With the midsize truck market running hot, it’s easy to forget that the Nissan Frontier exists. Sure, it’s not groundbreaking, but most of its components are fairly proven, it’s reasonably priced, and feels made for the long-haul. It seems the brand’s happy to keep walking this path, with changes for 2026 being largely limited to a great new eyeball-searing lemon-lime color, a blackout package for mid-range trims, and some minor equipment changes like heated seats and a heated steering wheel being available on more models. That’s all well and good, but the meat and potatoes of what’s new with the 2026 Frontier is that Nissan is teaming up with Roush. Yep, that Roush.
If you weren’t around in the ’90s and early 2000s, Roush was absolutely crushing the tuned Mustang game. Its Stage 3 treatment for the New Edge Mustang GT didn’t just add an Eaton supercharger, an aluminum flywheel, Alcon brakes, and reworked suspension; it tested those mods before unleashing them on the public. See, the company is the brainchild of NASCAR legend Jack Roush, and when it comes to engineering, NASCAR people don’t play around. Beyond that, a wild body kit including a side-exit exhaust system announced to the world that you were rolling in a Roush, 360 horsepower of supercharged street machine.
So, does the Roush Frontier PRO-4X R get any changes under the hood? Nope, it gets nothing in that department. Zip, zilch, nada. It features a completely stock powertrain, a 310-horsepower 3.8-liter naturally aspirated V6 mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission. Instead, Roush put pretty much all the program money into a two-inch lift kit. Granted, it is quite the lift kit, with remote reservoir Öhlins aluminum-body dampers featuring 18 mm steel shafts and new front upper control arms to maintain geometry and get around a spring cup clearance issue, and it should do wonders soaking up whoops and washboards.
Otherwise, popping for the Roush treatment will really just get you cosmetic touches on top of the suspension. Emblems and wheels, sure, but also a splash of Titanium-hued paint on the grille and front fascia, along with embroidered headrests in case you want the Roush logo embossed backwards into your hairstyle. It’s demure stuff, but perhaps it’s demure for a reason.
See, this modified Nissan gets more interesting when you learn that the Roush Frontier PRO-4X R starts at $6,090 more than a regular Frontier PRO-4X, or $47,960. That’s actually not bad compared to say, a $65,730 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro or even a $53,095 Jeep Gladiator Mojave. Since it’s based on the PRO-4X trim, it already gets a locking rear differential and skid plates, meaning you’re in it under $50,000 for a well-equipped midsize truck with seriously fancy dampers. The only big tradeoff is that Roush’s warranty only covers the truck for three years or 36,000 miles, whereas some competitors offer longer warranties.
So, maybe the Roush Frontier PRO-4X R actually makes sense. On paper, it seems like the truck the regular Frontier PRO-4X wants to be at a price still on the reasonable end of the market. Could you put together an awesome aftermarket suspension package for $6,090? Sure, but having engineers do the research and development, and getting the truck turn-key has its perks too. Considering a set of King shocks and SPC front upper arms will run you nearly $3,900 before installation, and a lift kit, Öhlins dampers, a two-inch lift, arms, and wheels doesn’t seem like a bad deal here.
Top graphic credit: Nissan
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With the EPA having been gutted, now would be a good time to up the partnership with Roush and build a trim that is this, plus a supercharger.
This is not on my to do list, but it sure looks better than the Nismada. I had a 720 40+ years ago and it was a good honest pickup truck.
I’ve owned like 7 or 8 720s. Still own 2 driving, plus I cut two cabs in half and I’m building a custom quad cab. I freaking love 720s. My favorite trucks.
I would be very tempted to get this in a long bed version. Aftermarket stuff (esp if you need to pay for the labor) is often easier to do as part of a monthly payment than writing big checks for parts after you got the vehicle. I learned this the hard way not getting a Rubicon up front thinking I could talk my spouse into paying for the upgrades on a Sport S and not getting the motorcycle with all the bags and fairings vs paying for them after.
They couldn’t have even sprung for a blown version of the V8? Roush is getting soft these days. Maybe they should order some HIMS.
As someone whose trucks will see National Parks and rutted cottage roads as the worst “Off Roading” in their lives, this package seems superfluous.
Now, a power bump to help with passing power while I’m towing…
For street legal vehicles, suspension travel will net you more speed off road than extra horsepower 99.99% of the time.
But when I’m on the road driving to starbucks before I hit the garden center, I need that power!
That’s the world we live in right now. Where it used to be the case that kids would hang up a poster of a Lamborghini Countach, now it’s all about trucks.
I’m not sure what exactly changed, but we’re here. People want the tough look of big tires, tall suspension, thick bumpers, winches and the rest. I do not get it at all. It’s like we have decided that workboots are better than sneakers to walk around in the mall.
Sure, you can’t run a sports car at anything near it’s capabilities on most public roads, but you can enjoy what it can do on a regular basis; acceleration and good handling are always enjoyable. With these off road things, their capabilities are almost NEVER needed and can’t really be enjoyed unless you actually take them where they can shine–offroad.
It comes off as hollow chest thumping when these things are jacked up, beefed out and only driven on the same roads that a Miata can happily zip up and down. I suppose many would say that they can enjoy their big Stompers on the same roads, but it again, rings as false since the enjoyment comes from the posturing, not the actualization of potential.
I’ll just have to be here gathering dust and being old because sports cars and fast things will always be so much cooler than these silly workboots that are from-the-box clean with no dirt in the treads.
It is mostly fragile masculinity. So many are diving into the perceptions of what masculinity is out of fear of a changing world.
I hear this all the time, that a car/truck is compensating for something of the driver. I get it as a joke but I have to think this is a pretty small percentage of it. I don’t really think it is about masculinity or sever insecurity. Some people think this stuff looks cool.
I have never owned a truck, personally think most modified ones are overdone. But, sometimes, just like a sports car, if lightly modified, in this instance, a mild lift, it actually looks pretty cool and adds some function.
I am not making some size joke. It is about the need for so many men to project masculinity out of fear of being seen as prey by other men or that the manly world of working with hands is going away and women etc working and more jobs being not seen as traditional masculine are a threat. Solar wind and EVs being not seen as masculine and a cultural threat. I would not make a size joke. It is coorelated to men and boys not doing well in school and college and not getting good jobs etc.
Hell I have a small lift on my jeep and it does make off roading easier.
Counterpoint (coming from someone who has owned a Miata and several off-road vehicles, and loves both): It is much easier for me to realize the full potential of an offroad vehicle than a street vehicle. Here in Idaho I have lots of trails that are way beyond the capability of any factory offroader, but my nearest circuit track is 6+ hours away.
Agreed. In my 1991 Audi 90 Quattro 20v it wasn’t fun unless you were doing double the speed limit. I got a 1994 Toyota Pickup Xtra Cab long bed V6 5MT 4WD and on that I learned the joys of power sliding with all of 150 naturally aspirated horsepower, which was enough to break the tires lose on 90 degree or smaller corners, all at 25 mph or less.
It’s one of the reasons I love electric cars, their acceleration makes them fun while not exceeding the speed limit, and it rewards you (via longer range) by not speeding.
While I don’t care for the “look” of lifted Trucks, if a Truck (or car for that matter) has long travel suspension it is really nice at the speed limit. Soaks up potholes and speedbumps like a dream.
That being said most lifted Trucks if anything have WORSE suspension than stock.
I just checked, and in my area most dealers are advertising the regular Pro-4x with 5-6k cash on the hood before you even haggle. So assuming they *don’t* discount this Roush model (or worse, dealers try to pull a Z and even mark it up), you’re likely to be paying 12+ grand more for the Roush treatment over a stock Pro-4x. Which really makes it seem like less of a deal.
Where is the Supercharger? Nissan needs to look back at the 90’s when almost every single model had a performance option.
Hearing the word Ohlins on a sports car makes me automatically want to spend an extra thousand or two, and they seem to be very well liked in the bike community, but I’ve never heard of them in being used in an off-road context. Am I out of the loop on this?
I had a similar thought, in that Ohlins isn’t the customary shock supplier for packages like this. Then again, they are established in other offroad motorsports segments like motorcycles and ATVs, so it shouldn’t be too far out of their wheelhouse.
They are trying to make inroads into the off-road market. I’ve seen them at a few events. Have yet to see them on trails, though.
It’s pretty rare that a tuner’s package is really worth even half what they ask for it, but if I were a Nissan Frontier buyer, I’d definitely include this option. I especially like those wheels on an offroad truck.
But I’d skip the headrests if I could. I don’t need another logo in my life.
Strikes me as an odd platform for a $6,000 suspension upgrade. I had one of these trucks as a rental about 2 years ago. The only memorable parts of it were the abysmal fuel economy and the “long bed” (which are disappearing from almost every pickup market aside from the HD segment).
Perhaps they are going after the overlanding previous-generation Tacoma crowd for the people who don’t understand and/or trust how turbochargers work.
Define abysmal. Those turbo and hybrid Tacoma’s aren’t exactly getting 30+ mpg either.
17 mpg. I had a F-150 PowerBoost rental last week and got 17 mpg the my 280-mile week with it. The fuel economy on a Frontier just doesn’t seem commensurate with the size and anemic power of the vehicle.
No changes under the hood=no dice. This seems like a cash grab. The OG Roush Mustangs were unique and boisterous performance machines. Back when I was a teenager and playing Need For Speed and watching Fast whatever it was a Roush or Saleen Mustang was a somewhat attainable dream car. It was something I was excited to see in the wild because it was a real “if you know you know” deal.
I definitely freaked out over seeing one once or twice and had to explain to whoever I was with (who was inevitably perplexed) that it wasn’t any old Mustang. I think people are quick to forget how big of a deal American tuning companies were back then. There was also Callaway, Hennessy (which seems like a grift at this stage), Lingenfelter, etc.
And this stuff was legit! Like…on the cover of Car and Driver and Motortrend legit. Back then they’d keep performance pages in the back of the issues that the neurodivergent among us (hey that’s me!) could spend hours browsing and the fastest cars they ever clocked were almost always these crazy tuner specials.
This is a fucking lift kit and some boring aesthetic upgrades. Now get off my lawn. I’m gonna go browse listings for Roush Mustangs…
Z1 Offroad has them beaten to the punch.
https://www.z1offroad.com/supercharger-kits/z1-off-road/2022-nissan-frontier-supercharger-by-z1-off-road-p-51803.html
Granted, 7.5k is eyewatering, but not in the realm of supercharging kits that include the tune.
Where are the red lines and NISMO badges?