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What you’re looking at is a diesel powered Nissan Frontier. For now, it is not a production model, but Nissan is apparently studying it for production. Like its big brother, the next-gen Nissan Titan, there is a Cummins diesel, but it’s a 4-cylinder, not a V8. Displacing 2.8L and putting down an estimated 200 horsepower and 350 lb-ft, the Frontier uses a ZF 8-speed automatic to put power to the ground.
64 Comments on “Chicago 2014: Nissan Displays Diesel Frontier...”
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this could be good, really good
I would trade my Frontier in on this one in a heartbeat. The new Colorado is first in line to try, though.
Too many choices are coming out in the diesel pickup market!
Good thing i have a few years before i can afford one anyway.
The Navara the bulked up “Frontier” built in Spain has a 405lbs ft diesel option. Also the Dual Cab has a 2100lb payload rating. As Big Al from Oz mentioned your diesel quality is not the best so you put up with inferior mileage and power from the same capacity engine.
The 2.8 Cummins diesel mentioned is being planned for the next generation Frontier, which won’t debut for at least a couple of years.
Nissan needs to step it up a bit and produce this truck, sooner rather then later.
why.. why is it not 4wd
you were so close NIssan. but it’s a concept, so hopefully that’s still possible
Very glad this is a cummins engine, i work in the diesel industry and despite the fact that I own an altima I am not a fan of nissans diesel engines
For f*ck sakes, when are they going to redesign this? The Pathfinder has gone Altima, so this is the only thing left for this truck platform, IIRC. I suspect it will soldier on as the Frontier Classic maybe a year or two before becoming the Final Frontier Special Edition, with black badges and a yellow plaque on the dash.
I like Nissan and have owned two Altimas, but the Frontier and Xterra are both long in the tooth and overdue for a redesign.
This is good news. The Cummins option in the Nissan legitimizes the diesel offerings in other similar trucks like the Colorado and the half-tons from Ram.
I understand that Nissan needed to make a visual splash with this truck, but it just doesn’t work for my tastes.
Haha I wonder what the diesel hating old dogs here are going to say about this concept truck from Nissan and all of the positive comments so far. Americans hate diesels ya know.
And the news is? I get it… a Diesel in the US!
I have a 2011 Navara 4×4 2.5tdi. Same truck as the Frontier. It has a very nice 2.5 liter nissan turbo diesel, 178HP, a 5 speed Aisin automatic, a limited slip diff, leather seats, dual range 4×4 with electronic shift up to 60mph…
New it retails for US$32.000, and I get 22mpg consistently…
I paid US$21.000 for it when I bought it last year with 80.000 kmts on the clock and 2 years on the road, about the same as the base model (Same engine, 6speed manual, 2wd and cloth seats.) goes for new.
they need new emissions technology for the usa. they have these diesel trucks so choked up they are bound to have issues. the temp changes that we have in new York as of late really hurt the idea of owning one in my eyes. -17farenheit is equal to -28 Celsius it was that cold here last month at night. in summer its close to 100f or 38 Celsius and humidity here makes it feel like a oven. having those extremes breaks delicate or cheaply made sensors regularly. if they could come up with a better way to keep them clean im all for it. with reports of smog in china so bad that they cant see the sun im all for clean diesels.
The diesel trucks in Canada deal with this weather 6 months a year just fine.
i live about 3 hrs from Canada and the diesel trucks near me that are new with urea injected into the exhaust, or scr,or dpf, or enhanced egr have lots of issues. so many that my family has 2 huge diesel shops in the same county 4 miles apart. rte 67 super stop and franks hd you ever breakdown this way be sure to look us up we are the best! been in business for 50 years at one place and rte 67 for about 20 years.
I live a half hour from Canada it went down to – 50 two weeks ago, Everybody did fine. Oddly enough on the freeway it was so cold a check engine light came on because the engine couldn’t get warm enough to operate efficiently, single digit mpg.
When I lived in Montana I had this issue with my Bronco. I ended up covering the front grill when the temps dove below -10 deg F. The engine warmed up just fine.
@balreadysaid
The easiest and first the US should do is get rid of your inferior diesel fuel.
You guys use a 40 cetene diesel. This makes it very hard to run the lower compression diesels and meet emission targets.
You diesel is abrasive and has a high scar rate.
The US exports much diesel to the EU that is 51 cetane and 10ppm.
Why can’t the regulators give you guys the good stuff.
Because our regulators work for the oil industry.
yes the fuel is a problem! I know guys that can take a box of parts and build a Detroit diesel that spits fire. they hate the fuel so much that they run v10 fords or just run the good ol 366 gm. these guys breath diesel all day. the 40 different electrical sensors running off the same reference voltage is the other. once one sensor just reads slightly less voltage than it is being delivered it throws all the other sensors out of wack. ex: intake air temp runs off 5v reference if it reads 4v any one of the other sensors that run off same reference can pick up on it and give false readings or intermittent fluxuations which in diagnostics is very hard to overcome when fixing one of these newer trucks. I like diesel but I don’t need it. the gas engines I use work ok. not any where as cool as owning a diesel, they suck down the petro to! im looking at the 6.4 ram right now and im really happy to see 17 mpg in some videos, pathetic I know, but im a gas man lol.
Nice, I’m going to have to start looking for diesel badges on tailgates while I’m stuck in traffic. These potential offerings are starting to multiply.
Nissan has been losing for so longtime in the pickup market. This could be a game changer for Nissan. Especially it it gets over 35 mpg.
It should get near 35 mpg highway in real world unless they gear it poorly or the transmission is made for a gas engine and makes it run at high RPM at 65+ mph.
I’m looking for something “affordable” to replace my WK CRD (3.0 turbodiesel) that is our family vehicle and toy hauler (5k enclosed trailer). My previous 1/2 ton gas trucks got poor mpg when towing and since I’ve gotten a diesel I’m not going back. The cheapest WK2 diesel is at least $40k then $50k for the ML Bluetec and X35d. The Ram 1500 ecodiesel starts at $35k b/c you can’t get it the low end tradesman with a 4×2 and single cab. The Ram is also way too big to drive and park normally. These light duty pickups are what the half tons used to be 15 years ago and the market needs them. If only we can convince the majority of truck buyers who buy them to replace cars and commute to work in.
Where’s Big Al?
In the future. It’s already tomorrow where he is.
Probably thinking up some dastardly way to make me admit that I’m Denvermike.
@DenverMike, woops, Hummer,
You can do better than that.
Just go and re-read where you screwed up in the January sales figures.
For other to know, you commented to me as DiM then responded again as Hummer.
Just keep it up. Here’s the a cut and paste for others’ to see DiM, or Mikey or Hummer.
…………………………………………………………..
@OldandSlow
If you remove HD from the figures, then compile Tundra and Taco sales into one I could say Toyota are doing quite well.
1/2 ton and midsizers are more competitive than 1/2 ton to HD’s.
I don’t know why they just don’t break down the numbers.
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DenverMike
February 3rd, 2014 at 11:23 pm
@BAF0 – That makes as much sense as combining Camry and Corolla sales. The Taco and Tundra are completely different vehicles. All Ram trucks are similar from 1500 to 5500 series. Same with the GM full-size twins, 1500s to 3500s. A few of us would find a complete and total breakdown of trucks sales very interesting, including cab configurations, but to most here, it’s wasted bandwidth. Besides, 1/2 tons are by far, the majority of full-size truck sales. But if it would make Tundra and Titan sales figures a little less embarrassing, I’m all for it.
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Big Al from Oz
February 3rd, 2014 at 11:29 pm
@DiM
Are you a retard?
WTF??
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Hummer
February 4th, 2014 at 9:24 am
Well I mean about 70% of body components are shared, along with 99% of interior parts, they’re also relatively the exact same size.
Mid size taco and full size tundra MAYBE share an electronic bit or so?
There’s a size diff between mid and full
There’s really next to no size difference in 1500 and 2500. I mean the suburban chassis switches over with next to no work.
A stated fact that 60 million+ other people also know?
Just because your not in that 60m number doesn’t mean everyone else who is, is in a conspiracy against you.
I was completing what he said, I’m sure if you go through all my posts you’ll find several like that with multiple others. the % I put up there isn’t even a verifiable fact, rather a guesstimate, the rest of it is obvious.
Honestly I don’t know why I’m even arguing this, the way you think is ‘special’, no one here really understands how you work.
EDIT: I will admit I enjoy seeing you believe this.
Really????
I’m having trouble swallowing since a group of us have identified DiM using several names and personas. To the point where there may be several people using his name.
Odd that. But why?
Really BAF0? REALLY?????? Now my TTAC identity has been compromised and hacked by a group of rogue bloggers? Was it the UAW? CAW?
Have you been up for several days trolling? Are you on drugs? I think you need to be…
@DenverMike
You have trolled the sites for a long time.
I’m not the only one and I do hope others that have had encounters with you will drop a line to Derek Kreindler to remind him of what you are like.
You also go under various names.
Why? What do you gain from your actions.
You can cry I’m innocent, but the reality is everything is captured….in the cloud.
I don’t think it’ll work this time.
I am DenverMike too.
And I think Big Al and RobertRyan are the same person because I know nothing about Australia, and you may be Paul Hogan too.
@BAF0 – Make a list of the people you think are also me… OK, “Mikey”, “PCH101”, “Hummer”, who else? Keep going… You get more ridiculous by the moment!
Yeah, a lot of people here find you insane. The list is growing. It’s impossible for your delicate ego to come to grips with the fact most here don’t happen to agree with you or find your trolling amusing. You can not be over 12. Adults don’t act this way.
@BAF0 – That’s just stup!d of you. I completely dropped out of the tread when you went to insulting. I let the conversation end there, claiming victory. As I always do. When you have no more logical or sane rebuttal, you go for the insult. Every time. Then I’m gone.
@DenverMike
You may not be aware but I worked closely with PUTC to try and nail what was occurring.
Derek Kreindler can even speak to Mark Williams at PUTC regarding what occurred.
Cars.com IT guys where following you guys around the country with different IP addresses popping from around the US.
Actually different colleges. College sites are quite easy to get into and use their IP addresses.
The is much you don’t know :)
Yes Derek Kreindler and Mark Williams (PUTC) would have a good laugh over your insanity. You’re a joke at PUTC too…
@bball40dtw
You got me, I was afraid someone would know, Yes I am Paul Hogan. The Water Buffalo and myself are just “good friends”
I’ve been running night shift on flight line at work.
Sorry, but I have to earn a living so I can travel, fish and off road in my diesel midsizer in the Outback of Australia.
All I can say is I told you guys so. Even this 2.8 going into the Frontier.
I will also predict this engine will be used in the new Titan as the base engine.
Can someone explain to me how to save money by paying more for the engine,35% more for fuel and 300% more for oil changes 300% more for parts plus urea and dpf filters?
Because real world fuel economy is about 35% better with the diesel than a comparable gas, the diesel drives better, the resale is better and when fuel prices go up, and they will, the diesel pros get even stronger.
Just bought gas $3.21 diesel is $4.15 I just don’t get it.
We’re looking at 50-70 a barrel oil shortly. We’ve got so much excess sitting in the ground were running out of places to store it and tankers to haul it. Half a billion cubic feet of nat gas is burned off here every day.
because it’s a diesel. why save money?
Because when I buy a truck I look at cost per mile, I don’t care about what the resale is, when I’m done so is it.
Cummins soley focuses on designing and validating engines, turbos, and related filtration components for a wide range duty cycles usually more intense than every day light duty use so you will get a high quality product.
Also where are you getting your prices from. Oil changes will be more expensive because it will take more oil than a similar size gas engine, but you can most likely go 10k between service. The engine is still in validation phase so you could not get proper pricing information for parts.
@vtecJustKickedInYo
The 2.8 ISF Cummins is designed for a 500 000km life cycle.
Marketing can predict a million miles. So what? Diesels no longer have the advantage of diesel fuel with high lubricity. There’s no telling how long current diesels will last. Or how much cetane diesel fuel will continue to lose.
For the casual driver there is no financial argument for buying diesel. It’s a premium-priced fashion trinket; a Toyota Prius for the Home Depot crowd.
That said, after reading this thread I have a sudden desire to own a compact 4-banger truck with 350 ft-lb of torque and I have no idea why.
I’d buy one of these.
10/10 would buy.
But only if they’ll man up and let me have a proper three-pedal version.
I think RAM is really going to regret not using a Cummins diesel in their non-HD line.
@ajla,
No the VM Motori is pretty good. Outside NA there is a vast choice in diesel suppliers, you have a “Hindustani” type choice in the US/Canada
They might play outside NA, but how many RAMs are going to be sold there?
The Cummins name has 100% more recognition and respect in the American truck world than VM Motori, and Chrysler has spent decades building up their relationship with Cummins.
I think it is a big mistake to not capitalize on that connection for the entire RAM line and to let a Nissan truck wear that badge. It is built-in legitimacy for the Titan.
@ajla
My comment about the “Hindustani” type of choice you get in NA. What Fiat is doing is bringing the engine supply “in house” and building up positive brand awareness for VMotori.
I think the 5 Litre V8 Diesel will be a replacement for the V10 Triton used a lot in Motorhomes and which Cummins infers in its publicity blurbs for the new diesel V8
I strongly agree, FiatChrysler’s new management trying to bring engine procurement in-house and built Motori up as a ‘respectable’ brand when they have Cummins as a household name is leaving money on the table for no sane reason.
@Les
Cummins does not have great name for small diesels and has virtually disappeared as a over the road supplier to Trucks outside NA. It makes sense for Fiat to bring in VMotori
So just put Cummins engines in the RAM and VM Motori stuff in everything else.
As far as I know there are no plans to sell pickups outside North America. So the international reputation of Cummins and VM aren’t going to be a major help when selling those.
Are they going to drop the Cummins from the HD trucks?
@ajla
I think you’ll find Cummins has a good name in China and the ISF series engine is going into many commercial vehicles there.
The ISF comes in two sizes, the 2.8 and the 3.8. If the 3.8 can be developed to the same extent as the 2.8 in this Frontier it would be quite acceptable in a 1/2 ton pickup or even an HD. My best guess would be that it would put out about 280hp and 550ftlb of torque.
If you go onto the Sinodiesel site they have an article on this Cummins that was developed.
Cummins have built a massive factory outside of Beijing to manufacture the ISF diesels.
Cummins have done extensive work with the SCR and EGR system to reduce emissions on this engine. If you google this you will see this engine is quite promising in meeting future diesel emission standards in both the EU and US.
@Big Al from Oz
Vertical integration is the name of the game. Volvo and Paccar want their own OEM engine in their HDT trucks in NA. Cummins sees the writing on the wall and is providing engines to many of the smaller Chinese Truck makers
cummins is making a statement in the new internationals. being offered as optional engine because of the urea. international now has a big truck with urea first time ever I think.
If I am not mistaken this would then be the only diesel mid-size truck in the US market!
I like the Frontier. I had a look at a new one in a parking lot. Good size, good space inside the cab and it looked good. if I was in the market for a truck it would be on the list. My list would include mid-size, 4X4, double cab and preferably diesel… actually only diesel. The torque profile of a diesel in a truck makes so much more sense to me.
That’s what everybody I think wants/expects from a truck, a torque-curve that sets you off just barely above idle speed.
that would be what electric motors deliver. full torque at no rpm