Car and Driver Article

[titanjbc]

Link to a new Car and Driver Article on the 1/2 Ton trucks. Guess who won?

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....rticle_id=7692

I think it's a bit ironic, though, that the Titan won this comparison, yet the F150 was picked in the 5 best Trucks for pickup. So, what's up with that???

[meckman]

I saw the TV version of this compare where the Titan blew them away. Then the next week they did another compare and Ford won. They said it was because Ford offers more cab/bed design choises. What a load of crap! I think Ford executives sent a big fat check over to the writers of Car and Driver to curb their opitions after the F-150 lost the first compare to the Titan.

I test drove a F-150 before I bought the Titan. No comparasion, Titan wins hands down. Car and Driver is full of SH*T!

[TITAN21]

it's not even worth comparing anymore, the TITAN has the F-150 beat, period

[AaronC]

I recently went to a Ford dealer to look at the Diesel trucks. I got to talkin with the sales guy and some how he brought up the F-150. I told him I wasn't there to look at em, and had no interest in them. He promptly asked why, and I pointed to the nissan dealership next door (automall). I said after driving that (Titan), it'd be like driving the Mustang Cobra and then go driving a GT. It'd be no comparison. I continued to shoot him down despite his desperate combacks He was speachless after that and walked off, LOL

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by titanjbc

Link to a new Car and Driver Article on the 1/2 Ton trucks. Guess who won?

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....rticle_id=7692

I think it's a bit ironic, though, that the Titan won this comparison, yet the F150 was picked in the 5 best Trucks for pickup. So, what's up with that???

Wow, eight pages of blah blah blah that could have been replaced by one chart. I did like this part: "The Ram can’t quite match the quick Nissan"

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by titanjbc

Link to a new Car and Driver Article on the 1/2 Ton trucks. Guess who won?

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....rticle_id=7692

I think it's a bit ironic, though, that the Titan won this comparison, yet the F150 was picked in the 5 best Trucks for pickup. So, what's up with that???

Here is their praise for the F150:

"Here’s the rub: All this content shows on the scales—5960 pounds, 360 more than the brawny Ram and 800 more than the trim and agile Tundra. Even though our test truck packed the top engine, rated at 300 horsepower, it scored weak marks in every performance test. Zero to 60 measured 9.3 seconds, the quarter-mile was 17.0 seconds at 82 mph—both at the back of the pack."

Now how come the Titan still kicks the F150's *** 0-60 when the Titan is loaded with 1000 lbs and the F150 is empty? It seems that either the F150 is over-stating its HP at 300, or Nissan is understating the Titan's HP at 305.

[munkeebinis]

You have to remember that the worth of a truck isn't based solely on performance numbers. There are many other factors that go into it. I know many people who, if they were in the market for a new truck at this moment, would be better off getting an F-150 than a Titan. Like Nissan itself says, the Titan is for the weekend trucker who uses their truck for transportation, hauling toys, and making the occassional trip to the hardware store. Many people need a dedicated work truck though. That's why Ford has a wide series of different F-150's to suit every truck users need. Granted, they may not perform as good as a Titan, but variety sometimes beats out quality, and what is quality to some is junk to others. What good is a 305hp beast that can smoke the F-150 to a guy who needs a standard 8" bed? See what I mean? The F-150 won the best truck award because when looking at truck owners needs as a whole, the F-150 fills that need better than any model line out there. Doesn't mean it outperforms the Titan or is a better quality build. It means that it's the truck that will fit the majority of truck buyers needs in the market.

[munkeebinis]

^^^^^
Typo: Should be 8' (feet) not 8" (inches)

[37L1]

Originally Posted by munkeebinis

You have to remember that the worth of a truck isn't based solely on performance numbers. There are many other factors that go into it. I know many people who, if they were in the market for a new truck at this moment, would be better off getting an F-150 than a Titan. Like Nissan itself says, the Titan is for the weekend trucker who uses their truck for transportation, hauling toys, and making the occassional trip to the hardware store. Many people need a dedicated work truck though. That's why Ford has a wide series of different F-150's to suit every truck users need. Granted, they may not perform as good as a Titan, but variety sometimes beats out quality, and what is quality to some is junk to others. What good is a 305hp beast that can smoke the F-150 to a guy who needs a standard 8" bed? See what I mean? The F-150 won the best truck award because when looking at truck owners needs as a whole, the F-150 fills that need better than any model line out there. Doesn't mean it outperforms the Titan or is a better quality build. It means that it's the truck that will fit the majority of truck buyers needs in the market.

So if you build a LOT of inferior trucks, just because there is a large choice, you should be rated the best?

[Bayou Titan]

[quote=munkeebinis]What good is a 305hp beast that can smoke the F-150 to a guy who needs a standard 8" bed?

Size does matter but Endurance counts more. (I'm talking about bed length and the Titan engine of course!)

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by Bayou Titan

Size does matter but Endurance counts more. (I'm talking about bed length and the Titan engine of course!)

Funny, you should license that to Nissan as an ad jingle.

[munkeebinis]

A 305hp engine does NOTHING for someone who needs an 8' bed. Likewise, an 8' bed does nothing for someone who needs to tow an 8000 lbs trailer. The goal of a truck maker is to satisfy the needs of the truck consumer. Right now, Ford does that better. Personally, I would take the Titan for my needs, but I know of people for whom the Titan would just be a waste of money. Think of it this way. Say you have a big bad standard-cab (1-row bench seat) truck with a monster engine, great fuel economy, and it whoops on everything in it's class both on-road and off. What good does this truck do you if you need to transport a crew of 5 to the job-site every day? This truck doesn't make sense for you then. This is the point. To be successful in the truck market you have to diversify and offer as many options as possible. The truck, more than any other vehicle, depends on these options. Unlike a luxury sedan or such automobiles, a truck is used for many different uses. Some use it as a basic transport, some use it for off-roading, some use it to haul supplies, some use it to carry tools around. The uses are endless, and the more uses and users you address with your models, the more successful you'll be. Ford has Nissan beat in this respect. As for quality, I wouldn't count the Ford out at all. I'd say it's just as good as the Titan in quality terms. Remember, the Titan is made in America. Just because there's a Japanese emblem on it doesn't mean it's Japanese-built quality. Let's wait atleast a few years before we pass judgement on long-term quality and reliability.

[KYDeepwater]

Japanese "build quality" is pertinent to the Titan now, since most of the production of the engine parts are done with robotic, computer-aided equipment. The Titan engine is the Infiniti 4.5 that has been in the Q45 for a number of years. The entire architecture of the Titan engine is based on that engine, which has always been one of the highest rated engines in Automobile and Car & Driver, they always bashed the looks of the Q45 cars, but loved the engine. So, engine reliability should not be an issue with the Titan. The enterior looks spectacular in the Ford, I guess at least some Ford owners will be comfortable on the side of the road when their rear-end falls apart and they are waiting for the tow truck.
Car & Driver usually has a large number of Ford ads in their magazine, and I am sure some bias is necessary to keep the checks coming from FoMoCo. I have owned Chevy, Dodge, Mazda, and Toyota, and if it weren't for the Titan, I probably would have bought a Tundra, despite all it's bashing. Family and friends have had Fords and they just seemed quirky to me, when they weren't having problems. Too many American-truck buyers have gotten used to replacing water pumps, alternators, starters, etc. on their trucks at low mileage with no complaints. American-made is just a complete load of *&^% now, with so many parts coming from Canada and Mexico. At least the big three has enough sense not to bring that issue up against the Titan.
You should be able to purchase a $30,000 vehicle that needs nothing except routine maintenance and wear items for at least 100,000 miles.

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by KYDeepwater

if it weren't for the Titan, I probably would have bought a Tundra.

Me too, Tundra + blower.

[munkeebinis]

If you want the highest quality go to the Lexus plants in Japan. They're constantly rated at the top of all the facilities in the world when it comes to quality. The Titan, however, is not made in Japan. It's produced in America, by American workers, the same kind that build Fords, Chevy's, and Dodges. Nissan's engines may be built by robots, but so are the other companies' engines. The point is, the Titan isn't as far ahead of the Big 3 models in quality as you'd expect. Japanese quality is based on Japanese plants with Japanese workers and conservative, reliable design, not on robots. A Ford robot can build just as good an engine as a Nissan robot. It's the workers who put it all together that matter, and the Titan has the same workers (Americans) as the Ford.