Compare the2023 Hyundai Santa CruzVS 2022 Nissan Frontier

Full-time four-wheel drive is optional on the Santa Cruz. Full-time four-wheel drive gives added traction for safety in all conditions, not just off-road, like the only system available on the Frontier.

The Santa Cruz’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Frontier.

The Santa Cruz has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Frontier’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Cruz has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Frontier.

For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Santa Cruz uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Frontier uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Santa Cruz and the Frontier have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Santa Cruz the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 158 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Frontier has not been fully tested, yet.

The Santa Cruz comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Frontier’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Cruz 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Nissan covers the Frontier. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Frontier ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Cruz’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Frontier’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Cruz for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Nissan doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Frontier.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Santa Cruz has a standard 600-amp battery. The Frontier’s 510-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 57 more problems per 100 vehicles, Nissan is ranked 20th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 7 places higher in reliability than Nissan.

The Santa Cruz’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 30 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 281) than the Frontier’s 3.8 DOHC V6.

As tested in Motor Trend the Hyundai Santa Cruz turbo 4 cyl. is faster than the Nissan Frontier:

	Santa Cruz	Frontier
Zero to 60 MPH	6.2 sec	7.9 sec
Quarter Mile	14.7 sec	16 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	97.4 MPH	87.9 MPH

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Cruz gets better mileage than the Frontier:

			MPG
Santa Cruz
	FWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	22 city/26 hwy
	AWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	21 city/25 hwy
		2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	19 city/27 hwy
Frontier
	RWD	3.8 DOHC V6	18 city/24 hwy
	AWD	3.8 DOHC V6	17 city/22 hwy

The Santa Cruz offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Frontier doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the Santa Cruz’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Frontier:

	Santa Cruz	Frontier King Cab	Frontier Crew Cab
Front Rotors	12.8 inches	11.1 inches	11.7 inches
Rear Rotors	12.8 inches	11.3 inches	11.3 inches

The Santa Cruz stops much shorter than the Frontier:

	Santa Cruz	Frontier
60 to 0 MPH	122 feet	133 feet	Motor Trend

The Santa Cruz’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Frontier’s standard 70 series tires. The Santa Cruz’s optional tires have a lower 50 series profile than the Frontier’s 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Cruz has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Frontier. The Santa Cruz’s optional 20-inch wheels are larger than the 17-inch wheels on the Frontier.

For superior ride and handling, the Hyundai Santa Cruz has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Nissan Frontier has a solid rear axle, with a non-independent rear suspension.

The Santa Cruz has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Frontier Crew Cab suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The front and rear suspension of the Santa Cruz uses coil springs for better ride, handling and control than the Frontier, which uses leaf springs in the rear. Coil springs compress more progressively and offer more suspension travel for a smoother ride with less bottoming out.

The Santa Cruz has a standard automatic rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The Frontier doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Cruz is 2.9 inches wider in the front and 3.1 inches wider in the rear than on the Frontier.

For better maneuverability, the Santa Cruz’s turning circle is 2.8 feet tighter than the Frontier King Cab 4x4’s (39.6 feet vs. 42.4 feet). The Santa Cruz’s turning circle is 7.3 feet tighter than the Frontier LWB Crew Cab’s (39.6 feet vs. 46.9 feet).

The Hyundai Santa Cruz may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 600 to 650 pounds less than the Nissan Frontier.

The Santa Cruz is 1 foot, 2.5 inches shorter than the Frontier Crew Cab, making the Santa Cruz easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Unibody construction makes the Santa Cruz’s chassis much stiffer, which contributes to better handling, and enables softer springs to be used for a better ride. Unibody construction’s stiffness also contributes to better durability and less body squeaks and rattles. The Frontier doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

The Santa Cruz has 1.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Frontier Crew Cab (101.8 vs. 100.1).

A low lift-over bed design makes loading and unloading the Santa Cruz easier. The Santa Cruz’s bed lift-over height is 31.6 inches, while the Frontier King Cab’s liftover is 32 inches. The Frontier Crew Cab’s liftover is 33.4 inches.

The Hyundai Santa Cruz has a standard rear cargo step, which allows for much easier access to the cargo area. The Nissan Frontier doesn’t offer a rear cargo step.

The Santa Cruz has a much higher standard payload capacity than the Frontier:

	Santa Cruz	Frontier
Crew Cab	1753 lbs.	1460 lbs.
Crew Cab 4x4	1753 lbs.	1260 lbs.

The Santa Cruz has much higher optional payload capacities than the Frontier:

	Santa Cruz	Frontier
Crew Cab	1753 lbs.	1480 lbs.
Crew Cab 4x4	1753 lbs.	1290 lbs.

To help each driver find a more comfortable driving position, the Santa Cruz has a telescoping steering wheel. Much better than just a tilt steering wheel or adjustable seat, this allows a short driver to sit further from the steering wheel while maintaining contact with the pedals. The Frontier doesn’t offer a telescoping steering wheel.

The Santa Cruz’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Frontier’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Santa Cruz and the Frontier have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Santa Cruz is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Frontier prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Santa Cruz SEL/SEL Premium/Night/Limited’s front power windows open fully with one touch of the switches, and the driver’s window also automatically closes, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Frontier’s passenger windows don’t open or close automatically.

On a hot day the Santa Cruz’s driver can lower the front windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Frontier can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Proximity Key standard on the Santa Cruz SEL/SEL Premium/Night/Limited allows you to unlock the driver’s door, tailgate and start the engine all without removing a key from pocket or purse. This eliminates searching for keys before loading cargo, getting in the vehicle in bad weather or making a hurried start to your trip. The Nissan Frontier’s Push Button Start doesn’t unlock the doors or the tailgate.

The Santa Cruz has a standard locking fuel door with a remote release located convenient to the driver. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank. The Frontier doesn’t offer a locking fuel door.

The Santa Cruz Limited’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Frontier’s intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

The Santa Cruz has standard power remote mirrors. The Frontier S doesn’t offer either a remote driver side or passenger side mirror. The driver will have to roll down the windows and reach across the car to adjust the mirrors.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Santa Cruz Limited keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Frontier doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

For greater rear passenger comfort, the Santa Cruz has standard rear heat vents to keep rear occupants more comfortable. The Frontier King Cab doesn’t offer rear vents.

Both the Santa Cruz and the Frontier offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Santa Cruz Limited has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Frontier Crew Cab doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its February 2022 issue and they ranked the Hyundai Santa Cruz Limited 4x4 higher than the Nissan Frontier PRO-4X Crew Cab.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Santa Cruz first among midsize pickups in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Frontier was rated second.