The Nissan Frontier S/C is supercharged. Lest you forget, the front fenders are adorned with "SuperCharged" badges. If you missed those, fat decals on the rear flanks repeat the message. Inside, the leather sport seats wear stitching that reiterates the truck's superchargedness.
With all this warning, one would think that the Eaton blower bolted to the 3.3 liter V-6 might cause a black hole to form in the airbox under full throttle. But forced induction adds only 30 horsepower to the base engine's unremarkable 180 hp, so it's clear that the supercharger is designed to pressurize the truck's marketing campaign more than its intake manifold. If superchargers were called "dandywhooshers," the Frontier probably wouldn't have one.
All the supercharger braggadocio is consistent with the S/C's styling, however. The Frontier's aggressive mug takes a page out of the Dodge Ram playbook, and the plastic fender flares, with their ersatz exposed hex heads, contribute to the overall alien-industrial-Hot Wheels look. Robocop might not have been stuck driving a Taurus if these had been around in 1987.
The interior is sporty if not exactly Audilike in quality, which is something that can be said of many current Nissans. Some pieces, like the firm, comfortable seats and the fat little Momo-knockoff steering wheel, work great.... Read full article