Nissan has unveiled the Ronin concept for this year’s SEMA car show, calling it the brand’s “vision for a high-performance, unstoppable off-road truck”. We call it a slam dunk for being put into full production.

Based on the Frontier pickup – the sister truck to the Navara Aussies are familiar with – the Ronin features a bucketload of goodies from Nissan’s motorsport arm, NISMO, not to mention the R35 GT-R. And the raft of improvements starts under the hood, where the usual 3.8-litre V6 has received a massive shot in the arm.

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Instead of running the usual naturally aspirated VQ38DD engine, the Ronin adds the twin-turbo set-up from the most recent Godzilla, which is mounted at the rear. The mill also gets ECUTEK engine management, a custom exhaust, custom intercooler and a dual off-road air intake system. No power figures have been revealed but you can bet your house that it’ll make more than the stock Frontier’s 231kW.

A Titan suspension system – also custom – increases the track width by a full 30cm and jacks the ride height up by 10cm. That provides enough room for the 35-inch Yokohama Geolander X-AT tyres, which sit on prototype 17-inch wheels from NISMO. 

A Bilstein Black Hawk package adds four-way adjustable coilovers, integrated rebound cut-off and bypass damping. Components from CJD Racing give the Ronin more than 35cm of suspension travel. Other NISMO touches include the rock sliders, roof rack, driving lights, the spare tyre carrier and a custom brake kit featuring six-piston calipers at the front. 

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The interior gets the full treatment, too, with custom seatbelts, sport bucket seats and a triple gauge pod on the dashboard showing boost, oil pressure and exhaust temperature.

The Ronin is just one of the concepts Nissan is bringing to SEMA, along with its Fast & Furious-esque Sentra V-Spec and the Pathfinder XE-V6 with its retro focus on the models’ 40th anniversary. Then there’s the Armada Jungle Patrol, an open-roof, stripped down off-roader with custom suspension, a tubular roll cage and inwards-facing seats.