Real Women Drive Trucks!
I'm very fond of reading bumper stickers. They are just so clever, well at least some of them are. As I was driving one day, I spotted a sticker that particularly stood out. It read, "Real Women Drive Trucks." I laughed for a couple of reasons. One, because the bumper sticker was stuck onto a beat up old Ford truck with half its parts falling off (this is not a slander at
Ford) which was being driven by a man, and two, I just happened to be testing out the 2005 Nissan Frontier 4X4. I guess I'm a real woman after all, or at least for that week I was!
Now that I'm on the topic of being real, I recall a couple of years ago (2003) when the Titan was introduced, Nissan claimed that it was the first "true" truck to enter the automotive market from a Japanese manufacturer; "true" meaning full-size in comparison to its only other Japanese competitor the Toyota Tundra which measures in at about 7/8ths full-size. While the Frontier does not have the same length and heft as the Titan, it still shares some DNA with its bigger and brawnier younger brother. Included in their common characteristics are the following attributes: a rugged suspension design, an innovative spray-in bedliner, the Utilitrack bed channel tie-down system, and a fully boxed, all-steel frame based on the Titan F-Alpha architecture.
The adopted rugged foundation increases the Frontier's wheelbase by 251 mm, that's 9.9 inches longer than the 2004 model. The longer
wheelbase, in turn, enhances stability and comfort but doesn't make the truck too large for those who want an "activity size" vehicle rather than a "true" full-size pickup. In addition, the new design increases the Frontier's height and width.
Furthermore, the suspension layout echoes that of the Titan with its all-steel compact and rigid double wishbone front and a rigid leaf rear suspension with overslung leaf springs and a long suspension stroke for favourable off-road driving. While I only drove the Frontier on city streets, I noticed that it was fairly smooth. It also impressed one of my hardest critics, Bella, an aged golden retriever who I was dog sitting for over the weekend. She hates going on car rides and whines continually when placed in the rear, but not in the Frontier. She excitedly stuck her head out the window, and didn't fly from corner to corner while I took to the curves, enabling her to drool away happily as we cruised down to the dog beach. The phrase "smooth-riding truck" almost sounds like an oxymoron. It felt more like driving an SUV than a pickup, like driving the X-Terra; which it should because it too shares similar frame and suspension components with the Titan.
I'm very fond of reading bumper stickers. They are just so clever, well at least some of them are. As I was driving one day, I spotted a sticker that particularly stood out. It read, "Real Women Drive Trucks." I laughed for a couple of reasons. One, because the bumper sticker was stuck onto a beat up old Ford truck with half its parts falling off (this is not a slander at
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| While the Frontier does not have the same length and heft as the Titan, it still shares some DNA with its bigger and brawnier younger brother. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
Now that I'm on the topic of being real, I recall a couple of years ago (2003) when the Titan was introduced, Nissan claimed that it was the first "true" truck to enter the automotive market from a Japanese manufacturer; "true" meaning full-size in comparison to its only other Japanese competitor the Toyota Tundra which measures in at about 7/8ths full-size. While the Frontier does not have the same length and heft as the Titan, it still shares some DNA with its bigger and brawnier younger brother. Included in their common characteristics are the following attributes: a rugged suspension design, an innovative spray-in bedliner, the Utilitrack bed channel tie-down system, and a fully boxed, all-steel frame based on the Titan F-Alpha architecture.
The adopted rugged foundation increases the Frontier's wheelbase by 251 mm, that's 9.9 inches longer than the 2004 model. The longer
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| It also impressed one of my hardest critics, Bella, an aged golden retriever who I was dog sitting for over the weekend. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
Furthermore, the suspension layout echoes that of the Titan with its all-steel compact and rigid double wishbone front and a rigid leaf rear suspension with overslung leaf springs and a long suspension stroke for favourable off-road driving. While I only drove the Frontier on city streets, I noticed that it was fairly smooth. It also impressed one of my hardest critics, Bella, an aged golden retriever who I was dog sitting for over the weekend. She hates going on car rides and whines continually when placed in the rear, but not in the Frontier. She excitedly stuck her head out the window, and didn't fly from corner to corner while I took to the curves, enabling her to drool away happily as we cruised down to the dog beach. The phrase "smooth-riding truck" almost sounds like an oxymoron. It felt more like driving an SUV than a pickup, like driving the X-Terra; which it should because it too shares similar frame and suspension components with the Titan.