[iamsuperdan]

So this should be interesting. I got confirmation this morning that my 2016 Nissan Titan XD diesel is in shipping, and I'll see it in early January.

A little back story, I run the leasing department for one of Canada's bigger rental/sales/leasing/fleet companies. Our current fleet is around 12,000 vehicles; most of which are pickups. My department has about 1/4 of those vehicles. Any time anything new comes out, I order up a few of them.

I'm torn now, because I'm loving my Rebel, and already have another on order to replace my silver one. But I'm excited to try this new Titan. as I'm a firm believer in diesels. I actually wish my Rebel had the EcoDiesel in it.

Back in 2012, I spent six months with a Titan Pro4X and loved it. Fantastic truck, but definitely starting to feel old, as it hasn't had any real upgrades to speak of since it launched in 2004. So Nissan really had to do something special with this new one. The specs are sound good. 5.0L V8 Cummins diesel, the same 6-speed auto transmission that's found in the Ram 3500. Not sure why Nissan went the"heavy half" route, and didn't just beef it up a little more to make it a true heavy duty 3/4 ton. Especially considering that there will be a standard Titan as well as the Titan XD.

Will give a full report on how it compares. I ordered a Pro4X model with the Luxury package. Got to drive a pre-production model for about 5 minutes back in September, and it felt pretty good.

One thing I've noticed, no matter what I drive, I always seem to come back to a Ram. I'm not expecting this upcoming Titan experience to be any different.

 

[texas_rebel]

So this should be interesting. I got confirmation this morning that my 2016 Nissan Titan XD diesel is in shipping, and I'll see it in early January.

A little back story, I run the leasing department for one of Canada's bigger rental/sales/leasing/fleet companies. Our current fleet is around 12,000 vehicles; most of which are pickups. My department has about 1/4 of those vehicles. Any time anything new comes out, I order up a few of them.

I'm torn now, because I'm loving my Rebel, and already have another on order to replace my silver one. But I'm excited to try this new Titan. as I'm a firm believer in diesels. I actually wish my Rebel had the EcoDiesel in it.

Back in 2012, I spent six months with a Titan Pro4X and loved it. Fantastic truck, but definitely starting to feel old, as it hasn't had any real upgrades to speak of since it launched in 2004. So Nissan really had to do something special with this new one. The specs are sound good. 5.0L V8 Cummins diesel, the same 6-speed auto transmission that's found in the Ram 3500. Not sure why Nissan went the"heavy half" route, and didn't just beef it up a little more to make it a true heavy duty 3/4 ton. Especially considering that there will be a standard Titan as well as the Titan XD.

Will give a full report on how it compares. I ordered a Pro4X model with the Luxury package. Got to drive a pre-production model for about 5 minutes back in September, and it felt pretty good.

One thing I've noticed, no matter what I drive, I always seem to come back to a Ram. I'm not expecting this upcoming Titan experience to be any different.

I could never drive a Nissan but interested in what ya learn

 

[johnj]

Drove a Titan a while back - a rental loaner when my previous truck was hit by a guy and had to have a lot of work done. The Titan was okay, but I wasn't real impressed with it like I am with the Rebel. It did ride nicely, nearly as nice as the Rebel. But it didn't feel quite as solid, if you know what I mean.

 

[iamsuperdan]

Totally get it. The problem with the current Titan is that it was introduced in 2004, and other than the most minor of trim changes, it has been untouched since. Same powertrain, same body, same interior. I still really like the current truck, but let's be honest, what was top of the class in '04 just doesn't cut it anymore. Now based on the short time I spent with the pre-production model, it looks like Nissan have gone a long way to solving that issue.

It's not going to be my fav truck, but I think it's going to be very good. And I can already guarantee I'll like it more than the F150 Platinum I drove last winter. 4000km on the all new aluminum wonder truck, and three trips to the dealer for warranty issues. One of which left me stranded, two of which rendered the truck undriveable. Ford quality.

 

[iamsuperdan]

So my Titan XD arrived today. 2016 Titan XD Platinum Reserve 4X4 in Metallic Black. I have not driven it yet.

A few initial thoughts
1. Looks really good in black. Not big on the two-tone interior. It looks good, and the fit and finish is fantastic, but I just prefer all black.
2. It has Ramboxes. Kind of.
3. And gooseneck/5th wheel prep is standard.
4. Initial production does not include sunroof.
5. I still think Nissan missed the boat by making this a heavy half. They should had made the few tweaks needed to make it a proper 3/4 ton. It has the drivetrain, why not take it the extra step? Especially when you consider that the regular Titan half ton is coming.

Once I get some km on it, I'll be sure to fill everyone in on how quickly I park this and go back to my Rebel. I have a roadtrip on Thursday, towing a two axle car hauler with a new Audi A6 in it, so that should be a good test.

 

[Ramrebellion]

So my Titan XD arrived today. 2016 Titan XD Platinum Reserve 4X4 in Metallic Black. I have not driven it yet.

A few initial thoughts
1. Looks really good in black. Not big on the two-tone interior. It looks good, and the fit and finish is fantastic, but I just prefer all black.
2. It has Ramboxes. Kind of.
3. And gooseneck/5th wheel prep is standard.
4. Initial production does not include sunroof.
5. I still think Nissan missed the boat by making this a heavy half. They should had made the few tweaks needed to make it a proper 3/4 ton. It has the drivetrain, why not take it the extra step? Especially when you consider that the regular Titan half ton is coming.

Once I get some km on it, I'll be sure to fill everyone in on how quickly I park this and go back to my Rebel. I have a roadtrip on Thursday, towing a two axle car hauler with a new Audi A6 in it, so that should be a good test.

Nice looking rig. I would try new vehicles too if I had the opportunity. Youre right about the two tone interior, doesn't look bad, just needs to be your cup of tea I guess. And you'll be back.....they aaaaalways come baaaack.....

 

[iamsuperdan]

Okay, initial thoughts after the first drive. I've now driven it home and back to work. 70km round trip.

1. the Ram is punchier off the line, but when the Turbos spool up in this Titan, you can feel the torque in a major way. Towing should be interesting tomorrow.
2. Ram heated steering wheel heats up much faster.
3. Nissan's SiriusXM does not include the Howard Stern channels. Considering returning the truck over this crass mistake. lolz
4. headlights are amazing. Ram should copy the lighting in this truck.
5. no power locking tailgate?!
6. doesn't like my iPod. I run a 160GB classic. While indexing, it gets to about 40% then gives me an error message and my iPod resets. Iget a similar issue with GM trucks, so I wonder if these just aren't compatible with the old school iPod.

Little things so far, great truck, but still not a Rebel. Will be able to tell a lot more tomorrow after the 800km roadtrip.

 

[johnj]

Ram recommends a 32GB drive maximum. A 64 works okay for most people, and according to some technical experts the system will accept up to 128GB. There is also a practical limitation to the number of songs on the device that the Uconnect system can index. And how many sounds can be in each directory without problems.

 

[iamsuperdan]

I've never had an issue with the iPod on any Ram truck I've had. Or Ford for that matter. Seems to be purely a GM thing. And now Nissan!

 

[iamsuperdan]

Okay, so as mentioned, I’ve spent the last three weeks driving a 2016 Nissan Titan XD Platinum Reserve. I’m put 3016km (approx 1800mi) on it. It’s been good. Damn good.
I took delivery on a Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday morning, with 75km on it, I hooked up to my two axle car hauler and did a 300km road trip to Calgary to pick up a new Audi A6 for a customer. Drove the truck back and was both impressed and disappointed. This thing tows like a beast. Zero issues at all, tons of power, very much like driving a real heavy duty diesel. Easily handled the unit I was pulling. I was however disappointed in the fuel economy while towing. Much like the Ford EgoBoost, when unloaded the economy is great. When working, the economy is atrocious. No diesel should be averaging 28L/100km when towing something half its capacity. I shudder to think of the economy while handling 10,000lb worth of trailer.
It also seemed to burn through the DEF quickly. I had to fill the tank at 1100km. However, since then, I’ve hardly used any, so I’m thinking it was related to towing and break in all at the same time.
In normal driving, this truck feels like a half ton. Very comfortable, quiet, and smooth. My average economy is 10.6L/100km which is about 22mpg I think.
It’s not as nice to drive as the Rams I always come back to, but I would take this over Ford and Toyota any day of the week. And it just barely loses out to the GM trucks. Mainly for the negatives I list below.

Good things:
-seats are fantastic
-best headlights I’ve ever experienced in a truck
-Remote starter has better range than Ram or GM. By double.
-smooth ride
-quiet. Engine, road noise, wind noise, almost non-existent
-fuel economy while daily driving

Bad things:
-Expensive. Admitted, there is almost no fleet incentive right now, which affects how I buy vehicles for work, but this thing is more expensive than a Ram 2500 Limited with a diesel, more expensive than a Sierra 2500 Denali with the diesel. It’s good, but not good enough to justify the cost. Maybe when the fleet programs get a little more realistic on it.
-fuel economy while towing
-no sunroof. Not even available, even on my top of the line Platinum Reserve. Personally, I don’t care one way or the other, but at this price point, not having a sunroof is unacceptable.
-seat heaters? More like seat warmers. They don’t heat up like the Ram, GM, or Ford seats.
-Titan XD Box. Basically RamBox, but harder to get in to.
-nav screen. Too small. Ram, GM, Ford all better.
-doesn’t like my iPod.

All in all, it’s a great truck option, and once the pricing comes down, it will be even better. Nissan finally have a real contender in the truck market now. A couple of tweaks, and I think Ram and GM will need to pick up their game. In the meantime, this one is now leased out, and I'm back driving my Rebel. It's good to be home.


As for the attached pics:
1. One Titan XD and one car hauler with new Audi in the back.
2. Full tank, only 367km of range. WTF?
3. 1100km, DEF warming on.

 

[johnj]

2. Full tank, only 367km of range. WTF?

The picture that shows 336 km range also shows 1/2 tank of gas. I'm not understanding the "WTF?" I understand on the first pic, but I"m wondering if the comp is just slow at updating the range based on freshly filled tank? Because 2nd pic looks about right.

 

[iamsuperdan]

Two pics of the gauge cluster attached. One showing 367km to empty on a full tank. One showing the DEF readings. Fuel economy is better on that one as it's after a day or so of regular driving.Range estimates are always based on previous driving habits.

 

[Nstuebs1313]

Those Titans are no joke! however, you can never go wrong with the longest lasting truck company !

 

[zim]

I never recommend an import to anyone, and never will. Just my thing. I'm an American, and a vet, disabled. I fought for things I'll never understand but I did what was asked of me.

If people want to buy imports they should live in the country that produced them. Before the hate starts, I know many of these are built in America, and Americans are employed, however it doesn't make it right. Big money goes back to those commie countries.
My motto is buy American and make America great again.

 

[Nstuebs1313]

I never recommend an import to anyone, and never will. Just my thing. I'm an American, and a vet, disabled. I fought for things I'll never understand but I did what was asked of me.

If people want to buy imports they should live in the country that produced them. Before the hate starts, I know many of these are built in America, and Americans are employed, however it doesn't make it right. Big money goes back to those commie countries.
My motto is buy American and make America great again.

Thank you for your service. The reason some people buy the imports whether its a truck or car is because some companies can't compete with their pricing. Think of it this way, if a person finds say a toyota Tundra loaded out to the max the same way as a Ram or a Ford and are willing to take say 15,000 off the msrp while ram and ford are only willing to take like 5k. Most people decide to say save money and get the toyota. That goes for a lot of these companies. You are right the Titan is mostly built in USA, infact it is funny that the three leading car companies built in the USA are Honda, Nissan, and toyota. Wile most of chevy and ford and chrysler parts come from other countries.
I am not saying your wrong! so don't think i am trying to say your wrong, haha i own a rebel so yeah i agree with the whole american thing. But it is tough to fight with some of those other companies when they are willing to loose money just to sell a vehicle.
Titans look nice, handle well, and i think are more comfortable than a ford or a chevy. However i would still choose a ford and ram over it any day. Plus the titan just bought Ram Diesel engines so now they use the same set-up for the diesel that Ram uses.

fyi thank you for your service!

 

[johnj]

I never recommend an import to anyone, and never will. Just my thing. I'm an American, and a vet, disabled. I fought for things I'll never understand but I did what was asked of me.

If people want to buy imports they should live in the country that produced them. Before the hate starts, I know many of these are built in America, and Americans are employed, however it doesn't make it right. Big money goes back to those commie countries.
My motto is buy American and make America great again.

Retired vet here. Which of these countries is commie? Japan? Germany? England? France? Italy? Sweden? Canada? I've owned cars made in all of them at one time or another. Last I heard, none of those were communist countries.

The counter argument, of course, is that we can also buy American cars which are made of parts from many "commie" countries. And are often assembled in other countries, too. While robots are used in American factories. And the big profits that don't go to those countries supplying parts instead go to the wealthy in America, who own most of the country and don't help us, either. Our vets get crap for healthcare and homeless populate our cities.

 

[zim]

Every country is a commie country outside the great US! We need to make America great again! The other countries want what we have. Hot wings, American beer, American made muscle cars, apple pie and the fourth of July! Except for Britain, Israel and France. They are cool countries. They have all that. Funny you never mentioned Mexico in your list. Why Build that wall if all countries are equal! We claim Mexicans are stealing our jobs, build that wall, build that wall we all shout proudly, Mexicans get free health care too, as a retired vet I still have to pay for my health care! Damn Mexicans, yet a commie country sells a truck or car cheap and we flock to it like moths heading towards the light. Nobody belly aching about that. That's a good deal as we proclaim to our family and friends!
I'm willing to bet that 80% of commie truck, and car companies here in the US hire and employees are Mexicans, ( otherwise how they selling it so cheap) sell cheap to us, it's ok-- you see what the commies are doing? And if the commies make a great product why they needed to buy ram Diesel engines for their commie trucks, don't the commies know how to make a good Diesel engine cheap? Can you imagine this conversation with someone: why you buy a commie truck, because it had the ram diesel....why didn't you buy a ram then? I didn't know ram made a diesel, plus theirs was cheaper. And who buys a diesel anyway if you're not towing something on a weekly basis? Maintaining those nasty engines is expensive! ( here it comes)

Anyway, all good, i don't hate or dislike anyone or any country for any reason. We are who we are and thanks to religion, politics and no tolerance for anyone who doesn't think like us, we created a world of hate, mistrust, wars, and a vast battle ground for population......and oil control. I agree if the price is right for whatever your looking to buy, we buy regardless of country origin, he'll I'm wearing an Italy shoes, with Chinese foot inserts, so weird. I just find it all odd as I was stationed all over the world and one thing I noticed in Europe mainly, is that everything sold their was made in that country. Don't get me wrong, they had a few things from other countries by primarily everything was from that perticler country.

So don't hate me cause I don't hate you or your beliefs. I was just expressing my ignorance and sorrows as I see American falling behind the eight ball due to a cheaper price. Let there be peace for all. Regardless of brand you buy.

 

[Nstuebs1313]

mmm hot wings. i cant wait for memorial day weekend

 

[zim]

Omg right. This nasty weather is depressing . I want some hot fries now that I think of it.