I do not agree with Consumer Reports

In SoCal, I’d say the Tacoma outsells the Frontier more like 100 to 1, possibly more, and I’m not exaggerating.

 

Their point, that my ex's Ford Fusion drives much more car-like than my Tacoma--while accurate--is a rather obvious (dumb, if you'd like to be mean) set of assertions.

 

Now that's what I'm talking about. Parents had one when we were young kids. I think I recall them calling it a lemon, but we still got plenty of miles out of it.

 

The '61 got kudos because the old flathead six was updated to an OHV, it had efficient interior room and there wasn't near the competition. By '63, it was old hat. Ford, Chevy and Chrysler had new compacts in '60 (Falcon, Corvair and Valiant, respectively) and by '62 all the other GM divisions had theirs and the "Chevy II" (Nova) was introduced. GM had all new mid-size models in '64 ("Chevelle" Malibu, the LeMans "GTO" and Olds "Cutlass" among noteworthy) and AMC even had a new "American". Studebaker did the best they could with no money, even coming up with the Avanti in record time. But the early '60's saw explosive development in the US industry and big profits for those with deep pockets that could keep up.

 

If you've ever sat in a frontier, you would know why

 

I respect many of the things Consume Reports does... However, the fact is they base that review on current trends... on SUVs.

Current SUVs are getting lower, and ride more like a big car.

In my Taco...

1. It rides like a truck, but a good one at that.
2. Hi step in: Good. I like that. I don't even like side steps.
3. Seating positon. It's perfect for me, but I can agree with CR here. It's not perfect for some bodies.
4. Handling: Handle fine for a truck. In fact, better than average for a truck.