an idea about its list of standard features.
The 2020 Frontier comes standard with push-button start, a leather shift knob, manual tilt steering, power door locks, and power windows with driver side auto-down. It is likely that the 2021 Frontier won’t come with less than that.
Also expect Nissan Safety Shield 360, the automaker’s suite of safety technology, to make an appearance. We may also see Nissan’s driver assist technology, under the ProPilot Assist umbrella, make an appearance.P
There may be a Nissan Frontier Nismo.
Word on the street is that Nissan is testing a Nismo variant of the Frontier. Sources say that the model could battle the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro and Ford Ranger Raptor in terms of off-road prowess.
We won’t see it until late 2020.
The new Frontier is slated to be revealed later this year.
It probably won’t be priced below $20,000.
Nissan has loved saying that their Frontier starts below $20,000 but with new tooling to pay for and a company to keep solvent it’s unlikely that they’ll keep the starting price that low. For comparison, the Chevrolet Colorado starts just over $21,000 and most of the other trucks in the segment start between $24,000 ad $27,000.
