[Steamguy]

Everyone,

My wife and I have just returned from a 2,750-mile trip with our Titan, and we have some specific comparisons to make with other trips we’ve made while towing our trailer. I’ll post the basics here and if you have a question, please follow up and I’ll try to respond.

As I’ve posted before, we have an Arctic Fox 26J, and it weighs about 6700# fully loaded and ready for a trip. It’s a pretty good-sized brick to be yanking through the air.

This trip was from Washington to Colorado and back, taking the Desert route on the way there and the Wyoming route on the way back. We crossed two mountain ranges, and a series of deserts.

[SIZE=3]Performance[/SIZE]
The Titan is more than the equal of our previous ’01 Dodge 1500 gasser with a 360 (5.9 liter) in it. It had the full-blast towing package with lower-ratio axles front and back, to which we added 3” exhaust, and a K&M air filter. The Titan gets the trailer to 60 at least a full two seconds faster, plus the gas mileage when towing is at least 2 MPG better, with 9/10 on the Dodge in flat-level work, versus 12 with the Titan.

It is faster than the last truck we had which was an ’01 Dodge 3500 Cummins dually stickshift, VanAken box, and Banks exhaust. I had an opportunity to put the Titan and trailer into a ‘drag’ (and boy do I use the term loosely) with a guy with pretty much the same setup as we used to have; his trailer was approximately the same weight, and he had the advantage of the automatic on his truck. By the time I hit 60, he was about 4 lengths behind and losing. I like to tow in unfamiliar country at about 60, so I let off, and let him go roaring by. By way of comparison, I would have never let my diesel rev up like that…

We towed through all weathers and conditions, including tornado warnings: During those, I was going 75 with the Titan and trailer in Wyoming (yes, it’s allowed) and had very little trouble with handling, although I thought I might have problems given that this is only a half-ton truck. By the way, even the pros in the semis were going this fast in an effort to get out of the area!

In the desert, we were going 65 with the air conditioner on (100 degrees outside) were nice and cool inside, and experienced no problem with any overheating even though this truck is not a true Big Tow truck with the two fans. In Colorado, we climbed to the summit at Vail, roaring along with traffic at about 30 MPH. And no gas ping, even on 85-octane Regular at that altitude. (It’s been years since we had visited anywhere that high, so we were surprised by the lowering of octane. We mistakenly put in mid-grade a couple of times before we checked the Owner’s Manual.)

We had a mileage range of from 12 or better going about 60 MPH with the wind in the Columbia Gorge, and at about 65 in the desert on flat ground, to 7 on the way back, going 60+ with at least 40 MPH headwinds.

The software for Tow Mode does need some tweaking. I ended up just setting the cruise so that the truck would hit third gear and hang at about 3300 RPM, and just hold speed there. More on this in a second. In the meantime, I hope that the engine is rated for this kind of duty. I’m used to the older, slower-turning motors, and this is more than a little uncomfortable.

[SIZE=3]Handling[/SIZE]
The Titan is the equal of any tow vehicle out there in its class, including several in a class or two above. It is up to the task of driving into heavy crosswinds and can handle them easily without white-knuckle time on the wheel. I have a Reese Twin Cam setup and unhesitatingly recommend that, versus those little tinker-toy brake devices. I found the Titan’s ability to turn sharply to be an advantage more than once when I was maneuvering. This truck lets me three-point with ease.

[SIZE=3]Comfort[/SIZE]
No unusual problems. The seat adjustments allowed for enough fiddling to slow down the onset of ‘TB’. I would like to see the A/C cycle on and off so that you could set some level of cooling and still have the engine power.

When the engine is working hard, I suspect that the under hood temps are pretty high. However, with a 65-degree day outside, I shouldn’t have to use the air conditioner to get cool air out of the vents. I suspect that the ductwork itself is getting warmed up from the engine temperature.

[SIZE=3]Gripes[/SIZE]
Nissan, are you listening?

[SIZE=2]What’s needed most above all: [/SIZE]
Change the software in the ‘Tow Mode’!! With my load, and on Cruise control: EVERY time I would hit a hill, the fritzing transmission would shift UP instead of DOWN. This HAS to be a bug! The end result is that the tranny shifts to fifth gear instead of fourth or third, and wham, just like that, you lose 10 MPH, while the Cruise Control software is taking its sweet time deciding what to do. Then the tranny shifts to SECOND, and the engine just shrieks up at 5500 for twenty seconds or so until the rig can regain enough speed to allow a shift to THIRD.

It appears that the sample time for the engine and transmission parameters is ‘way, ‘way too short. You should sample over a several-second period, instead of instantaneously.

Barring that, you should instead sample for loss-of-speed, versus which gear you’re in, versus engine RPM. You should not allow a downshift unless the engine is going to hit 3500 RPM, regardless of loss-of-speed. You should also allow a loss of 10 MPH under Cruise Control before a downshift occurs, then shift down ONE gear and wait for several seconds to see if speed stays the same or goes up; then DON’T shift down unless speed continues to decrease over several more seconds! When in Manual Shift mode, you should allow a loss of 15 MPH before dropping out of Cruise Control to allow for grades and driver reaction time.

[SIZE=2]Next thing most needed:[/SIZE]
These d--- brakes need fixing. They are too mushy for towing. It is SCARY to have the pedal go THAT far down when stopping. I don’t give a s--- if they are all this way; this is something that needs to be fixed. I am driving FIVE TONS of truck and trailer, and I want to be the driver, not a passenger! If there is software between the brake pedal and the brakes, then it needs to be fixed to be firmer in Tow Mode. I have to bang the brakes twice every time I want to stop in order to have a firm pedal. Nissan, this is NOT acceptable for towing. I DON’T have the ‘warped rotor’ thing that others have reported; this truck now has almost 10,000 miles on it and these d--- brakes are MUSHY, and the dealer doesn’t know what the h--- to do!
(Sorry about the language in that… but I just spent a week and a half with this problem, and I am still emotional about it.)

[SIZE=2]The last gripe[/SIZE]
The indicators in the controls are dim – too dim to see in bright sunlight. The dash indicators for gear range are annoyingly dim and invisible with sunglasses on in bright sunlight. Living in Washington State, I didn’t understand the complaints from folks from Texas about this. After spending time in Colorado, now I do. You can’t tell if the Tow Mode lamp is on unless you shade it. Trying to see if the AC is clicked on is nearly impossible. And WHY are the indicators for the Cruise SUCH a BRIGHT GREEN when everything else is SO dim!!


[SIZE=3]All in all[/SIZE]
This was a good experience with this truck. We got there and back with confidence and comfort, and even though I’m ready for a soft bed, I’m not going to be ready to trade my Titan for anything else for a LONG time. Although I am posting my gripes with the truck, really, this truck is the equal or better than I have driven in a long time. I would encourage the reader to not give these gripes much weight in comparison with all the very good qualities that this truck has in its favor.

Nissan has done a great job with this truck, and once the one or two hardware and software tweaks get done, it’s going to be the best pickup I’ve ever owned. And I’ve owned a LOT of pickup trucks.


This truck is easily better than my half-ton Ram, and is the equal of my diesel. And boy does it handle better! When Nissan (Datsun) first came into the US with its little truck, I fell in love with the power and the handling of it. It was like a sports car that could carry a load. Nissan has continued the tradition right here with the Titan. But then, I'm preaching to the choir...

Nissan, if you’re listening, you have nearly perfectly hit the spot with this truck. Just a few tweaks and you will have a sure winner. And to heck with Motor Trend for being blind to a better truck! I would NOT try this with a Ford!