Supermodel; Supercharged truck does better on style than substance.(Brief Article)

IT'S NOT A NEW CONCEPT, THIS PRACTICE of hot-rodding pickup trucks. As truck sales have grown to now make up fully 50 percent of vehicle purchases, automakers have searched for ways to make trucks more attractive to all segments of the buying public, in luxury and performance terms. The execution-and therefore the results-can vary widely.

In the case of the Nissan Frontier SC, function takes a back seat to form. Nissan slapped on plastic wherever it could-from the wheel flares to the roof rack-with accents like fake rivets and bulging air dams contributing to no useful end whatsoever. But style can be an end in itself, and as it did with the Frontier's sibling, the Xterra sport/ute, Nissan hopes to attract a younger, more style-conscious crowd with a more style-conscious truck.

Owners who responded to our AutoFile survey seemed in accord on the Frontier's looks. One liked how it ``stands out in a crowd,'' while another ``liked the 2000s better, but this one gets more looks.''

In terms of performance, however, owners were split. Some said the Frontier's engine felt very powerful, while others thought it felt sluggish. Our testing showed that for a truck equipped with a supercharged V6, the straight-line number didn't impress.

And at the track that supercharged V6 posed some minor problems. Testing caused the supercharger to heat up, which resulted in progressively slower acceleration times. Our first run, launched hard from 2000 rpm, ...