The 2016 Nissan Titan XD will come in five grades, including this Pro-4X version.
When it made its original debut back in 2003, Nissan’s first full-size pickup seemed poised for a clash of the titans, if you’ll forgive the pun. It was positioned as the first Japanese pickup ready to take on the Detroit brands that long owned the big truck market.
The first-generation Nissan Titan never lived up to expectations, but with the debut of the all-new 2016 version, the Japanese maker has shown it can learn from its mistakes. With a strong shot at being at least one of the finalists for North American Truck of the Year, the 2016 Nissan Titan is bigger, more powerful and a lot more feature-packed.
In an interesting move, Nissan is launching the long-delayed truck in XD form, a more brawny model designed to slot in-between traditional ½ and ¾-ton pickups – think Ford F-150 and F-250. And the first of the 2016 Nissan XD models are rolling into showrooms with a 5.0-liter Cummins turbodiesel. Stylish and comfortable, the new truck is a blend of brains, brawn and beauty, we came to appreciate during a nearly week-long test drive.
The original Nissan Titan wasn’t the first full-size pickup. That distinction goes to the original Toyota T-100, albeit with an asterisk. The truck, and the subsequent, first-gen Toyota Tundra, were also tweeners, somewhere between mid and full-size.
Nissan also will offer three different beds and a choice of 2-wheel or 4-wheel-drive.
The Titan, sold as a 2004 model, was dimensionally full-sized though not quite a match for its domestic competition. For one thing, it was only offered in a limited range of configurations, and with just one cab version. Part of Detroit’s selling strategy has been to offer potential buyers just about any variation they could hope for in order to meet the vast range of tasks full-size trucks are put to.
Going a dozen years without an update, especially for a product that never did well in the market, might seem like a dubious strategy. And it actually wasn’t Nissan’s original intent. Back at the end of the last decade it was moving ahead with plans to launch a new version of the Titan based on the Dodge Ram pickup. But that project fell apart as Chrysler went into bankruptcy in 2009. Its new parent, Fiat, pulled the plug on the deal soon after and Nissan was forced to return to the proverbial drawing board.
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Nissan decided to launch the bigger XD with its Cummins diesel before the 1/2-ton Titan.
While the latest version of the Ram 1500 is a great truck – it has taken both Motor Trend and North American Truck of the Year honors – it was probably fortuitous for Nissan to have to start all over again. The 2016 Titan is no badge-engineered clone. It very much carries Nissan’s own DNA – and technologies such as the Around View Monitor system seen on models like the Juke and Altima.
One thing Nissan can’t take credit for – not full credit, anyway – is the 5.0-liter turbodiesel which it gets from Cummins. The V-8 churns out some impressive numbers, 310 horsepower and a hefty 555 pound-feet of torque. That’s enough, Nissan claims, to tow 12,300 pounds and carry a 2,100-pound payload.
Power is delivered through a six-speed automotive to either the rear wheels or all four, with the driver controlling things through a knob on the instrument panel.
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The top-line Titan XD Platinum Series.
There are two separate platforms for the 2016 Nissan Titan, and the diesel-powered XD gets the bigger, burlier one. It boasts a 151.6-inch wheelbase, 20 inches longer than the gas-powered, standard ½-ton version to follow next year. The Crew Cab body stretches 242.7 inches, bumper-to-bumper.
Among other things, we had a chance to flog the truck through the hills and turns near the aptly named Hell, Michigan, and the Titan XD responded with aplomb. Where the latest version of the Toyota Tundra can charitably be described as “ponderous” negotiating the same roads, the new Nissan proved about as nimble as you could imagine for a truck measuring more than 20 feet, nose-to-tail.
One of our few complaints came with the steering. We noticed an occasional, moderate vibration through the wheel that appeared to come from the electric power steering system. That said, it seemed to have no impact on the actual handling or responsiveness of the big truck. We experienced a similar bit of feedback in a second truck we had a chance to drive briefly, by the way, so it doesn’t appear to have been a one-off fluke.
The car-like interior of the Titan XD Platinum.
We had a chance to take the Titan on a modest off-road trail, but nothing that really tested the vehicles limits. It’s long wheelbase and wide body would make for a challenge handling serious off-road courses, but it would also be comfortably at home traversing a torn up construction site or rolling down a trail pulling a horse- or boat trailer.
What was particularly impressive was the comfort level we experienced inside the 2016 Nissan Titan. While credit for the engine goes to Cummins, it’s Nissan’s engineers who deserve kudos for making the pickup nearly as quiet and smooth-riding as the best gas trucks now on the market. We had to check and re-check the documentation to ensure we really were driving an oil-burner.
Along with that Around View Monitor, Nissan has plenty to offer for Titan buyers, including not only the NissanConnect infotainment system, but the quilted leather seats found on the top-line Platinum Reserve model.
Like the old truck, Nissan will produce the 2016 Titan XD at its plant in Canton, Mississippi.
The Japanese maker has clearly learned a key lesson from its Detroit rivals: while there’s still demand for a relatively stripped-down work truck, there are plenty of buyers willing to spend what it takes to load up on every available feature. As a result, Nissan is offering five distinct trim levels: S, SV, PRO-4X, SL and Platinum Reserve. There’ll by 4×2 and 4×4 options, and 5.5, 6.5 and 8-foot beds. There will also be a choice of three bodies this time: regular, King and Crew cabs.
Because the 2016 Nissan Titan XD has a GVW of over 8,500 pounds it will not get an official EPA fuel economy number. Our test drive showed mileage of around 16 to 20 mpg. Several other media tests have come in around 18 mpg.
As for pricing, Nissan won’t release firm numbers for a few more weeks but says the 2WD S Crew Cab should start around $40,000. A top-line, Crew Cab version of the Platinum Reserve is expected to run somewhere in the low-$60,000 range.
Nissan bills the Titan as a new class of pickup truck with the capabilities of a heavy-duty hauler and the drivability and affordability of a light-duty pickup.
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That doesn’t include such additional features as a spray-in bedliner, LED bed lighting and various bed storage gear.
We’re looking forward to driving the more mainstream version of the Nissan Titan XD when it comes out next year but our initial experience was impressive. The Japanese pickup has gone from a largely forgotten also-ran to become a serious competitor that could pose a real challenge to the established order. The Titan XD has already been declared the Truck of Texas by autowriters there, and we doubt that will be the last award it hauls home.