In an age of turbo-fours, Nissan has resisted the urge to drop below six cylinders with its trucks.
Most new car shoppers face the same reality when they go to make their latest purchase: Smaller engines, often electrified. Things are a little bit different in the truck world, though even midsize trucks like the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon, Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma have all hopped on the small-displacement bandwagon. So, what is one to do if they want to stick with an old-school, fairly large V6? Buy a Nissan Frontier, of course.
That is what the automaker would like to see, at least, as its marketing team touts the competitive advantage of keeping six-cylinder engines going. “We’ve got generations upon generations of V6s,” product planning senior manager Brent Hagan told Motor1, “and it does give us a differentiator because we’re using tried-and-true technology that’s durable, reliable and high-quality.” He went on to note the VQ38DD is American-built (specifically, it’s built in Decherd, Tennessee), as is the truck itself (in Canton, Mississippi).
“Our internal tagline is ‘we’re too V6 to quit’, because we built our heritage on V6s, from the GT-R and Xterra to the current Frontier and Pathfinder.”
It’s worth noting that at least you do have a better chance of scoring a V6 option shopping the midsize truck segment. The Jeep Gladiator, Honda Ridgeline and Ford Ranger are two other options, though that last option is a turbo-six that hasn’t exactly been trouble-free. Nissan’s Frontier has always had the midsize heavyweight Toyota Tacoma in its sights, though, and that’s the most direct case some folks who want V6 durability and reliability are making. To wit, the 310-horsepower 3.8-liter V6 Frontier picked up a whopping 48% year-over-year in the early 2026 sales charts. Speaking of sales, we’re due to find out whether that momentum has continued as we head into July.
The 2027 Nissan Frontier lineup also got a bit larger this year, thanks to the introduction of the Sport model. That gets you 17-inch wheels with Hankook Dynapro AT2 all-terrain tires, a front aluminum skid plate, a low-range transfer case and some cosmetic tweaks over the SV on which it’s based. Effectively, you get the V6 power coupled with some more off-road capability, without having to go all-in on the Pro-4X. Roush also partnered with Nissan to deliver an ostensibly more off-road-worthy Frontier this year as well, if you’re looking to go in the other direction in terms of capability.
The V6 trend will continue past this generation, too, as the next-generation Xterra will also pack a larger engine under its hood, even in hybrid form. The larger Armada did downsize from a V8, but also packs a V6 engine, as does the Pathfinder and the Z. So, truck fans can breathe a little easier that at least this option doesn’t look like it will go away for a long while yet. (Of course, there are folks clamoring for a V8…but you know how that goes.)
