1999 Nissan Frontier Pickup Reviews & Ratings

The operative theme in truck interiors these days is "car like," which means if you don't look in the rear view and see the truck bed out back, you won't know you're in a pickup. After years of Spartan efficiency, truck interiors now have softer edges, better upholstery, thoughtful ergonomics and comfort. Nissan's Frontier has all of this.

The optional bucket seats in the XE are comfortable and provide good support. We didn't feel like we were sliding from door handle to door handle in quick transient maneuvers. The interior is attractive and functional. Cup holders, big utility pockets and an LCD odometer with dual trip meters add convenience.

Visibility is good. Big, square mirrors, slightly convex on the right side, make it easy to see traffic behind and to the sides -- an important consideration when the rear window is blocked. The air conditioner can really frost your Ray Bans. In Nashville, we left the Frontier baking in 100-degree heat with nearly 100-percent humidity, but still had to turn the air conditioning down after just a few minutes.

The King Cab extended cab adds a heck of a lot of convenience for carrying items you want to keep inside. It adds a half-inch of front legroom, but head-, shoulder- and hip-room are the same, the rear jump seats are only suitable for children and there's still nowhere to hook the dry cleaning.

We drove the Frontier over a wide variety of terrain and down a good cross-section of roads, from smooth Interstates to bumpy, twisty backcountry roads. What we found was that the Frontier works great as a daily driver because it does almost everything very well.

The ride quality is smooth and wind noise and road noise are minimal. After a full day of driving, we were none the worse for wear. This is a truck that is suitable for long-distance driving.

The power-assisted recirculating-ball steering provides the right amount of road feel. Steering is precise and the Frontier always goes exactly where you want it to go. Nissan's rear suspension design is nothing new, but it does a superb job of keeping the tires on the ground in bumpy corners -- a problem with pickup trucks and leaf-spring suspensions. Overall, the Frontier offers impressive dynamic traits. Handling is so good that, before long, you're driving it like a sports sedan. The handling always feels safe and secure without the soft sloppiness of other compact pickups. A smooth driver can have a lot of fun in Frontier. The brakes also work well. Rear-wheel ABS helps the driver maintain control of the steering under threshold braking -- particularly useful in a wet corner with little weight over the rear tires.

The 2.4-liter engine is the most powerful standard four-cylinder compact truck engine, according to Nissan. When compared with a V6, it's noisy and does not produce an abundance of horsepower and torque. It feels slow off the line at full throttle, and loses momentum on steep grades. Passing on two-lane roads requires some advance planning. The manual gearbox shifts smoothly and is easy to use.