SEMA-Bound Nissan Frontier TARMAC is a Racer and Drifter Rolled Into One

The announcements and teasers keep coming as we get closer and closer to the 2024 SEMA Show in Las Vegas (Nov. 5-8).  

Nissan is the automaker we want to focus on here, with a one-off concept called TARMAC that embodies the spirit of slammed muscle trucks of the past. It was designed and built in a collaboration between Nissan Motorsports, Nissan Design America and Forsberg Racing.

It’s kind of hard to recognize the 2025 Frontier that served as the foundation for this project (more specifically a PRO-X 4x2 model that Nissan offers in the U.S. but not in Canada). Finished in black and new-for-2025 Afterburn Orange, the carbon fibre body is four inches wider and includes a huge front lip spoiler, vented hood, custom bumpers, tailgate spoiler, flared fenders and more.

Photo: Nissan

A prototype NISMO cold air intake and Roots-style, water-cooled supercharger push the Frontier’s standard 3.8-litre V6 to 440 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque (instead of 310 hp and 281 lb-ft). The engine now breathes through a custom NISMO cat-back exhaust system.

The most striking modification is the suspension. To achieve the ground-hugging stance, Nissan developed a custom version of its prototype NISMO high-performance street suspension featuring a fully adjustable coil-over suspension in front and a flip kit and C-notch in the rear. Carbon-barreled, 20-inch NISMO TARMAC wheels are wrapped in 315/35 Yokohama Advan tires, with the front ones getting a negative camber angle for greater straight-line stability.

Photo: Nissan

Keeping that added performance in check is a high-performance big brake kit featuring custom 15-inch floating two-piece rotors and mounts, as well as powerful calipers from the Z NISMO coupe. But get this: there are two calipers in the back, one of which is linked to a custom handbrake for drifting. Seriously.

Throw in some Recaro buckets, and this Frontier is pretty far removed from the units rolling off the line in Canton, Mississippi.

Photo: Nissan

In addition to the TARMAC concept, Nissan will display at SEMA the Frontier Project Trailgater that we showed you a while ago, as well as a pair of modified 2025 Kicks crossovers—one dressed up as a beach patrol SUV and the other taking inspiration from tuner culture.

You can find them all in the photo gallery at the top of the page, so take a look.

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