As models age, the pressure mounts on an automaker to do one of three things: come up with a new generation of the vehicle, stop production until a refresh has been given the green light, or abandon the model completely. We all knew Nissan was feeling this pressure on its half-ton, the Titan, and got busy in 2012 to come up with something fresh.
We can now see the fruits of Nissan’s labor today, as we have our shiny, Cayenne Red, crew cab Titan XD for an entire week. We have a lot of topics we want to cover on the truck, but we want to know: what are some of your most pressing questions?
Before we jump into the pickup and explore all of its features, let’s touch on what we already know. The biggest change to the truck is obviously the Cummins 5.0-liter V8, an interesting development considering Cummins’ longtime relationship with Ram and using straight-six designs.
This one is of course turbocharged, and makes 310 horsepower and 555 pound-feet of torque. Compared with the late-model 6.7-liter found in properly equipped Rams making 385 horsepower and 900 pound-feet of torque, it’s not trying to overtake the larger, three-quarter and one-ton segments, but the Titan is trying to move the market forward where it concerns half-tons. That’s because half-tons like the Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra, and GM’s Silverado, and Sierra are almost exclusively gasoline-powered (EcoDiesel Rams notwithstanding).
We see this move as nothing but a good thing, but that is an article for another time. We’re here to check out the Titan XD and find out for ourselves if it can handle everything we want to throw at it. Look for our review to publish soon, and in the meantime, check out a few of the pictures we took.