2017 Nissan Titan King Cab First Look: Nissan Kings its Titan

All the big players in the booming and oh-so-American pickup market (segment sales up 3.8 percent in January) offer at least three cab configurations. Nissan now completes the 13-month rollout of its spanking new entrant by slotting a 2+2-door extended cab in between the regular and crew cab variants in its Titan and Titan XD lineups. Nissan calls it King Cab, and it roughly equates to Double Cab at Chevy/GMC and Toyota, Quad Cab at Ram, and SuperCab at Ford. (Note that Ram offers a fourth Mega Cab option on its heavy-duty lineup.)

What’s more, Nissan is offering a unique selling proposition with its King Cab: a claimed segment-first rear-seat delete option. Clicking this box saves a few pounds by removing the rear seat, rear heater duct, and rear roof-mounted assist grips while adding a flat rear load floor and rear wall finisher with tie-down hooks. It also greatly increases the amount of dry, secure in-cab stowage space available, and it’s easily accessible via two wide-swinging rear-hinged half doors (they can only be opened after the front door is open like the F-150 SuperCab’s—the Chevy, GMC, Ram, and Toyota rear doors are front hinged so they can be opened independently).

Stowage is indeed the killer app for this newfound interior cabin space, as even Nissan truck boss Fred Diaz admits it is not comfortable for adults. Based on the head-, leg-, shoulder-, and hip room dimensions provided, the Titan King Cab appears to offer the smallest front and rear seat passenger volume in the class. Shoulder room is a bit tighter front and rear, but it’s the rear leg room that will cramp riders the most. Measuring just 24.8 inches, it falls 8.7 inches short of the next tightest Ford F-150.

But Nissan has always been courting the commercial market with this truck, and in the commercial space, regular and extended cabs are most popular, and the companies using the trucks don’t carry people in the back. Current Titan commercial sales account for about 5 percent, but remember that the regular cab was just recently added. Diaz says that commercial business accounts for 20 percent of the overall truck market and that 30 percent of that is extended cab. His target for Titan King Cab is therefore 30 percent, all of which are expected to opt for rear-seat delete.

Civilians for whom the cab fits and a 6.5-foot pickup box suffices (that’s the only size offered) can order a King Cab in S, SV, or Pro-4X trim levels with a choice of rear- or four-wheel-drive and two V-8 engines: The gas-fired 390-hp/394-lb-ft 5.6-liter “Endurance” gas-powered or turbodiesel 310-hp/555-lb-ft 5.0-liter Cummins (the latter only on Titan XD). Nissan is still considering adding the V-6 to the lineup. These gas engines can tow 9,420 pounds in Titan guise, or up to 11,510 pounds in XD form. The turbodiesel XD can lug 12,630 pounds. Payload capacities range from 1,620 to 2,290 pounds—all numbers that compare favorably with the competitive set (see chart).

Expect pricing info a bit closer to the Titan King Cab’s spring 2017 on-sale date. And expect Nissan to consider rolling out other potential special variants. Dealers are hot to get something like the Warrior Concept from the Detroit show in 2016. Diaz says he’ll consider it if dealers can manage to deliver on Nissan’s market share targets (which weren’t elaborated, but are clearly higher than last year’s 1.6 percent). Also on display at the Chicago auto show were some 1-inch and 3-inch suspension lift-kits, which the team is considering making available as a factory-installed accessory item, pending completion of safety and durability development tests to support Titan’s best-in-class 5-year/100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.

	Nissan Titan King Cab	Chevrolet Silverado Double Cab	Ford F-150 SuperCab	Ram 1500 Quad Cab	Toyota Tundra Double Cab
FRONT
Head room (in)	40.9	42.8	40.8	41.0	39.7
Leg room (in)	41.8	45.3	43.9	41.0	42.5
Shoulder room (in)	63.3	65.9	66.7	66.0	65.7
Passenger Vol (cu ft)	62.6	73.8	69.1	64.2	64.2
Rear
Head room (in)	38.7	38.7	40.3	39.7	38.7
Leg room (in)	24.8	34.6	33.5	34.7	34.7
Shoulder room (in)	64.6	65.8	65.8	65.7	65.6
Passenger Vol (cu ft)	35.8	50.8	51.4	52.4	51.0
Payload (lbs)	1,610-1,710	1,930-2,120	1,910-3,270	1,380-1,790	1,440-2,080
Towing (lbs)	9,250-11,510	9,500-12,500	5,000-12,000	4,430-10,340	9,800-10,300

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