BORDERING ON BRAVADO; Frontier brings a truckload of attitude to the midsize segment.(News)

Byline: BOB GRITZINGER

Like the big daddy Titan that blazed the trail ahead of it, Nissan's all-new 2005 Frontier won't please everyone. But buyers looking for a touch more 'tude in a midsize truck will likely find the Frontier right up their alley.

Back when we first drove the full-size Titan, we found it far more aggressive than its primary competitor, the mainstream Ford F-150. Not that a tauter truck isn't good, it's just different-and a stark contrast to the car-like ride and handling found in many of today's market leaders.

Now that we've driven the Nissan Frontier and its closest competitor, Toyota's all-new-for-2005 Tacoma, we're making the same kind of comparison: This Frontier pushes the edge in styling, setup and systems. Though General Motors and Dodge both have new midsizers in the truck market, the Tacoma heads the class and is most likely to be cross-shopped against the Frontier. Nissan officials acknowledged as much when they admitted holding up Frontier pricing until they could get their hands on Tacoma's pricing playbook.

So what's to like about the new Frontier-or, conversely, what might buyers looking for a more complacent pickup find unappealing?

Start beneath the hood with the biggest, most powerful V6 in a midsize or full-size truck, a 4.0-liter mill producing 265 hp and 284 lb-ft of torque (vs. 245 hp, 282 lb-ft from Tacoma's 4.0-liter V6). Though the engine can get raspy at high rpm, it is a strong powerplant that readily pushes the two-ton pickup down the road. We noted some hard shifts in the five-speed automatic transmission under heavy acceleration; if you find the automatic objectionable you may want to consider the six-speed manual box borrowed from the 350Z/G35 coupes. (A five-speed stick is available on four-cylinder King Cab models only.)

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