Titan Half-Ton Ready to Duel

CARMEL, CA – Nine months after the debut of the near-heavy-duty Titan XD comes the Titan half-ton crew cab, a truck Nissan considers its best effort yet at taking on the Detroit Three in a segment they dominate.

With only the relatively niche XD in the market, Titan sales are flat year-over-year, up just 0.9% through July vs. like-2015 to 7,242 units, WardsAuto data shows.

As the bulk of fullsize pickups sold are half-ton models, Nissan expects to really move the sales needle now.

The good news is the new half-ton Titan, on sale late this month, has a good gasoline V-8, decent handling and a nicely appointed interior.

The bad news is it lags the segment’s top two sellers in payload and towing, and Nissan has almost no currency in the fullsize-pickup game. Anecdotally, it seems few know it even makes a fullsize pickup.

“Nissan makes a Silverado-size truck? Wow, I didn’t know that!” one person tells this reviewer recently in casual conversation. Pipes up another person nearby: “I didn’t know that either.”

So yes, there’s a large awareness hill to climb.

The Titan half-ton crew cab’s engine should get it some attention. On paper, it bests the volume V-8s from Ford and Chevy.

The Titan’s 5.6L gasoline V-8, the same mill that goes into the new Armada SUV also launching this month, makes 390 hp and 394 lb.-ft. (534 Nm) of torque. The ’17 Chevy Silverado’s 5.3L V-8 churns out 355 hp and 383 lb.-ft. (519 Nm), while the ’16 Ford F-150’s 5.0L V-8 makes 385 hp and 387 lb.-ft. (525 Nm).

Nissan promises a gasoline V-6 is due at an unspecified later date, but won’t confirm if it is a turbocharged V-6 a la Ford’s EcoBoost, as several Nissan executives hinted years ago. The 2.7L EcoBoost makes 325 hp while the 3.5L EcoBoost delivers 365 hp.

On the road, the Titan 5.0L is a throaty beast with good breadth across its power band. Especially appreciated on some of the steeper hill climbs here is the healthy amount of low-end torque.

Disappointing is the truck’s underwhelming payload and towing capability.

The Titan lags, with a maximum 1,610-lb. (730-kg) payload vs. 2,250 lbs. (1,021 kg) in a Chevy Silverado 1500 double cab with the 5.3L and a max trailering package.

The F-150 SuperCrew 4x2 with a 5.0L V-8 maxes out at 2,910 lbs. (1,320 kg) with a heavy-duty payload package and 19-in. wheels.

On towing, the Titan 4x2 can handle a 9,390-lb. (4,259-kg) trailer or boat, while the 4x4 can pull 9,230 lbs. (4,187 kg).

Both the Silverado and F-150 can trailer more than 12,000 lbs. (5,443 kg), although the Chevy’s rating is based on a 4x2 using General Motors’ 420-hp 6.2L V-8.

Hauling stuff in the bed and towing is crucial for many pickup owners. However, there are plenty of folks driving pickups who will do neither, so it’s unclear how detrimental this shortfall may be for Nissan.

Buyers could step up to the Titan XD to get better payload and towing capability, but it is $1,000-$2,000 more than the price of a half-ton Titan, depending on the grade.

The XD closes the gap with the light-duty Silverado and F-150, however, and for less money.

Nice Interior, So-So Safety Tech

The interior of the half-ton model is similar to the XD in its low-gloss, soft-touch finishes as well as design, which is a good thing, although there’s no real wood at some steep price points. However, open-pore wood film, the first time we’ve ever seen that material, is a convincing fake in the top-end Platinum Reserve grade.

A PRO-4X mid-grade Titan on display here is the most eye-catching grade of all, with an attractive double-diagonal pattern on plastic trim pieces, silver-painted trim on the center stack and touches of chrome on select controls, such as the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning knobs.

There’s plenty of ways to charge or connect devices in the new half-ton Titan, with USB and auxiliary ports on the center stack and a 12V outlet there, too. Another 12V outlet is in the voluminous center console and a 120V AC outlet is located on the back of the center console for second-row passengers to plug in their gadgets.

Voice recognition performance is above average in a Platinum Reserve grade, as roughly 95% of our commands are understood. The one drawback is it won’t accept satellite station names, just channel numbers.

A 5-in. (13-cm) touchscreen is standard on the base S grade, while a 7-in. (18-cm) screen is available for the SV grade and standard on PRO-4X, SL and Platinum Reserve models.

If you’ve seen the Titan XD you know the truck’s styling is similar to the F-150’s. The half-ton follows this formula as well, and it will either assuage the fence-sitters or turn them off completely. We’d prefer a unique appearance but can understand Nissan’s thinking.

The advanced safety technology offered is average. Blindspot warning, rear-cross-traffic alert and rearview monitor are great, but there is no system to keep you from veering out of your lane. The Titan’s width constantly would trigger a lane-departure warning, Nissan says. And as the Titan still uses hydraulic steering, it also doesn’t offer the more advanced lane-keep assist, either. The Silverado, which has electric power steering, has the feature in a $1,095 enhanced driver alert package for ’17.

Nissan opted to err on the heavy side for steering feel to give greater control to the driver, and it is a mixed blessing. At mid and higher speeds the resistance is welcome, but at lower, parking-lot speeds it takes muscle to turn the wheel.

The Titan keeps its independent front suspension and multi-leaf solid rear axle and has twin-tube dampers, keeping drivers and passengers stable on smooth pavement and/or undulating roads.

But the ride is at times jittery, thanks to lots of cracked and rough-aggregate pavement around this area. The vibration presumably is made worse by the Platinum Reserve’s 20-in. tires.

But we average 18 mpg (13.1 L/100 km) around Carmel in a 4x4 Platinum Reserve. The environmentalist in us says that’s horrible, but it’s roughly what similar competitors return.

The Titan’s bed continues to be a competitive strong suit. The Utili-track tie-down system remains, standard in SL and above grades and available as an option on SV and PRO-4X grades.

Tailgate lighting, spray-in bedliner and a 110V in-bed outlet is standard on some grades.

The Titan 4x2 crew cab begins at $34,780 for an S model and tops out at $55,400 for a 4x4 Platinum Reserve. Neither price includes a $1,195 destination and handling charge.

Comparing Titan pricing to the Silverado and F-150 is pointless, because the two top-selling Detroit pickups have so many spiffs at the moment that MSRP is irrelevant.

Nissan hopes to avoid getting caught up in the incentives game, and it might succeed thanks to an intriguing new development.

The Japanese automaker will have a 5-year/100,000-mile (161,000-km) bumper-to-bumper warranty on the ’17 Titan, besting the 3-year/36,000-mile (58,000-km) warranties offered by Chevy, Ford, GMC, Ram and Toyota.

Nissan knows extended warranties can help close sales for those fence-sitting fullsize-pickup intenders. The new guarantee, as well as the great V-8, likely will move the sales needle for the Titan, but how much is the question. The Detroit Three have unwavering loyalty, making the task a tough one.

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'17 Nissan Titan Platinum Reserve 4x4 Specifications