Nissan preview

Nissan’s first Titan light-duty pickup was a solid truck when it debuted in 2003, with an annual sales peak of about 87,000 units and a respectable second-place finish in a five-truck comparison test in 2007. But it was left to languish relatively unchanged, and today it’s a dinosaur compared with the ever-evolving stalwarts of the segment, such as the new aluminum-bodied Ford F-150. That vast disparity shrinks considerably at this year’s Detroit auto show, though, with Nissan unveiling the first of its all-new 2016 Titan light-duty pickups.

Better Late Than Never

The second-gen Titan’s gestation has been lengthy. It was originally supposed to debut a few years ago as a rebadged Ram 1500 in a failed tie-up with pre-Fiat Chrysler, but the cancellation of that program sent Nissan back to the drawing board. It eventually engineered the new truck both in house and in the U.S., with the big draw being a deal with Cummins to utilize its new 5.0-liter V-8 turbo-diesel—an all-new configuration for the light-duty segment that Nissan will exploit in pitching its truck against the big sellers from the Detroit Three.

To that end, the 2016 Titan at first will be available only in extrastrength XD guise when it goes on sale later this year, with the Cummins V-8 diesel being the sole engine offering. Nissan will roll out additional gasoline V-8 and V-6 options soon after the XD’s late-summer launch, as well as a conventional, lighter-duty version, but details on those haven’t been released yet. The diesel will be paired with an Aisin six-speed automatic transmission and will be exclusive to the XD model, which features a stronger, fully boxed frame and sturdier underpinnings than the lesser Titan. The XD will debut as a four-door crew cab with a 151.6-inch wheelbase, a 6.5-foot cargo bed, and either two- or four-wheel drive. All new Titans share some front-end componentry with Nissan’s NV-series of full-size vans.

With the XD, Nissan is targeting those in pickup limbo, which is to say those buyers for whom a monstrous heavy-duty rig is too much truck but a standard light-duty pickup is not quite enough. Nissan believes that up to 150,000 buyers per year find themselves in that position. Indeed, with a payload rating in excess of 2000 and max towing of 12,000 pounds, as well as a gross-vehicle-weight rating greater than 8500 pounds—which technically makes it a heavy-duty trucki—the Titan XD fits the bill as a tweener. Call it a light-duty-plus pickup.

The Guts

Despite its unusual positioning, the 2016 Titan XD otherwise is relatively conventional, with an all-steel body, a coil-sprung independent front suspension, and a solid rear axle supported by leaf springs. Wheel sizes range from 17 to 20 inches, the four-wheel disc brakes measure at least 14 inches across, and an optional electronic-locking rear differential will be available for off-road excursions. Surprisingly, however, there’s no automatic four-wheel-drive setting for the transfer case, a handy feature that many light-duty trucks have had for years.The Titan XD is as large as other pickups, measuring up to 78.7 inches tall, 80.6 inches wide, and 242.9 inches long. Eventually, there will be three bed lengths to go with the standard, extended, and crew cabs. Given the truck’s steel construction and heavy, diesel engine, curb weights should be about three tons for a crew-cab four-by-four.

While the Cummins diesel’s 310 horsepower at 3200 rpm is weak compared with a modern gas V-8’s output, its 555 lb-ft of torque at 1600 revs positively shames every other light-duty truck engine on the market. Along with the requisite direct fuel injection and urea-injection exhaust after-treatment, the diesel also features a compacted-graphite-iron block, aluminum heads, dual overhead camshafts, and Cummins’s new M2 two-stage turbocharger system for combating turbo lag. EPA ratings have yet to be determined, but expect relatively frugal fuel economy similar to the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel’s (22 to 23 mpg combined), as well as stout straight-line performance.