The reality is a ride that is unexpectedly smooth
By:Frederick Staab
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| The Nissan Titan king cab features the largest interior of any half-ton pickup, and the Titan’s bed offers 6½ feet of storage.
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The full-size pickup segment has long been the dominated by USA home-grown contenders who seem to have posted a "keep out" sign to other manufacturers. Even Honda has taken a pass, developing a compact cross-over instead of going head to head with the likes of the Silverado, F-150 and Ram.
But with truck sales accounting for 53.5 percent of light vehicle sales so far this year up from 51.5 percent last year Nissan executives, like the hungry bears spying the honey pot, just could not keep their hands out of the big-pickup market.
The Titan seems to get its rugged good looks with a bit of Nissan hard-body DNA from the 1990s. The overall form factor is big and blocky, looking like the little truck we remember from years ago after some sweaty hours in the gym beefing up. Starting up front with a massive chrome bumper and moving alongside with bulging wheel-well openings, Titan looks like a pumped-up weightlifter.
Before the Titan bowed, Nissan headed to Texas right smack in the middle of pickup land to ask potential purchasers just what they liked and disliked about current offerings. That big chrome bumper made its way on to the nose of the Titan because it was voted a "must have." Believe it or not, ranchers like to push open gates with their trucks. At the risk of sounding a bit wimpy, I would probably use something else for blasting open gates instead of a $30,000 truck.
Unlike its competitors that offer a wide range of gas and diesel power plants, Titan’s muscle comes in just one silky smooth offering. The 5.6L 32-valve Endurance V-8 is built from the bottom up with a six-bolt main-bearing crank. The 305 horsepower with 379 pound-feet of torque moved our 4,810-pound two-wheel-drive SE tester quite well, thank you. All that power flows through a five-speed automatic transmission with a tow/haul mode that tightens up shifts for serious battle with weighty trailers up to 9,500 pounds.
Nissan has included a strong backbone in the form of a fully boxed perimeter frame. With a traditional double-wishbone front suspension up front and a strong solid Dana rear axle suspended by leaf springs in the rear, the seat-of-the-pants ride was much more comfortable than expected. A look at the Titan’s high stance and wheel-well-filling BF Goodrich P285/70R17 white-outline-lettered (a bit of a ’70s flashback) tires might have you calling your dentist for filling replacements.
The reality is a ride that is unexpectedly smooth. This truck is totally devoid of the bucking-bronco for and aft movements commonly associated with a pickup with an empty bed and unloaded rear springs. Bumps, potholes and other road imperfections did not result in untimely lane departures, and inside the cab it seemed as if you were riding in a luxury car with a sporty suspension instead of a tough-as-nails pickup.
The Titan king cab features the largest interior of any half-ton pickup. How do I know that? Perhaps a long weekend of measuring every dimension of the cab? No, it is actually such a selling feature that Nissan proudly prints it on the window sticker. The interior volume is 113 cubic feet, by the way, which results in plenty of room for all passengers. Thirty-three inches of rear leg room is almost unheard of in an extended-cab pickup. The king cab’s rear doors swing out almost flat against the side of the truck, allowing easy rear-seat access. Flip up the rear seat cushion, and the storage space will rival many a full-size SUV for hauling capacity.
The inside of the Titan king cab is soft and luxurious in contrast to its exterior. Most controls, including the steering wheel and HVAC controls, are direct lifts from the Nissan parts bin. If you have ever driven a Nissan car, you will be right at home. Our Radiant Silver tester came with a cloth interior colored in what is known as sand and steel. It’s an oddly matched tan and silver combo in my opinion. Options abound, including DVD entertainment and a GPS navigation system. Thankfully for those of us who like to use MP3 players and satellite radio, there’s an auxiliary socket right in the dash that allows you to plug in and take advantage of all 350 watts of power from the Rockford Fosgate audio system.
Out back, this pickup’s bed offers 6½ feet of storage that gets tied down with an infinitely adjustable utili-track channel system. Included as standard are a locking tailgate, factory spray-on bed liner and a 12-volt outlet. Nissan has seen fit to include a small driver-side locking door behind the rear wheel. This lockbox offers such limited shallow storage they probably could delete this feature in the future.
The Titan has had its teething problems with complaints about cab wind noise and dash squeaks. Initial sales have been less than royal, but the ingredients are all there for this truck to join the half-ton pickup club as an competitive member.
Visit www.carsatcarlisle.com for more on the automotive hobby. Fred Staab has been a print, radio and television journalist for more than 20 years. He is co-host of the nationally syndicated automotive radio show "Cruise Control" and is a lifelong fan of professional drag racing.