2025 Nissan Frontier vs Ford Ranger - Which Updated Midsize Pickup is Best?

Hey folks, welcome to the Truck King YouTube channel. Today we have an exciting comparison because we have two of the freshest updated midsize trucks with us. On my left, of course, is the Nissan Frontier, which just got a bunch of new features for 2025. And on my right, the Ford Ranger, which was brand new from the ground up in 2024. And in this video, we're going to crawl all over them, look at the features, compare the power price, towing, payload, and more. So make sure you stay tuned. Let's start by looking at the powertrain. So over here in the Nissan, it's a 3.8 liter naturally aspirated V6. It's making 310 horsepower, 281 pound feet of torque, and that is sent through a nine speed automatic. And over here at Ford, we basically have more of everything. This is the EcoBoost V6, so it's a turbocharged V6. It is putting out 315 horsepower, so five extra horses, 400 pound feet of torque. So yes, that's 120 pound feet more than the Nissan. And this has a 10 speed automatic, so one extra gear. And it has to be mentioned, this is the only powertrain you're going to find in the Frontier, where over here at Ford, there's a smaller base EcoBoost you can get, that's a four cylinder. And then of course, if you step up to the Ranger Raptor, you get an even more powerful turbocharged engine. So the Ranger has more choices overall. And yes, with this V6 to V6, it also packs a lot more power. So exactly which trucks do we have here today? Well, from Ford, we have the Lariat with the FX4 off-road package. So this is the top luxury trim with the off-road goodies. From Nissan, we have the Pro-4X luxury package. So the same deal, it's the top luxury trim with that off-road package. And actually these off-road packages are really similar. Both of them offer revised suspension, tuning, some unique shocks, you're getting skid plates underneath, and a rear locking differential. So yes, the equipment packages we have here today are straight up apples to apples. And then I just want to talk about the way these things look. Now for 2025, the Frontier got a massaged front end, a new grill, a new front fascia. I really like the way it looks. Over here with the Ford Ranger, this was all new in 2024. And the Ranger's an interesting sort of styling story because this is a worldwide product. This Ranger has to sell here and in South Africa and Australia and Europe and all over the world. So the styling is definitely not as North Americanized as some of the other midsize trucks. Now I hear from commenters all the time that they don't like the way it looks. So you know what? I want to hear you weigh in. Jump down there right now and let me know which one of these two looks better as they sit here, Frontier or Ranger. Let's take a closer look at the business end on these trucks. So first, you have to know that the Frontier over here can still be had with a smaller cab and it can be had with a 5 or 6 foot bed. So you do have options with bed length and cab size. With Ford Ranger, this is now fixed. You can only get a crew cab with the 5 foot bed. So Nissan has more choices when it comes to configurations. And yes, we have the 6 foot bed here today. And actually, this is a new addition for 2025 because it's a Pro-4X Luxury with a long bed. That wasn't available before, but now it is. So now let's take a closer look at these beds and what they offer. First, the Ford Ranger does have a damped tailgate. On the tailgate, you're getting these C-clamp pockets. So you can get a C-clamp on here and actually hold down lumber, something you're working on. You get the ruler across the edge, which is nice. Looking in, we have a spray-in bed liner today. There are six hard tie-down points, one in each corner and then a midway hard tie-down. So I do like having that too. And there's a bit of power in this bed over here as well. You're getting a 12 volt plug and a 400 watt plug over there too. So nice to have those options for power plus LED lighting. Now let's look at the front here. First of all, I'll show you also a damped tailgate. This one falls a little faster, but it is damp. And yeah, this bed is just straight up bigger. So if you're a customer who needs a 6 foot bed, you're going to end up over here at Nissan rather than Ford. Now, when it comes to features, really similar. We have LED lighting, only four hard tie-downs here in the front here, just one in each corner. Although you do get the Utilitrack system, so you can have those movable cleats in here and move them to where you need them. I do like that as well. And then yes, there is power in this bed too. No 12 volt like the Ford, but you still get 400 watts right here, which is nice. Now, finally, we have to talk towing and payload. And with both numbers, the Ford does more. So the Frontier here actually just boosted its tow rating by 500 pounds, which is nice. Max tow on the Frontier now is 6,850. This one as it sits is about 150 pounds less than that. But yes, max is 6,850. On the Ranger, max towing is 7,500 pounds. And this truck as it sits is rated at 7,500. So yes, the Ranger's towing more. Now let me go check the doorjamb stickers for the payload. Ranger comes in at 1,326 pounds, really good for a mid-sizer. And this Frontier as it sits, just 920 pounds. So yes, when it comes to payload too, that Ranger blows this thing out of the water. All right, folks, let's take a closer look at the back seats right now. So I want to start with the baby seat situation. We do have lower latch here on the driver's side and the passenger side. And then there's three top tethers along the back. But I also want to show you just how you can fold these seats down. Now, if the headrest wasn't there, this would go flat. But yeah, you can fold these backs down and it is a 60-40 situation. Same with the seat bottoms. They come 60-40 and there's a bit of storage down there. So nice to have that flexibility here in the Nissan with the back seats. And where's the handle gone? There it is. And now let me climb in. So this is 33.2 inches of rear seat legroom. It is just enough for me, but probably looks pretty cramped because I do feel pretty cramped. The first thing I noticed is how tall the floor is. My knees feel really, really high, so that makes it a bit of an uncomfortable position. And then I have just enough headroom up here. But it's because the roof has this recess in it. If I move forward a tiny bit, I'm jamming into this lump right here. So yes, not a particularly spacious back seat here in the Frontier, but these are midsize trucks, so none of them have huge back seats. Now, for amenities, I do have a 400-watt plug, plus a USB-A and a USB-C port. Now let's go see how the Ranger compares. So before I climb in, like usual, baby seats, same thing, lower latch on the driver, lower latch on the passenger. One major difference, the Ranger seat back folds down, but it's 100. There is no split 60-40. The entire thing comes down, which just makes it a little bit less usable than the Frontier. Maybe you have a baby seat over here and you want some storage over there. In the Ranger, you can't do that. It's all or nothing. Now, when it comes to baby seats, you do have three top tethers along the back wall, just like the Frontier as well. And then the seat bottom also folds up, but it's also an all or nothing situation, revealing a couple of storage bins. And that's actually a little bit more storage down there than the Frontier had to. Now let me climb in. So on paper, this is about an inch and a half more legroom. And I set both driver seats up for my driving position, a comfortable driving position. It feels about the same legroom-wise. The issue is, or the good thing about the Ranger is that my legs aren't as tall. My knees aren't up like this. And the fact that I'm sitting a little flatter makes it that much more comfortable. These feel like real bucket seats too, you kind of sink into them, which is nice. And then when it comes to headroom, there's definitely a little more here. Not a lot more, but a little bit more. And the recess isn't a big deal. I can move back and forth and I'm not smashing into the roof. And I stand at six foot two. So overall comfort-wise, absolutely the Ford Ranger is better. I could sit back here for a legitimate amount of time. In the Frontier, I was getting pretty uncomfortable pretty quickly. Now talking amenities, they're really similar to USB-A and USB-C, 400 watt, three-prong plug, and a little storage cubby over there for the passengers. But yes, overall, when it comes to backseat comfort, I'm going with the Ranger. But yes, it is true that the Frontier has that 60-40 split. So for storage, it actually might be a little bit more convenient. All right, folks, now we're driving. We're here in the Frontier. First things first, let's feel the power. Going to floor it. Oh, some slip. It is wet out here today. Sounds pretty good too. And the power feels really decent. And it truly is that naturally aspirated power. You never kind of have a big hit, a big rush of power that you didn't feel. You feel that max power right off the line. And then as it shifts up through the gears, yeah, that power just remains nice, strong, and smooth. So there is something to be said for that. Just the way these two engines feel is definitely different. And if you like that sort of smooth, predictable power, yeah, the V6 here in the Nissan is going to deliver that. So we only get the one powertrain here in the Frontier, but it is a good one, luckily. And it's not like it's underpowered even compared to the competition. And that is a big part of the driving experience. But I would argue the bigger part of the driving experience in the Frontier is the steering and the suspension and just the overall truckiness. This thing truly feels like a truck. And that's mostly because the underpinnings here are basically two decades old, even a little bit older actually. So when Nissan came to redesign the Frontier, they did all the things they felt necessary, the exterior styling, the interior, some technology. And they did do that new powertrain, but they really didn't touch, like I said, the underpinnings, the frame, the suspension, any of that stuff. So yeah, the truck does have a tendency to feel old. And what I mean by that is it feels heavy. It feels really kind of stuck in place. And then the steering here has to be the heaviest steering in a production vehicle today. I really believe that. We drive, you know, cars and trucks all the time. And I can't think of anything that's on sale right now that has a heavier steering wheel than this. Now, whether or not you like that is totally subjective. I think on the positive side, yeah, the truck does have a tendency to just drive in a straight line. It doesn't take a lot of corrections from your hands to really keep this thing just moving along. On the negative side, yeah, it's just a lot more work to turn the wheel. It takes some real getting used to after having driven anything else out there. And then the other thing I have to add is the turning radius here is not good. The Frontier, when it was updated, they did also make the turning radius a bit better, but it just, it still turns like a battleship. You know what? I know the numbers on paper are similar to some other midsize trucks out there, but in reality, every time I drive a Frontier, I'm like, oh yes, don't forget this thing hates to turn. So all of those things add up to this thing, just like I said, feeling sort of old school truck rather than anything modern whatsoever. The driving experience is old. Luckily though, the interior does feel modern. And for 2025, we just got this updated touchscreen here in the center stack. It is massive. It looks really nice, nice crisp display. We got this new Frontier badge up here too, which is just a little bit of extra styling. So they did update the things that needed to be updated because yeah, from the interior, it doesn't look old whatsoever. It looks like it fits in with today's trucks. It's just from behind the wheel that the Frontier feels like it's, yeah, it's from 20 years ago, not from 2025. The one thing that does come with age though, is that feeling that the platform is tried and tested. And I would make that argument here for the Frontier. Now the powertrain's a couple of years old, but for the most part, you don't hear about big reliability issues with this engine. And then when it does come to frame, suspension, everything else going on with this truck, Nissan knows everything there is to know about this platform. So while yes, in some ways, I don't like the fact that Nissan didn't fully update the truck. You can make the argument that because they just left it alone, you know it works. And therefore the reliability here is going to be good. The Frontier is known for its reliability. And it is something that I would definitely put in the pro column for this Nissan. The last thing I'll leave you with here in the Frontier is the price. So in Canada, this truck, as you see it in this video, is a little bit over $59,000, which I say this in every video, feels expensive for a midsize truck, but it is right there in line with everything else on the market. In fact, especially at the top end, the Frontier feels like it does offer a pretty good value because most other trucks at their top luxury version in this segment are more than that. So now you know the price. Let's go jump in the Ford Ranger, take it for a spin. We'll talk about how everything in the truck compares, how the drive compares, and then how the price compares. All right, folks, here we are in the Ranger now. We're going to feel the power. And yes, I do have drive modes here in the Ford. So you know I'm putting it in sport mode and foot to the floor. Nice. So definitely doesn't sound as good as the Frontier and actually doesn't hit quite as hard off the line. And this is what I was saying about that naturally aspirated power. In the Frontier, you feel that wave of power come on right away and then sort of stay on. In the Ford, you put your foot to the floor, you wait a beat, and then all of a sudden, at the exact moment that I started giggling is when the full power came on. And there's no doubt that the Ranger feels more powerful. It feels quicker when all of that power gets to the ground, but it does get to the ground in a different way. So that's more of a personal preference thing. You know, if you really like that V6 feeling, I get it. If you can live with having this more turbocharged feeling, at the end of the day, you're going to get more power out of the Ford. And the other thing I've noticed is the fuel economy is really similar. So the real-time readout in this truck currently is at 12.4 litres per 100 kilometres, where over in the Frontier, it's been at 12.8 litres per 100. So sure, the Frontier is slightly worse, but I think we can just overall say the fuel economy between these two trucks is going to be similar, but the Ford does offer quite a bit more power. So in the powertrain department, I think definitely leaning Ranger. Let's talk about how these trucks drive now. And I would say the Ranger drives a bit better in every way. The suspension is a little bit more comfortable, not quite as stiff. The steering, way lighter, but it's also not too light, still gives you a good amount of feedback. And this truck does have a tendency to also just track nice and straight. So yes, I would say the Ranger is just an easier truck to drive overall. And that also lends itself to a feeling of luxury, where the Nissan comes off heavy and truckish. The Ranger comes off, yeah, just like a simple, easy vehicle to drive. Doesn't feel too big, doesn't feel heavy. In fact, the handling feels kind of light, which is nice. It really wants to go around a corner, whereas the Nissan does not want to go around a corner. So in the drive department too, yeah, definitely the Ranger just drives better and drives much more modern. Now I want to look at the interior and the features in here, but before I do that, let me drop the price on you so you have the numbers in your head for context. This Ford Ranger here in Canada sells for over $63,000. So yes, between these two trucks, you do have about a $4,000 difference, and the Ford is a bit more expensive. But then when you sit in here and start looking around, you also realize that the Ford has a lot more features. Things like a fully digital gauge cluster in front of me. All the towing technology in the Ford is better. Things like an integrated trailer brake controller and Pro Trailer Backup Assist is here in this truck. I also have a large touchscreen here in the Ranger, just like the Nissan. One big difference there is that here it's sort of, it's vertically oriented, whereas in the Nissan it's horizontal. But I don't know, they both work just fine. I don't really have a preference one way or the other. Other features that I have here in my Ranger are all the drive assist features, things like lane centering. So this thing will actually see the lines, keep you in the center of the lane. The Nissan doesn't do that. And actually, that's just another way that the Nissan shows its age. Because they didn't update the power steering system in the Frontier when they put the new truck together, they couldn't bring all of the latest tech, the driver assistance technology to that Frontier. So yeah, if you like old school and you don't care about the truck ever trying to drive for you or see the lanes, then yeah, the Frontier is fine. Whereas here in the Ranger, it has all that tech too. So in just another way, the Ranger feels thoroughly modern, where the Nissan feels kind of ancient. And then I also just want to say, you know, design-wise, I don't really have a preference. I like both interiors. I think they both do feel luxurious. But the Ford here is a little bit more comfortable in the front seat as well. The seats themselves are a little bit nicer, softer, also more supportive. And then I feel like I have a bit more space here in the Ford, headroom, shoulder room, everything. So I'm also just more comfortable sitting up here. So talking features and interior design and comfort, all of those areas, in my head, all of them go to the Ford Ranger. Well, folks, we have arrived at the end of this one, which means it's decision time. Now, you have to recognize that if you need a six-foot bed, if you want to save a few bucks, and if you hate turbochargers, well, the Frontier is the only way to go. But for just about everything else, I think you have to go Ford Ranger. Power, style, interior comfort, and just the way it drives, not to mention the towing and payload. So yes, if I was laying my money on the table, I would spend the extra couple grand and pick up this Ford Ranger. Now, of course, though, I need to hear from you. Drop in the comments, let me know what you think. Are you going Ford or are you going Nissan? Hey, maybe you already own one. Please let me know all about it. And then while you're down there, don't forget to hit like, hit subscribe, hit join to become a member, and then come right back here to Truck King to see what we're testing next. See ya.