The benefit of having the final performing act is having watched everyone else succeed or crash and burn. You know what works and what doesn't and can reformulate your plan accordingly. Nissan didn't seem to waste the opportunity. Like Toyota, Nissan aimed only to please the masses. Its all-new Titan ties the Ram for having only two cabin sizes (skipping the regular cab): King Cab (extended) and Crew. Combining that with the one-bed-length-per-cab policy employed on the Tundra, and the Titan comes in exactly two configurations (least of all pickups): the King Cab gets a 6.5-foot bed; the Crew Cab's is 5.5-feet. The same goes for powertrains: the sole engine is a 5.6 V8 with 305 horsepower, 379 pounds-feet of torque hooked up to a 5-speed automatic. Manual transmissions and six-cylinder engines need not apply.
And did anyone ask for them? The Titan's theme seems to be the half-ton truck with two tons of performance. It can still haul the goods on its back - 1,508 for 4WD models, 1,640 for 2WD, and up to 9,500 more on a trailer (2,400 more than the Tundra's best!) - but the design seems tilted towards a different kind of hauling. Not only is the Titan's engine huge, but it's of the horsepower-friendly dual overhead cam design. Most models have 18-inch wheels, and the suspension is on the aggressive side.
Picking 2WD or 4WD and a trim line are the only real decisions. Titans come as XE, SE, and LE. The cheapest model, a King Cab XE, starts at $23,050. SE adds 18-inch 5-spoke wheels, chrome body pieces, heated power mirrors, locking tailgate, sliding rear window with rear privacy glass, power windows and locks, keyless entry with window controls, captains chairs replacing a bench seat (the passenger seat folds flat), leather steering wheel and shift knob, alarm and an immobilizer. LE adds leather, different-looking six-spoke wheels, automatic headlights, running boards, fog lights, auto-dimming rearview mirror, compass, outside temperature display, seat/mirrors/pedals memory, and last but not least, a 350-watt Rockford-Fosgate stereo with 6-disc CD changer, steering wheel controls, ten speakers, and Radio Data System. Options aside, all Titans are pretty similar.
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