Nissan is jumping back in the game after a long time on the sidelines. Yeah, the Nissan Titan exists but, come on now. The updated 2022 Nissan Frontier is coming at a good time when the small truck market is starting to open back up with the Ford Ranger, Ford Maverick, and now the new and improved Frontier. The new little Nissan got plenty of strong upgrades, but the interior, while updated, is styled a bit goofy. 

The 2022 Nissan Frontier has an overstyled interior 

According to MotorTrend, there is plenty of newish-ness around the 2022 Frontier. It has a newish engine and newish transmission, but a brand new look inside and out. The mechanical bits are sweet, and we will get into that in a bit, but the interior is kind of cheesy. It looks like a 9-year-old drew what they thought a cool and tough truck interior would look like. 

Everything is square and blocky, and not in a cool Defender type of why, but more like someone who had a straight edge and can’t draw kind of way. The steering wheel has this odd angular shape that isn’t helped by the elongated, rectangular air vents. The seats have a chunky zig-zag pattern embossed on them, which further accentuates the inside’s silliness. It’s important to note; I don’t think the interior is horrible or anything; it just feels a bit silly. I don’t know how else to put it. Like, Nissan tried just a smidge too hard to make it “manly” looking or something. Onward. 

Black and red is a bit played out

I’m sorry, but the whole black/grey with red accents is a bit too early 2000s pop-punk for me. The 2022 Nissan Frontier seems to be rife with it. The dash trim, seat stitching, side panel accents, and gauge surrounds all sport that same tacky, metallic red like a cheap aftermarket part you’d get from Auto Zone. 

Now for the cool updates to the Nissan Frontier

MotorTrend reports that Nissan has been slowly tweaking the Frontier’s frame and powerplant for a while now, but the 2022 model is getting the benefits of all those updates. As I mentioned earlier, the 2022 Nissan Frontier is getting the 310-hp 3.8-liter V-6 and nine-speed automatic transmission from the big 2020 update. These two were quite the welcomed change from the old 261-hp 4.0-liter V-6 and five-speed automatic gearbox, as well as the base 152-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine.

The rest of the aesthetic updates come in the form of a tall, square, and blocky styling overall. It certainly makes the smaller truck look tough. Even the more modern and techy updates like the truck’s standard infotainment screen is a proud 8-inch square screen. It has been updated with all the modern doodads like Apple CarPlay and Andriod Auto. There is also an optional 9-inch screen with higher trims and added safety and comfort features like a wireless phone charger, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, automatic high-beam headlights, and automated forward and rear emergency braking systems.

And it’s quieter, too

Nissan fitted its new little truck with hydraulic cab mounts, extra sound insulation, a reworked rear carpet structure, and acoustic laminated glass on the front doors to make the truck ride more smoothly and quietly. A loud, rattly car is one of the first signs of a lack of quality. 

The last significant note is the head-turning Pro-X Pro4-X off-road packages. The Pro-X is a new verison that takes all the styling of the 4×4 version but in the two-wheel-drive setup. Now, I’m not totally sure why you’d want a 4×4-looking truck that can’t deliver, but Nissan seems to think there is a market for such things. 

Overall, the 2022 Nissan Frontier feels silly. It is updated in many ways and will likely be a better truck than the previous models, but it sports so much goofy taste in its style that I’m left to wonder, what exactly was the point?