Drive one first. My Dad has an extended cab model, not sure what year. The turning radius is awful. Took awhile to get used to it in a tight parking lot. I would not like it on small roads that require very tight turn arounds.
I had a 2008 Frontier, now have a 2014 Tacoma. You're right about the Frontier turning radius being awful .. but the Taco is not one bit better. My father's std cab, long bed F250 will turn around in a 2 foot smaller diameter circle. I don't know what the published numbers are, but that's real world measured. Both had/have 6 speed manual transmissions and 4.0L engines and turn LT265-75x16 Toyo Open Country Mud Terrains, about as even a comparison as is possible. The Nissan either tied or bested the Toyota in every comparison I made. However, I did have a few more issues with my Nissan. Who knows, the Taco just hit 40K, the Frontier hit 87K before I traded it, and in the next 47K miles, the Toyota may have catch up.
Specific things I noticed.
The Nissan towed strong rated for 6300 pounds. It was in charge of the 5000 pound U-haul trailer I towed with it. The Toyota is rated at 6500 pounds. My friend's 2700 pound (actual weight, weighed on a truck scale) camp trailer pushed it around pretty bad. Overwhelming advantage to the Nissan.
Gas mileage ... long term average for the Nissan was 18.6 mpg, long term average for the Toyota is 16.0. Same roads, same speed, same driver.
The Nissan has a little better ground clearance. Toyota has some kind of crossmember that hangs down; Nissan doesn't.
Braking ... ok, the Toyota wins. The Nissan was incredible on dry pavement. It'd stop so fast it's shadow would continue on, then have to back up to rejoin it. But on gravel, the ABS would break loose and it wouldn't stop for [bleep]. The Toyota stops adequately on pavement, not as well, but adequately, and does a lot better on gravel. The one negative, sometimes the toyota brakes don't want to engage and when they do, it's abrupt. Seems to be triggered by dust. The Nissan was more consistent. The ABS worked great when you didn't need it and was a menace when you did need it.
Comfort ... the Nissan A/C is fully adequate, the Toyota A/C is weak. The Nissan had a better stereo. Toyota is a crew cab, Nissan was King cab ... the Toyota has better visiblity, smaller blind spots.
I have an unfixable problem with the Tacoma ... sway / body roll sensor triggers the brakes to lock when carving corners. If you drive like an old lady, you won't have a problem. If you drive like you enjoy it, the friggin' thing will lock the brakes causing massive understeer which may put you off the road ... has me a couple times. Once it locked on a freeway corner doing about 85 and it got ugly.
If I were buying a new truck, it would be Nissan Frontier over Toyota Tacoma. The only reason I haven't is the Nissan package I want is only offered with an automatic transmission. If I have to get an automatic to get the other features I want, I start looking at full-sized trucks.
Tom
