Nissan Titan: 2017 Truck of the Year Contender
Finally a player
We Like:The good ride quality and accurate steering.
0:00 / 0:00
We Don't Like:The noisy engine and subpar pulling power.
Sometimes, fitting into a group can take time. Ask any rat race-weary Manhattanite who's attempted to relocate to small-town Maine. Or the four-wheel analogue—an Asian automaker entering the long-calcified American full-size truck segment. Let's just say Toyota and Nissan haven't been invited to join the Detroit Athletic Club.
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And now, as Nissan continues to roll out its second-gen Titan, the standard-duty variant is finally one of the boys. All our judges noted the Titan's smooth ride. Mark Rechtin found a "much smoother ride than the Ford in routine around-town travel." And everybody fell for the stark simplicity, light weight, and happy handling of the bare-bones Titan S single-cab work truck. That version hauls, ahem, mulch.
But as the features (and weight) climbed, performance dropped. At full-boot throttle, the Titan's 5.6-liter engine is harsh. The Titan also struggled up the Davis Dam tow climb and oversped its cruise control on the way down. "It stumbled off the line, both unladen and especially with the trailers attached," Chris Walton said. "Perhaps this is a gentle throttle-map strategy, but I would've expected some snap from the big V-8."
Its styling is either refreshingly differentiated from the domestic brands or simply falls short of them. And the interior content quality, features, and packaging, including seat comfort and the reach to change radio stations, fall short of class-topping Ford.
At its heart, the Titan is a me-too pickup, and that's not enough to gain entrance to the club. As I said, "It's simply a competent alternative."
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