2002 Nissan Xterra Road Test

Nissan found an untapped niche when it launched its popular Xterra in the fall of 1999. While the competition was busy building car based mini-utes for 4x4 pretenders, Nissan offered up a vehicle that actually excelled off the beaten path. Consider the Xterra a Land Rover for moderate-income earners. It's way cool, and goes just about anywhere. To prove this point I purposely attempted to get it stuck on the beach. Thick, deep sand covered the base of the meaty 17-inch all-terrain tires. While this wasn't as treacherous as scaling a 60 % rocky crag, it was a worthy challenge that would stump lesser SUVs. Of course the Xterra had no problem digging its way free, thus I was off to see what else it could take. Up a set of logging roads, one graded, the other looking more like a Sherpa's trail - no problem for the all-steel body-on-frame Xterra. Its standard engine and fuel tank skid plates helped me rest assured that I wouldn't damage anything vital during my exploits.