NEW TITAN RIVALS HIGH-END SPORT UTES IN DESIGN
It’s been a long time since Nissan has done anything with the Titan, but it’s now coming on strong. Having introduced the oversized Titan XD last year, it follows up for 2017 with a regular version.
The new truck arrives in a gradual roll out, starting with the Crew Cab and its 5.6-litre V8 engine with four-wheel drive. Nissan expects that to be the volume seller, ranging from $45,150 to $66,300. A single-cab model is also available, starting at $34,498 in 4x2 and $42,150 in 4x4, while a King Cab model — and a V6 engine — are coming.
The XD and regular Titan have the same size cabs, but the XD has a longer wheelbase and stouter frame. The bigger truck is intended to wedge between the half- and three-quarter-ton truck markets, especially since Japanese automakers don’t make true heavy duty models. The two trucks share their gasoline V8 engine, but the XD can be ordered with a 5.0-L V8 Cummins diesel that’s unavailable in the regular Titan, and it can tow to a maximum of 12,010 pounds (5,447 kilograms).
The new Titan Crew Cab 4x4 can pull up to 9,220 lbs (4,182 kg). That’s more than the Toyota Tundra, but less than similarly configured Detroit competitors, which can tow as much as 2,500 lbs more. The Titan’s payload tops out at 1,610 lbs, or 730 kg.
The gas V8 engine’s displacement is the same as the previous Titan, but this new version is stronger: 390 horsepower versus 317, and 394 pound-feet of torque over the old model’s 385 lb-ft. Despite the higher output, there’s a considerable improvement in fuel economy, which was always the Titan’s weak spot. The old model rated 17.2 L/100 km in combined city/highway driving, while the new one is rated at 13.4, or 14.2 for the more rugged PRO-4X off-road model. Either way, it’s a considerable cut at the pumps.
The engine builds power gradually, and while acceleration isn’t sharp, it’s smooth and linear. A seven-speed automatic transmission replaces the previous five-speed, and is a considerable improvement. The part-time four-wheel drive system includes a standard locking rear differential on the PRO-4X, along with hill-descent control.
Although it’s shorter than the Titan XD, this is still a big truck and it drives that way. It slushes around corners on its fat tires and gets a bit bouncy on uneven pavement, although it flattens out with far more composure with some weight in the back. The PRO-4X and top-of-the-line Platinum Reserve trims come standard with Bilstein coil-over shocks, which didn’t make the ride as harsh as I’d expected.
Nissan has done some great stuff with this interior, which was tweaked with ventilated leather seats and a heated steering wheel on my tester with optional luxury package. The controls are big and simple, and are generally easy to use when wearing gloves, save for the small chrome dials that handle the heated-or-cooled seats. The Ford F-150 remains the only pickup with a flat rear floor, which makes it easy to slide cargo inside. Like the Ram 1500, Nissan uses a fold-out floor panel to provide a flat surface instead, but this one feels more substantial than Ram’s flimsy version.
When the floor panel is folded up and the rear cushions lifted, there are large bins under the seats that contain movable dividers, and they can be locked with a key.
The Crew Cab comes with a 5-foot-5 bed, complete with a spray-in bedliner and utility track system in the three top trims. Those “three top trims” are the key here, as the base S and SV levels are missing quite a few items found in the PRO4X, SL and Platinum Reserve, including a 110-volt bed outlet, bed lighting, a trailer pin connector and trailer brake controller, plus a receiver hitch. They’re unavailable on the S, and can only be added to the SV as part of a $7,650 premium package that also adds a raft of higherend items such as navigation, an auto-dimming mirror, a blindspot monitor and rain-sensing wipers. You can add a trailer package, spray-in bedliner, cargo lights and a V8 to the base Chevrolet Silverado Crew Cab 4x4 for $43,445, and still be $1,705 under the Titan’s non-tow-equipped entry-level model.
The trailering-equipped Titan models do have a neat trick up their sleeve, though: You can check all your trailer’s lights and signals by yourself, using the key fob. The warranty is pretty impressive, too. Rivals cover their trucks for three years or 60,000 km bumper-to-bumper, with most adding five-year or 100,000-km powertrain coverage (GM goes up to 160,000 kilometres). But Nissan covers the Titan for virtually everything for five years or 160,000 kilometres.
Overall, the Titan is handsome on the outside and, in my wellequipped tester, luxurious on the inside, rivalling some high-end sport utes both in design and quality feel. But it gets pricey, and while it’s never going to grab the lion’s share of the segment, I’m guessing there are buyers who would like to add workrelated options by themselves to the lower trims.
As much as I like this V8, I’m looking forward to the V6 and its expected lower price to see if Nissan can turn this Titan into a true work-site wonder as well as a luxury liner.