Nissan is showing its Frontier Diesel Runner mid-sized pickup truck concept powered by a Cummins 2.8-L, four-cylinder turbo diesel engine with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission at the Detroit Auto Show.
The diesel Frontier arrives just six months after Nissan announced a partnership with Cummins to put a 5.0-L turbo diesel V8 in the next-generation Titan full-size pickup, expected in 2015. And the Nissan concept follows closely on General Motors' announcement that it will bring a 2.8-L Duramax option to the mid-sized Canyon/Colorado pickups.
The 2.8-L Cummins in the Frontier Diesel Runner concept makes 200 hp and 350 ft.-lb. of torque -- within 30 ft.-lb. of the gasoline V8 available in General Motors' Silverado/Sierra heavy-duty pickups, for example. Payload and towing capacity are expected to be in range of that offered by the standard V6-powered Frontier.
Nissan says fuel economy could improve by as much as 35 percent over the standard 4.0-liter gasoline V6, taking the two-wheel-drive Frontier Diesel Runner to about 22 mpg city and 30 mpg highway.
