Still going, but going strong ....
The R&T staff drives and performance tests hundreds of new cars every year. Because we don't have time to give each one the full review treatment, we share select logbook notes here, in a quick, easily-digested format. Unless noted otherwise, each test car is in the office for two weeks and is driven by every member of the editorial staff. Each staffer spends at least one day, but often more, in each car.
David Gluckman, Associate Editor
Driving this truck is like entering a time warp, though unfortunately not in a good way. But it's not Nissan's fault—at least, not entirely. Circumstances are killing Nissan's big pickup.
The original Titan was introduced for 2004. This is still basically the original Titan, a decade later. A Ram-based replacement was supposed to come along a few years ago, but Chrysler's bankruptcy killed that deal. So, in a way, the Titan's stunted growth is the fault of an American company and a German company (Chrysler and Daimler) and the Italian company that came to pick up the pieces (Fiat). Globalization is a helluva thing.
The pickup segment has evolved, somewhat quickly, around the Nissan full-sizer. The Titan's 5.6-liter V8 makes a measly 317 hp, or about what competitors' six-cylinders put out now. It's backed by a five-speed auto when the industry standard is now a minimum of six cogs (with eight available in some Rams). It still gets V8 mileage, though: 12 mpg city, 17 highway.
Like the truck, the price has remained stagnant. The PRO-4X I drove, the second most expensive configuration, tops out at just under $47K. That would have been a lot for a truck 10 years ago, but today, that's a midlevel V6 model from the Americans. But I think I'd rather have the midlevel American truck, with its years of innovation and improvement baked in. Until the diesel-equipped replacement shows up, the Titan seems to be running out the clock.
PLUS:
Option it right, and you get a big truck with value pricing.
MINUS:
The replacement still can't come soon enough.
Alex Kierstein, Web Editor
This is the truck I dreamed of in high school. Considering that the Titan is still—nine years later!—in production, in its first generation, that's only a small fib (the Titan was four years behind me). Without mincing words, the truck's age shows. Nissan was never a leader in interior accouterments, and nothing has changed here. Still, more so than the newest GM trucks, it feels properly truckish. The seating position is comfortable in a way that some new trucks, with their giant dashes, can't really match. It makes great noises, and it feels really rugged. Its sole engine can't outdo its competition in any single category, but driving it, the only area in which it suffers is the dreadful fuel economy. Still, with the Pro-4X off-road package, the truck was begging to be given a shot at strutting its stuff off-tarmac, and I was really sad that I didn't get a chance to see what that was like. I also can't wait to sample this truck with the upcoming Cummins diesel, but that's for a different "Drive Notes."
PLUS:
A real truck for doing truck things.
MINUS:
There's no hiding the fact that it's really ancient.
0 komentar:
Post a Comment