The Nissan Frontier Desert Runner Concept has been revealed at SEMA overnight, and we think it makes the Navara Warrior look like a sticker pack.
Nissan recently revealed its Australian-designed and developed Navara N-Trek Warrior to try and steal the thunder from Ford’s Ranger Raptor. However, Nissan Frontier Desert Runner Concept, which was revealed at the SEMA show last night is the Raptor competitor we want.
Nissan decided the Frontier’s original 4.0-litre V6 was too small and shoehorned in the 5.6-litre V8 from the Nissan Patrol. That still wasn’t enough, so the engine got turbocharged, and it now thumps out 450kW and 950Nm of torque. Bolted on were a Garrett GTX3584RS turbocharger, custom intercooler, Jim Wolf Technology camshafts, pistons and valves, and MA Motorsports custom turbo header and exhaust system.
Read our story on the Ford Bronco R Concept
Like the Raptor, the Frontier Desert Runner has been designed to jump dunes. It has King Racing triple-bypass front shock absorbers and coil-overs, and on the rear King Racing triple-bypass shocks again with Giant Motorsports leaf springs. The Frontier Desert Runner rides on 37-inch BFGoodrich Baja tyres. The shock hoops, engine cage and bed cage were fabricated by MA Motorsports.
For the body, MA Motorsports installed Fiberworx Pre Runner fenders and fabricated new front and rear bumpers, along with a custom spare tyre carrier. A full package of off-road lighting from Rigid Industries and a body wrap by Speed Designs complete the build.
As fun as it is to imagine a world where Nissan would bring this to production, and then to Australia, we, unfortunately, that world doesn’t exist. So if you want a Nissan equivalent to a Ranger Raptor, you’ll have to make do with the N-Trek Warrior.
