2026 Nissan Frontier vs. 2026 GMC Canyon | Honest Side by Side Review

Welcome back guys, or if you're new to my channel, this is Automotive Anonymous, and today I have a fun side-by-side comparison of two of the best-selling mid-sized trucks that you can currently buy. On the left, we have the 2026 Nissan Frontier. This one specifically is a Pro-4X. It's the most off-road capable trim level, and it's in a pink color named On the right, we have the 2026 GMC Canyon. This one is an AT4, so it's also a very off-road capable vehicle. It's in Summit White for the paint, and it looks fantastic sitting next to the Pro-4X. So today, we are going to cover everything from the front to the back, and all the little bits in between, to help you guys at home decide which one of these mid-sized trucks might be the right one for you. Is one drastically better than the other? They do have a lot of similarities, and an equal amount of differences. So today, if you get anything out of this side-by-side comparison, please consider liking it. Comment your thoughts, opinions, and questions down below. Subscribe if you haven't already. Otherwise, huge thanks to Rob Green in Southern Idaho for letting me borrow both of these brand new pickup trucks. They sell thousands below MSRP. They'll ship anywhere in the country. Reference Automotive Anonymous for a bonus discount. Additionally, huge thanks to Last Fit. More on them in a few minutes, and let's dive right into this side-by-side review. But before we get too far into this side-by-side comparison, I do want to mention a few of the main similarities, and the differences, that differentiate the Frontier from the Canyon. First of all, the price. The Frontier starts at $32,000, $7,000 cheaper than the $39,000 base MSRP that you get on the GMC Canyon. It also is offered in more configurations for the cab and the bed. The Frontier can have a full 4-door or an extended cab, and a 5-foot or a 6-foot bed. The Canyon only comes in one configuration, a full 4-door with a 5-foot bed. Both of these have a 310 horsepower engine. The Frontier has a tried and true V6, which we'll talk more about soon. The Canyon has a 310 horsepower, 2.7 liter turbo engine that pushes 22 psi of boost. They both have at least 8 speeds in the transmission, 8 for the Canyon, 9 for the Frontier, and they both do a lot of things well. Because these are off-road trim levels, they both have about 9.5 inches of ground clearance, they both have a 21.3-4 gallon tank, and they both get around 17 around town, 21-22 on the highway. So they really do compete in a lot of things. But the AT4 has the optional larger tire. It's a full 33-inch. The standard one is about 32, which is very similar to the 31.6-inch tire that you find on the Pro 4X. And they both do so many things well. They have quite a few safety features. Although they are not best in class, their safety features don't quite compare to some things like the Ridgeline and the Tacoma. For how well the Lane Assist works, the Lane Keep, the Lane Centering, features like that. But at this price point, you get bright LED headlights on both of them, and you get quite a bit of capacity. The Frontier has an 1,100-pound payload capacity, 400 pounds less than the Canyon. It can also tow about 600 pounds less, only 7,150 at its peak compared to the Canyons that can tow up to 7,700 pounds. But overall, the way that you guys see these ones spec, the Canyon is about a $50,000 MSRP before you get a few thousand dollars off Rob Green. The Frontier is about $48,000. And Frontiers in this area, especially by Rob Green, they are basically always discounted five grand under MSRP. So as you see it, it's basically a $42,000 Frontier versus roughly a $48,000 GMC Canyon. So as we go through this video, we are going to see if the Frontier might be the better value for you, or if you should spend a little bit more on a loaded out Canyon. And I'm kind of wondering, why does the Frontier outsell the Canyon roughly two to one? We have some Frontier friends. There's a lot of colors, a lot of configurations, and it's going to be interesting to see which one of these you decide to maybe purchase down the road. Under the hood, you have two of the most powerful engines offered in any midsize truck. The Nissan has a 310-horsepower, 3.8-liter V6. It has dual overhead cams, direct injection, a timing chain, and 281 pound-feet of torque at 4,400 RPM. That is nearly 150 pound-feet of torque less than the Canyon, because while this has the same 310 horsepower at 5,600 RPM, very similar to the power peak of the Frontier, it has a whopping 430 torque at 3,000 RPM. So about 150 pounds more and quite a bit lower in the RPM. So here's a graph of all the midsize trucks I have tested in the last little bit. And you can see that the Canyons in general are a little bit faster than the Frontiers at a few thousand feet of altitude, where the naturally aspirated engine in the Frontier does lose more horsepower than the turbocharged engine because of oxygen density. Anyways, you see the battery, the periphery, the fuse box, sometimes the computer on the periphery of these engines. And because they are relatively small for this wide of a vehicle, where they're both about six and a half feet wide, you can see that the turbo engine right here on the Canyon actually has a lot of room to work on it. It is misleading because there's all the baffling and the tubing for the air intake to quiet everything down. But there actually is a lot of room to work on this four cylinder engine, which pushes 22 PSI of boost. It has direct injection timing chain. It does have some forged internals. So it's a very potent engine, a very powerful one, one that you could probably tune and turn up, but read up on that on your own. Anyways, I have read that this has cylinder deactivation, but I have heard no problems with it. And this engine is offered in the full size Silverado, which even has a 100,000 mile warranty. So it's a very reliable powertrain with an eight-speed auto. The eight-speed has had issues in the past, but the current iteration of it seems to be quite a bit better. Same thing with the nine-speed over here. There was a big software update a few years ago, and that seemed to fix a lot of the issues with this nine-speed. But right here, you have the battery, fuse box, reservoirs on the periphery, air intake, and just a good old V6. And although it's a big engine, you can still see there is a decent amount of room to work on I want to take a minute to thank the sponsor of today's video, GlassFit. If you guys haven't heard of them before, they make some of the best aftermarket floor mats in the business. I've actually owned their floor mats on the last three daily drivers that I've owned, and I thoroughly enjoy them. First of all though, let's talk about why you might consider them. Factory floor mats, and the optional upgraded all-weather floor mats like this, usually have a few deficits to them. You can see there's not a lot of surface area. It doesn't even cover the dead pedal. It barely covers underneath the brake and the gas, and there's no sidewalls. They're also pretty flimsy. I'm not even convinced that these rubber materials are going to be holding up as long because they're probably not the same PPE materials that GlassFit uses. So when you look at their floor mats, and how they compare to these, you'll notice a lot more sidewall. Deeper grooves to so your feet aren't slipping and sliding around. They actually have an edge to them, so the mess isn't going to roll off. And they're actually rigid, so that when you try to take this thing out of the vehicle to clean it off, you're not just going to spill the mess everywhere, and have to vacuum up the carpet underneath from where the mess has already escaped. So when you check out GlassFit with code AA20, you get 14% off your order, and they're a far superior product. They're even laser fitted, so they're going to hold up really well. The TPE rubbers are going to age really well, and there's a lot of reasons why I personally love using them. So thank you GlassFit for sponsoring today's video, and if you have a Chevy, a GMC, or any other modern make and model, check them out and see if they have the right floor mats for your ride. Even though it's relatively bright outside today, these LED headlights actually look quite bright against this wall. The Frontier wall looking a little bit smaller than this bigger, tired Canyon. It's kind of interesting that the headlight beam actually seems to be a that almost looks like the Canyon. But anyways, as we go down the sides of the vehicle, and you see the A-pillars, the roofs on these look very similar. The Canyon, again, maybe has a little bit of an edge to it, a little bit higher of a vehicle. Side mirrors seem to be about the same. The window surface area, or the height of the windows, also seems to be pretty darn similar. And then right here, the bed on the Canyon does seem to be noticeably higher, maybe by two to three inches. Pro4x stickered on the side, but then the back of these vehicles look really good. They both have an antenna on the roof. Third brake light. They have manual sliding rear windows. They have locking tailgates. Frontier stamped in, big Nissan badge. I do like the black accent piece going horizontally on this, almost like the Ford F-150 Raptor. And then Frontier is filled in with some vinyl lettering. Over here at GMC Canyon, a very timeless looking truck. I don't necessarily love chrome and silver accents, but on this vehicle, it looks fantastic. You do have side steps in the bumper. You have parking sensors. These can tow up to 7,700 pounds, if it's the right configuration of all of your plugins. Over here, a bunch of parking sensors, tow configurations up to 7,150 pounds. And honestly, the rear end of both of these trucks look really good. I'd love to hear your thoughts on which one might look better. If the Frontier that you choose has the five foot bed, rather than the larger six foot bed, you'll have a very similar bed size to the Canyon or its GM twin, the Colorado. Both of these beds are roughly five feet long, five feet, one inch, something like that. They have roughly 21 and a half inches of sidewall height with the bed. And then they're between about 45 to about 58 inches wide, depending on if you count from the wheel wells or everything that's not the wheel wells. It is kind of interesting though, that the Frontier has its wheel well bumps into the bed right at the front of the bed, compared to the Canyon over here, which is almost a little bit more in the middle of the bed. Anyways, they are both Rhino lined or bed lined. You can see all the heavy duty tie downs. They both have a 400 watt plugin, GMC stamped in right there. And honestly, the beds on either of these vehicles are relatively useful. But the tailgate on this one is not dampened like it is on the General Motors truck. You do have more cup holders back here though, more chili bowl holders, but nothing too special back here. I guess you could put a lot coloring pencils and other pencils and pens and work equipment in those little grooves and slots when the bed on the Frontier is down. Over here, you don't have as many of them. They are a little bit wider, but you do have a ruler on the back. That's pretty neat. And then you have a little bit of hidden storage in the tailgate. And I really appreciate that. We finally get to go into the interior of these vehicles, and then we'll finish the video up with my final thoughts. But let's start with the second row of the Colorado. Before we go into the second row of the Frontier, first of all, these vehicles are high off the ground. Even though they only have about nine and a half inches of ground clearance, the actual seat is probably closer to three feet high. The door opens up pretty nicely. All the windows on both of these trucks are single pane glass, but it's a pretty big window. Lots of surface area. The Maroni sticker isn't overly big. And then because this is a GMC, you have some nicer materials for the door card, for the armrest, for the handle. But the smallest pocket I have ever seen on a second door of a truck. Speaker right there. You do have a little bit of storage underneath the seats, and it's pretty tight. There's also no B pillar handle, which is very unfortunate. So as you step up super high into this, you then have to crouch so you don't hit your head. And I'm only five foot 11, and my knees are in the back seat if I have the seat in a comfortable position. I could drive with this scooted forward a little bit more, but I like this position. It's nice. It does look really nice up front. We're going to be there soon enough. But you have a phone holder, some cup holders. You do have vents and some plugins in the back of the Canyon. Something that you will be missing in the Frontier. No armrest. Physical sliding window. Headroom is okay with this cutout. But as soon as you lean forward, if you're five foot 11 like me, and you're the same proportions, you will probably scrape the top of your head, which does not feel very good. The second row of the Frontier is probably going to be equally tight. Honestly, these two trucks, I guess, and the Colorado, and then the Tacoma, are probably the smallest of the midsize trucks on the cab. The Ranger is drastically larger for the second row, and the Ridgeline, which is a unibody, maybe doesn't count. That's a much larger vehicle too. But anyways, the door panel is pretty nice materials for this cheaper price point. The door opens up just about as wide. Single pane windows. You have more storage on this one. Same speaker. Handle with some extra storage. And then you also have a little bit of hidden storage under here. At five foot 11, I actually appreciate this step, because then I don't have to squat so much as I duck down. But I still don't have a detailer handle, which is unfortunate. Anyways, my knees are in the seat. My head... Actually, I have more headroom in this, the way I'm sitting right now. But I don't have vents, and I couldn't look under the seat very well to see if there's ducting down there. There probably is, but I couldn't verify that for you right now. Anyways, you have some plug-ins. You have an armrest. You do have an armrest that folds down. You have a sliding rear window. I really appreciate that. And overall, other than being a very dark interior, it also looks very nice up front. I could go across town like this, but I probably wouldn't want to go across the country in either of the backs of these trucks. We're going to hop into the front of the AT4 Canyon, which is a very nice place to be. Proximity key, blind spot monitoring, but no turn signals, or 360-degree camera at $50,000. Kind of surprised to see those features not here. Anyways, the door opens up pretty wide. Nicer materials, but there's a lot of screens, a lot of surface area of glass. It does have the trailer brake hood release, rubberized pedals. You definitely need loss-fit mats on both of these. Heated, powered driver's seat. AT4 stamped in. No sunroof or anything, though. Sitting inside it feels like a very nice truck. I am just worried long-term about the software, about the screens, about if you need to replace those, how much are they going to cost? But the hood looks very bulged out and aggressive. Very little storage right here. Not as much as the Frontier, but overall, it's a very nice place. I love the steering wheel with the six o'clock handle. Everything just looks really nice. Wireless charger, 4x4. You even have 4x4 auto, which I really like. Electronic parking brake, lifting tray. Both of these trucks do have auto start, stop, unfortunately. No sunglass holder or anything. This does extend or slide off, which is really cool. And then some lighting. With that said, let's turn this off and hop into the Nissan. Stepping into the Nissan is like stepping back in time. Door panel, maybe not as nice as the more expensive GMC AT4 single pane windows. Decent storage down here. Red accents. On camera, they might look kind of gimmicky. In person, they actually look kind of cool, if I'm being honest. You have a very tall seat. Power options. It is heated. Pro4X stamped in or stitched in, I guess I should say. No sunroof either. You do have a sunglass holder though up here, which is pretty cool. And then you still have screens, but not quite as much. You still have analog gauges, which I really appreciate. An old school Nissan steering wheel that has much heavier steering than the electronic steering that you get in the GM trucks. Bigger storage up here. Android Auto, Apple CarPlay. Heated seats, heated steering wheel even on this one. Physical HVAC controls. You also have a physical lighting stalk to turn on your headlights, unlike the other truck that has it through the software, which I forgot to mention. I really do not like that. Then you have your drive modes down here. Rear locker. You have quite a bit of storage in here. And, sunglass holder again. Does this... Yes, it also slides, doesn't have lighting. A very sad little light. But anyways, what are your thoughts? Let's hop out and I'll give you my final thoughts. My final thoughts of the Nissan Frontier versus the GMC Canyon is honestly, I think these are both very cool trucks. On their own, I think the Frontier looks amazing, especially the Pro4X configuration. But next to the Canyon, I probably prefer the exterior look of the Canyon. In my opinion, this is probably, right now, the best looking midsize truck, especially if you get an off-road configuration like the AT4, the AT4X, heck, even the Denali trim level. They all look so good. But it is a higher strung turbo four-cylinder engine. So short term, maybe I would pick the Canyon while it's under warranty. It makes way more torque. It's a lot more lively on its feet. It really puts the power down quite well. But I don't love all the technology. I don't love having to turn on the headlights through a screen. And I just don't know how that's going to age. If I was going to keep one of these very, very long term, I'd probably choose the Nissan Pro4X or the SV, because it is thousands of dollars cheaper for the equivalent trim level. It doesn't do everything well. It is a little bit harder to drive with the heavier steering and just the turning radius and all that. But honestly, it's a Nissan V6. It should be very bulletproof long term. But you can't go wrong either way. For the value of these, I think they stack up quite well against the competition. But what are your thoughts, opinions, and questions? Please put those down below. Thank you for watching. And check out Last Fit and Rob Green. And until next time, take care, guys.