I drove a $50,000 Nissan Titan to see if this updated full-size pickup could take on the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, and RAM 1500
My 2020 Nissan Titan PRO-4X Crew Cab was basically brand-spankin' new, fetchingly attired in a "Baja Storm" paint job. Nissan hadn't officially priced this truck, but a little back-of-the-envelope suggested a sticker just over $50,000.
The Titan has always been up against staggering competition. The Ford F-150 hasn't just been the top-dog half-ton pickup for years and years — it's been America's bestselling vehicle since Ronald Reagan was in office.
The Chevy Silverado and its premium sibling, the GMC Sierra, usually follow the F-150 in second position.
The all-new RAM 1500 has come on strong — but in previous years, it's been a perennially number three. It was Business Insider's Car of the Year for 2019.
Finally, we have the Toyota Tundra. The fourth contestant in this challenge hasn't really been redesigned in over a decade. But Toyota seems unconcerned, as the platform continues to sell.
And by the way, here's the Ford F-150 Raptor, which I think has some kinship with the Titan. Both have that 4x4 off-road vibe down pat.
Back to the revamped Nissan Titan. Nissan has updated the Titan a few times since its 2004 introduction. But the full-sizer has never managed to crack the Big Three's sales, nor really even pester Toyota's Tundra all that much.
Thus the Titan is the forgotten pickup. In 2010s, the Titan sold more than 50,000 units only once, in 2017 — while Ford was moving close to a million F-150s annually. Sales more than doubled in 2017 and 2018, however, amid a pickup-truck boom, so Nissan figured it was well worth it to upgrade the Titan.
The 4x4 trim level is probably the sharpest option available. My tester sported a crew cab and a 5.5-foot box. Still, I found the Titan's overall looks to be sort of homely.
I initially liked the front end, with the blacked-out grilled and aggressive running lights ...
... but then I had some doubts. The Nissan badge, despite the red lettering, gets lost.
And the headlamps, while interesting, are a bit more futuristic than what I'm after on an off-roader.
And the Titan nameplating is simply too subtle.
Turning to the rear ... well, the taillights are too busy, the badge is still hard to read, but ...
... TITAN is certainly not illegible!
And who doesn't love some big 'ol stickers?
I dunno, Nissan's designers definitely went for too much black-on-black lettering with this pickup. The overall effect is that the Titan in PRO-4X trim seems overly clad in a sort of borderline cheap plastic.
That contrasts rather vividly with the highly capable offroad rubber.
The knobby General Grabbers suggest that this 4x4 might be able to do some damage in the mud, on rocks, or over dirt roads. (As it turned out, that was my impression.)
The all-important bed! As with all our tester trucks, which are usually upscaled trims, the bed was lined.
I put it to work on a run to my local recycling center, hauling A LOT of cardboard and some glass and plastic. That was literally nuthin' for a truck that can handle over 1,800 pounds.
Let's talk towing for a second. The Titan is rated in the low end of the segment — 9,660 lbs. You pretty much need 10,000 and above to run with the big boys. However, 9,600-lbs.-plus is perfectly respectable, and the truth is that many pickup owners typically need to be above 7,500 lbs. to satisfy the majority of their towing needs. Once you get into the Big Three's reaches, its great to have the extra capacity, but jumps up in towing weights can send those folks scurrying for heavy-duty trucks. There is a different between a horse trailer and, say, a small camper.
So for my money, the Titan is good enough, towing-wise. But on paper, its lower capacity is going to be something it's endlessly getting knocked for.
So how about we take a gander at what's under the Titan's hood?
Why it's a 5.6-liter V8, making 390 horsepower with 394 pound-feet of torque! Nissan isn't known for V8s, but it had to commit when it entered the full-size pickup market.
Nissan is well-known for stupendous V6s, but back in 2004, putting a V6 in a half-ton was segment suicide.
By the specs, a 5.6-liter V8 making a mere 390hp could be ... well ... er ....
OK, I'll just say it: That's a lot of displacement for not a lot of power.
BUT in practice the balance of horsepower and torque is just right. True, I didn't haul 1,000 of rocks or two a boat, not did I go offroadin', but the motor felt plenty robust to me, with a nice surge of power when required, at any speed and just about anywhere on the rev band. This V8 also sounds really, really good, a low-pitched growl when engaged and a lusty rumble at idle.
This motor can be had in exactly three models, the Titan and a mechanically similar SUV duo, the Nissan Armada/Infiniti QX80. I have a long history of loving Nissan sixes, and while I like the eights, I never thought about them all that much.
But the Titan's concentrated my attention, and in the end, I thought the 5.6-liter unit was a solid powerplant for the money. Fuel economy isn't all that great — 15 mpg city, 21 highway, 18 combined. But the engine has a no-nonsense demeanor that augurs well for reliability, just like Nissan's V6s.
The nine-speed automatic transmission is excellent, by the way. It doesn't race for the overdrive gears (hence the poor fuel economy), preferring to keep the motor close to its happy torque band in the 3,000-5,000 rpm neighborhood.
Inside, the Titan has perhaps the coolest interior in the segment, with its only proper rival the aggressively styled Ford Raptor.
Some reviewers have dinged the Titan's cab for being skimpy on rear legroom, but ...
... I thought it was adequate.
Charging options are plentiful front and rear, and the seat heaters are simple to locate in the back.
I had to hunt for them up front.
Here they're both heated and cooled.
Of course the Titan has a panoramic, dual-pane moonroof!
These days, I'm surprised when any vehicle above a certain well-optioned price point lacks a double sunroof.
The Titan's cabin is quite nice, with comfy seats, lots of storage compartments, and in PRO-4X trim, a sporty attitude.
Hmm ... about that infotainment system. Nissan is TRYING. The NissanConnect setup runs on a 9-inch touchscreen, and while ...
... The system is respectable, it lacks the ease-of-use I found in the F-150's, the Silverado/Sierra's, and the RAM 1500's. Nissan's foe here is Toyota; the Tundra's system also suffers by comparison with the Big Three.
Nissan's system gets the job done. The navigation is excellent, Bluetooth pairing is simple, there are abundant options for charging, including always-useful outlets, and a trial SiriusXM radio subscription.
But what's this? Yes, the Titan has Fender's audio system, one of my personal favorites. It's ideal for garage rock and outlaw country!
No driver would be surprised with this configuration, but while other automakers have started to update their multifunction steering wheels and instrument clusters for 21st century duty, Nissan is entering the third decade of the millennium with a vibe that's still circa 1998.
The great big drivetrain selector is a breeze to locate and to use.
Additionally, important knobs and buttons are located to the left of the steering column. Big knobs are what you want when it's cold and you're wearing gloves.
Man oh man! I love a column shifter! BUT ...
... the arm on the Nissan Titan is the flimsiest I've ever experienced! It feels more like a control stalk.
So what's the verdict?
In 1985, John Hughes' film "The Breakfast Club" featured a Simple Minds song, "Don't You Forget About Me." That title could be a veritable motto for the Nissan Titan, whose bold name belies its less-than-Titanic market position.
Of course, the Titan hasn't, you know, sunk, either, so we can't call the name a bad omen. For 15 years, the Titan has been on dealer lots, and for its entire lifespan, the truck has been built with pride in Canton, Mississippi.
That's right! Like the US-made F-150, Silverado, Sierra, Ram 1500, and the Tundra (Made in Texas, no less!), the Nissan is American from the wheels up (some of those Detroit nameplates, for what it's worth, are made in what we used to call NAFTA countries). Sure, if you want your pickup assembled with unionized brothers and sisters, then the Titan won't satisfy that requirement. But US workers did bolt together this half-ton.
So there you have it. The Titan is a reputable full-sizer that always hangs at the edge of one's vision. The numbers are daunting: almost a million F-150s vs. 50,000 Titans. Ford sells more in a month than Nissan moves all year.
In that sense, Nissan could throw in the towel and simply keep the Titan unrefreshed and in perpetual fourth or fifth place. Why throw money at an unsolvable problem? Nissan, however, hasn't taken that page from the Tundra playbook and has instead tweaked and improved the Titan here and there.
It adds up to a good pickup at an appealing price with suitable stats and a V8 that I rather enjoyed but that doesn't match up well against the redesigned generation of half-tons from Detroit.
What I liked most about the Titan was, in the end, its non-titanic-ness. It functions more like a mid-size pickup than a full-size, although it has full-size capabilities. It's also crammed with driver-assist technology, a helpful addition when tooling around on the freeway (although not mission critical in the truck world).
I also liked the price. With an estimated sticker of about $50,000, the Titan PRO-4X was extremely well-equipped for the category. And while I didn't have the chance to test the truck off-road, the combination of Bilstein shocks, General Grabber tires, that torque-y V8, steering that was rather heavy and precise, and a ride that was less than plush indicated that the Titan 4x4 could be a budget Raptor.
Look, everybody appreciates that the Titan is in the market. But most reviewers, myself included, don't consider it to be as good as the Detroit half-tons. The 2020 edition didn't change my mind. But it did remind me that the Titan is kind of its own thing. The truck is more current than the Tundra, but it hasn't gone after the real pickup fanatic, and why bother? You're gonna get funny looks at the job site if you roll up in one of these.
But, if you can make a deal, why not? The Titan is unlikely to give you much trouble, I've seen used examples that look almost new with 200,000 miles, and I have a high level of confidence in Nissan's motors and transmissions.
Don't forget about the Titan, indeed. You might be glad you didn't.
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