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Nissan, Ram plan for pickup future Nissan adds new pickup to Titan lineup; Ram invests in production

July 26, 2016, 10:30 PM

New Titan marks the first ever regular cab in Titan’s history, as the company pushes into the contractor and fleet markets, while FCA retools plant.

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Nissan Titan and Armada blow into Chicago Full sized pickup and SUV part company to complete Nissan lineup

February 11, 2016, 11:55 AM

The sole similarity between the two is the 4-wheel drive powertrain consisting of 390-hp 5.6-litre Endurance V-8 and 7-speed automatic transmission.

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<p>Nissan went all-in on the light-duty pick-up game when it started mounting Cummins 5.0-litre V-8 diesel engines into the Titan XD. These engines produce 310 hp and 555 lb-ft of torque at 1,600 rpm. To get into a diesel model with a crew cab, the starting price is $53,400. Single cab models are available from $47,750.</p>

$Nissan is marketing its Titan XD as a “heavy-duty” ½-ton, but in this event it was compared with the real big boys – and it responded to the challenge quite well. The model entered was a 2017 Titan XD PRO-4x Crew Cab powered by a 5.0-litre Cummins V-8 Turbo Diesel with a six-speed automatic transmission ($64,950, not including taxes, PDI, freight or other prep costs.) While outgunned by the true ¾-ton entries, it towed well, although there was some bounce when pulling the trailer over imperfections on the road surfaces. The brakes were firm and the throttle tip-in was excellent. The Titan XD finished tied with the Silverado 2500 for second place in the ¾-ton category, both earning scores of 74.9%.       $

$The 2017 Nissan Titan PRO-4X Crew Cab ($63,050 as tested) was the newly introduced gasoline-fueled model, featuring a 5.6-litre V-8 coupled to a seven-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. The Titan was extremely quiet and comfortable – and it was so impressive while driving without a load that it scored 8.0 points, just a tenth of a point behind the Ram. Other bonus features included a handy, well-crafted tiedown system and removable storage boxes in the pickup bed. The Titan placed third in the ½-ton segment, earning a total score of 74.3%.$

<p>A 1,000-pound skid of concrete slabs was strapped into the bed of each half-ton pickup for an evaluation of the truck’s capabilities while hauling a payload over the 17-kilometre test loop. (The mid-size entries carried a 500-pound load over the same circuit.) The new gas-fuelled Titan was second only to the Ram in this challenge.</p>

$The list of 2017 entries were: the Honda Ridgeline and Chevrolet Colorado in the midsize category; Ram 1500, Chevy Silverado 1500, Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in full-size ½-ton; Ram 2500, Nissan Titan XD in full-size ¾-ton, and a pair of one-ton duallies – the Chevy Silverado 3500 and Ram 3500.  It should be noted that Ford declined to participate for the first time in the event’s 10-year history. Despite its success as a sales leader, its pickups have never won the Canadian Truck King title, although its Transit van did top its category twice – in 2014 and again in 2015. $