2024 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X Review: The Perfect Size Pickup with Off-Road Prowess

The Nissan Frontier is the number three selling mid-size pickup truck in America, and it’s a worthy competitor to trucks like the Toyota Tacoma, Chevy Colorado, and Ford Ranger. The Frontier has beefy looks and packs a formidable V6 engine. The PRO-4X variant stands out as particularly noteworthy, being well-equipped for everyday utility and off-road adventures, accentuated by the boldest available styling package. The PRO-4X model has a rugged yet sporty design characterized by black trim elements, overfenders, mirror caps, and lower bumpers. The black grille looks great with its Lava Red Nissan badge, an accent color found throughout the truck.

At the heart of the Frontier PRO-4X lies a potent 3.8-liter V6 engine, capable of delivering 310 horsepower and 281 lb-ft. of torque. This engine is mated to a refined 9-speed automatic transmission, ensuring a smooth, responsive drive with strong acceleration and solid passing capabilities. The PRO-4X’s standard 4-wheel drivetrain, coupled with a 2-speed transfer case and an electronic locking rear differential, significantly enhances its torque distribution on challenging terrain. The crew cab model offers a towing capacity of 6,170 pounds and carries up to a 1220-pound payload. Fuel economy is about what you’d expect: 18 MPG in the city, 22 MPG on the highway, and 19 MPG combined. A 21-gallon fuel tank means it’ll travel about 400 miles between fill-ups.

Ride quality in the PRO-4X is exceptional, courtesy of a double-wishbone front suspension, a multi-leaf rear suspension, and Bilstein off-road performance shocks. These shocks adeptly balance comfort for daily driving and capability on rough terrain alike. The pickup rolls on Hankook Dynapro AT2 tires, which offer robust sidewall protection for navigating rocky trails. Our test vehicle was equipped with optional 17″ beadlock-style alloy rims, which add to the truck’s burly aesthetic.

The Frontier PRO-4X also has undercarriage protection, including a front skid plate and additional underbody plates, safeguarding essential components. For those interested in off-road specs, the PRO-4X model offers a ground clearance of 9.8 inches, a front approach angle of 32.3 degrees, a departure angle of 23 degrees, and a 19.6-degree breakover angle. Nissan doesn’t list a water fording depth spec for the model, though I’ve heard numbers around 30 inches. The truck can also be factory-equipped with optional off-road or tube step rails and deployable rear bumper step. Keep in mind that adding that equipment will impact your ground clearance by a couple of inches.

If it’s been a couple of years since you were in a Frontier, the truck received a significant interior upgrade in 2022. While maintaining a functional and straightforward layout typical of a pickup, it offers modern amenities such as a 9″ touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a wireless charging pad. Unlike some vehicles that have leaned heavily on touch-based inputs, Nissan has stuck to hard buttons and knobs for most things, and I appreciate that.

Equipped with the Pro Premium Package, the wide-bodied bucket seats are appointed in genuine leather with a unique hexagonal quilting pattern, red stitching, and trim with a pattern reminiscent of carbon fiber. Red accents can also be found on the doors, center console grab handles, and stitched on the dashboard, shift boot, and steering wheel. Like other seats I’ve experienced in recent Nissan vehicles, they’re quite supportive and comfortable on long drives.

The truck also has a 7″ digital information screen that can display off-road information like pitch, roll, and wheel angle. That’s flanked by a traditional round analog tachometer and speedometer. The camera system provides a 360-degree view while parking and front-facing cameras help navigate challenging trails at low speeds. I wish the cameras and display offered higher-resolution images, as it’s sometimes difficult to make out details. The low-resolution video seems a generation or two behind other camera systems I’ve experienced. My test truck was also equipped with the Technology Package, which adds safety and convenience features like blind spot warning, rear sonar, rear automatic braking, intelligent cruise control, traffic sign recognition, and lane departure warning. The optional 10-speaker Fender audio system offers excellent sound quality.

While some Frontier models can be equipped with a 6-foot bed, the PRO-4X Crew Cab comes only with a 58.9-inch-long box. With a maximum width of 61.4 inches but 44.5 inches between the wheel wells, it’ll only hold 4-foot-wide sheet goods at an angle or stacked on boards above the wheels. It’s still a useful bed for its size, especially with the Pro Convenience package, which includes an adjustable cargo rail system, a spray-on bedliner, LED under-rail lighting, and a 120-volt outlet in the right rear corner of the bed. That package also provides conveniences like heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and side mirrors, remote engine start, wireless charging, and a trailer hitch. In other words, you’re almost surely going to want that package.