Frontier Crew Cab S/C is a winner

I recently bought this truck (as in I've had it for a week). As the previous owner of a 2001 Nissan Frontier King Cab XE 5-speed 4x4, I think I have a very good perspective on both trucks. In addition, I actually work at a Nissan dealer.

To make a long story short, I bought my King Cab roughly a year ago. It was the first of it's kind to hit our lot, and at the time I was very impressed with the look of the truck. I have long been a fan of Nissan's build quality, and the 'new edge' designing done on this new truck was enough to get me to buy it (I didn't work at the dealership then).

I experienced a little buyer's remorse after buying the King Cab. I found that my left leg was sore as the room between the non-tilting steering wheel and the door made me hold my leg in a strange position to clutch. The other comfort issue was just tight legroom in general.

My other issue was the lack of power. I had traded in a Jeep Cherokee with the I-6, and frankly that truck accelerated so well that at the time of purchase I thought it was just strong in comparison. However, over time, I found that my King Cab worked it's butt off to just keep up with traffic. The engine has decent torque, but the available horsepower never really offered enough thrust to get the job done.

With these issues, however, I did find that the truck was well-assembled and generally rode and handled well. My dealership sells Nissan and Jeep, and frankly I was considering trading the pickup in on a 2002 Grand Cherokee.

We had this Supercharged Crew Cab that was a leftover 2001 model. I hadn't even really paid it much attention, but one day I noticed it and investigated. I talked to the owner of the dealership and he wanted to move the truck as it had been sitting for a long while. I had test-driven Supercharged Crews with customers, but never really drove one by myself. I fired it up-it had only 30 miles on it. After a few minutes driving, I knew this truck was everything my King Cab was not.

I like the additional power that the supercharger offers. While it isn't neck-snapping, the difference between this truck and the standard 170hp version is night and day. I also bought an automatic transmission, and overall I am glad I made that switch too, although it makes a very lazy 1-2 shift under hard acceleration.

My truck has the S/C package on it, with the leather interior and 6-disc CD changer. I like the leather, although I do wish the seats were heated. The CD changer works very well, but the power output is still pretty meek. I am investigating adding some shallow 8" subwoofers and a couple of amplifiers to liven things up a bit.

I continue to marvel at the EXCELLENT build quality of a Nissan. The truck is well designed, comfortable, and overall is really a winner for what I need-a daily commuter that can occassionally haul a piece of furniture or car parts or trash.

As a side note, I did just order a bed cover for the truck. On my King Cab, adding a bed cover with no other changes gained me a solid 1 mpg in fuel economy. In that truck, my best tank netted a meagher 17 mpg. I am hopeful this S/C does a bit better with a judicious use of the throttle.