10 Things You Need to Know About the 2016 Nissan Titan XD

Nissan has been sitting on the full-size truck sidelines for far too long. Although not entirely absent from the playing field, Nissan's Titan pickup hasn’t seen a significant update in nearly a decade, which is a death knell in one of the most hotly contested segments in the industry. Enter the 2016 Nissan Titan XD, an unusually brash response to critics used to relegating the Japanese brand to the back of the pickup pack. Not quite a heavy-duty model, yet larger and heavier than a standard half-ton truck, the Nissan Titan XD further blurs the boundaries with its Cummins turbodiesel V-8 engine. Let's take a look at ten things you need to know about the all-new 2016 Nissan Titan XD.

1. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Straddles the Light-Duty Pickup Line

Just how rugged is the 2016 Nissan Titan XD? It's roughly 20 inches longer than the standard version of the Titan (which remains on sale), offers a fully-boxed frame borrowed in large part from Nissan's successful commercial van division, and weighs a startling 6,709 pounds. The latter figure is almost 1,500 pounds heavier than rivals like the aluminum-bodied Ford F-150, and is in fact not that far from the curb weights of traditional HD trucks such as the GMC Sierra 2500HD. Still, Nissan is careful to say that it's not exclusively targeting commercial buyers with the Titan XD, but rather those who are looking for a truck that's somewhere between consumer and professional-grade - call it the 'prosumer' pickup.

Photo by Nissan

2. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Packs Cummins Diesel Power

A significant part of the 2016 Nissan Titan XD's appeal stems from its unusual drivetrain. At its launch, the 2016 Nissan Titan XD will only be available with a 5.0-liter Cummins turbodiesel V-8. This unit produces 310 horsepower and a whopping 555 lb-ft of torque, which pushes it past the RAM 1500 EcoDiesel's more modest 3.0-liter V-6 (the only other turbodiesel engine available outside of the heavy-duty segment). The V-8 is shifted via a six-speed automatic transmission, and it can be paired with the option of four-wheel drive (which includes low-range gearing).

3. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Features Solid Towing Capacity

With such a tough chassis under its big rig sheet metal, and a hefty dose of turbodiesel torque on tap, it would be reasonable to assume that the 2016 Nissan Titan XD offers generous towing capacity to would-be buyers. The Nissan Titan XD doesn't disappoint with a maximum tow rating of 12,314 lbs, which is almost four times the average American trailer load. Putting that figure in perspective, however, shows that the Titan XD's near-HD setup doesn't give it quite the towing edge one would expect. The half-ton F-150 is rated at 12,200 lbs at the top end and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 just under that (and even the Toyota Tundra is capable of pulling 10,500 lbs).

4. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Doesn't Really Move the In-Bed Cargo Needle

The 2016 Nissan Titan XD's cargo carrying stats tell a similar story. The Titan XD is advertised as being able to tote up to 2,091 lbs of gear in its bed. This number is almost 1,200 less than what the Ford F-150 can accomplish, a truck that doesn't feature the same near-HD chassis as the Nissan. This is one area where the Titan XD's overbuilt design actually works against it: with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 8,800 lbs, its own massive curb weight doesn't leave much left over for cargo once it has been subtracted from the mix. Yes, the Nissan pickup is capable of matching its half-ton rivals from Chevrolet (the Silverado 1500) and GMC (the Sierra 1500), but those models manage to haul just over 2,000 lbs while weighing substantially less than the Titan XD.

5. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Is Crew Cab-Only

For 2016, the Nissan Titan XD will be offered exclusively as a crew cab design, which means four full-size doors that make it easy to access its oversized cabin. Compared to the standard edition of the Titan, the new XD has moved to a column shifter to facilitate the installation of a three-person bench seat up front that boosts the pickup's total passenger capacity from five to six. In contrast, every full-size pickup provides the choice between regular, extended, and crew cab designs, in both half-ton and HD configurations.

6. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Comes in Five Trim Levels

The 2016 Nissan Titan XD starts out in S trim, which is intended to deliver the basic equipment needed to get drivers through the work day. This includes power windows, cruise control, air conditioning, cloth seats with vinyl accents, Bluetooth connectivity, and 17-inch steel wheels. Moving up to the Nissan Titan XD SV installs power side mirrors, satellite radio, an overhead console, and the NissanConnect mobile app, while the PRO-4X edition targets off-road fans by way of its Bilstein shock absorbers, locking rear differential, 18-inch wheels, knobby all-terrain rubber, hill descent control, skid plates, and LED headlights. The Titan XD SL provides 20-inch rims, a heated steering wheel, leather upholstery, heated front seats, dual automatic climate control, parking assistance, and a number of other niceties that are optional on the S and SV editions of the truck. The range-topping Platinum Reserve trim features upgraded leather, rear seat heaters, heaters and coolers for the front two buckets, wood trim, an upgraded interior, and the most impressive version of Nissan's infotainment system to date. 

7. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Doesn't Give Away Its Fuel Efficiency Secrets

The 2016 Nissan Titan XD undoubtedly offers respectable fuel mileage thanks to its Cummins turbodiesel V-8 engine, especially on the highway, where diesels are known to excel during steady-state cruising. Unfortunately, Nissan has kept mum about the Titan XD's exact efficiency numbers - and in fact, might not publish anything at all. This is because the XD's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating qualifies it as a heavy-duty truck, and this class of vehicle is exempt from EPA fuel mileage testing. Based on its sheer mass and comparison to other, similar diesel vehicles, it's reasonable to expect a city/highway spread of between 14-mpg and 21-mpg for the Nissan Titan XD.

8. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Will Feature a V-8 Option

The diesel-only game plan for the 2016 Nissan Titan XD will eventually give way to a two-motor line-up that will include a gas-powered V-8. Later in the 2016 model year the Nissan Titan XD will benefit from the availability of a 5.6-liter, eight-cylinder engine. Nissan fans will note that this is the same size V-8 as what is currently available in the base Titan, but while its displacement might be a match the unit has been significantly upgraded. Total output for the 5.6-liter mill stands at 390 horsepower and 401 lb-ft of torque, which represents a boost of 73 horses and 16 lb-ft of twist compared to its current spec. The V-8 will be matched with a seven-speed automatic transmission (itself an improvement over the existing Titan's five-speed gearbox).

9. The 2016 Nissan Titan Is Also Due for an Update

All of the attention that's been given to the 2016 Nissan Titan XD will eventually be shown on the standard Titan, too. Although it's not clear how much of the XD's brash styling will end up associated with the half-ton Titan, we do know that the updated 5.6-liter V-8 engine will eventually find its way under the hood of the lighter Nissan (and a V-6 is likely to end up in the mix as well). The less-mighty Titan should also offer two additional cab configurations, regular and extended, in order to round out the line-up and increase the truck's appeal to the widest possible swath of customers.

10. The 2016 Nissan Titan XD Is Facing an Uphill Battle

In terms of the path it has ahead of it, the 2016 Nissan Titan XD is currently looking up from the bottom of a very tall mountain. Just over 2 million trucks were sold in 2014, and the Titan accounted for only 11,658 of them - an insignificant percentage that the redesigned XD model is intended to inflate. Still, that number represented barely 10 percent of Toyota Tundra sales for the same period, and the Tundra is itself out-sold by the class-leading Ford F-150 by a ratio of seven to one. The Nissan Titan XD's fresh face and unique take on the full-size pickup concept is a welcome one in the segment, but there are likely years of work ahead of the model before it is once again embraced by the mainstream.