CLASH OF THE TITANS
Weighing the pros and cons of Nissan’s heavyduty and half-tonne,
There’s a new Nissan Titan in town, but the story isn’t quite as simple as that.
In late 2015, the all-new Nissan Titan XD burst onto the scene, claiming to be a heavy half-tonne pickup, a truck that could fill the gap between the traditional half-tonne pickup and the heavy duty.
Nissan was angling to put its truck into a unique niche in the marketplace; to capture a buyer it had never gone after before. The Titan XD is a three-quarter-tonne truck based on its gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of over 3,856 kilograms, which means it truly is uncharted territory for Nissan, which has never sold a heavy duty truck in North America.
What isn’t new ground for the brand is the half-tonne market, and even there, Nissan is working hard to expand its offerings. For the first time, the Titan will be offered as a regular cab with an eight-foot bed, squarely targeting the tradesmen market that has been dominated by domestic brands for so long. A new V6, a first for the Titan, is also on its way, though Nissan is still tight- lipped on details of that smaller engine.
What’s an XD? What seems like a clear marketing message starts to be muddied by the numbers. The new 2017 Titan can pull a total of 4,260 kg when properly equipped in two-wheel-drive trim, while the Titan XD maxes out at 5,733 kg in regular cab trim. In a vacuum, those are fairly good numbers, but when you consider the Ford F-150 can tow 5,534 kg when properly equipped, both seem to pale in comparison.
And where the marketing narrative really falls apart is when you look at payload. The Titan XD can carry a max payload of 1,320 kg with the 5.6litre V8 gas engine as a regular cab, though a more popular Diesel-pow- ered half-tonne model with fourwheel drive will carry 909 kg.
The half-tonne Titan can put 730 kg in its bed, and both figures lack in comparison to the competition. Once again, it’s the F-150, which can handle 1,470 kg of payload when properly equipped, that make both Titans seem irrelevant. The Chevy Silverado can haul 1,021 kg of payload in its bed as well, eclipsing the Titan’s half-tonne model.
This has mostly to do with the Titan’s weight, with the lightest dieselpowered XD tipping the scales at 3,044 kg, while the Titan half-tonne weighs in at 2,498 kg.
While most manufacturers are fighting the weight battle, Nissan is embracing more kilograms, with the XD at least. You see, what makes the XD an XD are the heavy duty components that lurk beneath its skin. A thicker steel frame supports the entire truck, the axles are larger units, and the brakes have been supersized to 14.37-inch rotors, matching up perfectly with every other threequarter ton truck on the road
Why buy? So what’s the big deal with some thicker components? Why deal with driving a larger vehicle that costs more for little return in capability? To truly understand this, we must talk about the way each drives and handles weight.
Visually, the trucks are nearly indistinguishable, especially from the inside, but while driving them, a number of differences quickly emerge, the most stark of which is the steering. In the Titan XD, a recirculating ball electrically boosted rack makes the wheel too light in most situations.
A fairly large dead zone in the middle of the wheel takes away all the feedback during cruising, giving the larger and stronger of the two trucks a vague, disconnected feeling.
It’s the exact opposite in the Titan. Ahydraulically boosted steering rack provides one of the heaviest steering wheels in the half-tonne segment. Small inputs keep the half-tonne straight and even those offer good feedback to the driver’s hands, while cornering reminds you that this pickup is planted to the ground.
This steering difference also accentuates the weight difference between the two trucks. The XD wants to push wide through every corner, not at all strange for a big truck but made uncomfortable by the light steering.
Though the steering is heavy, the precise wheel along with the lighter curb weight helps the Titan feel fairly agile for a half-tonne. The XD might not be an inbetweener when you look at the numbers, but it certainly drives like it. Even the size difference, which is mostly length, is hardly noticeable from behind the wheel.
Power and work
Of course, it’s not only size, weight and steering that sets these trucks apart. There’s also the engines. Exclusively in the XD, a Cummins 5.0litre V8 diesel can be had to provide 555 lb-ft of torque, a nice boost over the 5.6-litre gasoline-driven V8’s 394 lb-ft. The differences are pretty stark as with any gas versus diesel engine. The Cummins lumbers up to speed, delivering loads of torque but certainly not shooting off the line. When the 5.6-litre is providing motivation, the truck has plenty of power right from the get go, with the seven-speed automatic firing off quick, smooth shifts, though we did occasionally catch it getting a little confused about which gear to kick down into.
Without any weight on them, the half-tonne provides better steering and handling and a strong V8 that feels powerful and makes the truck fairly quick. It’s with a big trailer on the back that the XD-Cummins package finally reveals why it is a worthwhile purchase. Unlike some of the competition that is taking weight out of trucks to increase pay- load and tow ratings, Nissan made the Titan XD heavy, which means that near its limits, this truck still pulls with absolute authority. This is the main redeeming factor of the XD; load it up to 5,000 kg and it stays confident. Load a half-tonne up to 5,000 kilos and things start to get sketchy.
Buying a Titan means bringing home a competent half-ton pickup truck, while bringing home an XD is like bringing home the XD honours student; it studied extra hard to be really good at one subject, in this case, towing.
Pricing In Canada, the Titan half-tonne will start at $46,445 while the top-trim Platinum Reserve model climbs up to $67,595. That makes it a bit pricier than its V8 crew cab competitors at the base level, while once again the top-trim luxury model is a bargain compared to a fully loaded F-150. Moving up to the XD, pricing starts at $48,045 for a gas V8 powered model, while bumping up to the Cummins diesel is nearly an $8,000 option. At the top end, the Titan XD Platinum Reserve with the Cummins diesel costs just over $75,000 in Canada.
The Verdict: 2017 Nissan Titan vs. Titan XD Nissan has diversified its pickup truck lineup with hopes of attracting a fresh new buyer, and the product on offer is sound.
The issue seems to be the muddy marketing message sent out through numbers that don’t match the narrative. But I’m here to tell you that in the real world, the Titan XD has its place in the lineup because of its strong performance under pressure, while the Titan half-ton also offers solid competition to the domestic pickup.