2016 Nisssan Titan XD Cummins® V8 Turbo Diesel SL 4WD CC

I’d been asking for a Titan XD since I briefly drove one at the Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in March. Tracy, California, where I live and home to the Tracy Press, my primary outlet, is pickup country. I went out for breakfast this morning and counted an even dozen pickups in the parking lot.

I finally got the chance to test the 2016 Titan XD at the end of July. Ironically that was the same time Nissan was introducing the 2017 models to other journalists on the Monterey Peninsula.
The Nissan Titan XD is more than a half ton truck and less than a 3/4 ton. But you know the answer to the old question "how much weight can you put in a half ton pickup bed?" - One pound less than it takes to lift the front wheels off the ground. We've all seen it.

This doesn’t diminish how much I liked the Titan XD – it is one very nice truck. It just means that many other journalists can tell you first hand about the changes for 2017. I will give you some of my thoughts on last year's model though. 

I drove a XD SL 4WD CC with the 5.0-liter Cummins® V8 Turbo Diesel. The heart of the matter is the Cummins® V8; it makes 310 hp @ 3,200 rpm and a whopping 555 lb-ft of torque at 1,600 rpm. That torque translates into pulling power; the XD Cummins® will handle a trailer up to 12,314 lbs (2WD) or 12,037 lbs (4WD). It also has a payload capacity of one ton give or take (payload includes people). 

The only transmission is a 6-speed automatic that performed flawlessly. Nissan doesn't show fuel economy figures for the Titan XD but other sources put it around 14-15 mpg. It has a 26 gallon fuel tank so the range is almost 400 miles.

The XD is a big truck. The SL is the longest at 242.7" (more than 20 feet). The 4WD stands 6.5' high. Weight for the test XD was 7,388 lbs.

The XD SL I drove will comfortably hold five people; with a bench seat up front the XD holds six. It was a very luxurious truck. And the price showed that. Out the door the test Titan XD was $57,490 including $1,765 in options and $1,195 delivery charge.

Would I buy a Titan XD? Yes if I needed a big truck and could afford it. I would definitely opt for the diesel (a gas engine is standard) even though it adds about $5,000 to the price. It is that nice of an engine.

I would have preferred that this article was in the Tracy Press. But all of this is last year’s news so it would make no sense to even submit it. Especially when you can read reviews of the 2017 Nissan Titan XD in many places including http://autoweek.com/.