Holy Crap Are These Bumpers Expensive!

Listen, I'm all for the expansion of aftermarket products for Nissans...really I am.  I've bought my fair share of front and rear bumpers from the aftermarket for my Xterra and Frontier and all have held up well whether from Shrockworks or my favorite builder BTF Fabrication.

That said...and while the product offerings for the new Nissan Titan are a bit more limited...the prices on these bumpers is insane...$2200 before shipping (sure to be another couple hundred) for a front bumper??  And its not even a winch bumper... And near $1700 for a rear bumper?  That is crazy talk.

You see Addictive Desert Designs advertisements in all your typical offroad magazines and at SEMA this past year but I can't help but thinking their prices are a reflection of their speed to market, minimal competition at this point and high marketing expenses given that equivalent bumpers go for 1/2 or even 1/2 of these prices.

I'm sure the quality is substantial...but is it near $3000 for a front bumper good?  No shot.

Extra Large Fuel Tank Replacement for New Nissan Titan XD

One of the early complaints about the Nissan Titan Diesel XD has been the size of its fuel tank.  At only 26 gallons the Titan XD's range is a bit shorter than that which many drivers want.

The aftermarket has an answer...but at a price.  I suppose putting a larger tank in the stock version would have added a fair amount of weight and when you are trying to eke out every last mpg you can, limiting the amount of dead weight you carry around is one way to do it.

Transferflow which has offered extended range gas tanks products for numerous other trucks as well as bed mounted gas containers for fueling your construction vehicles or other equipment now offers a 50 gallon replacement for the stock Titan XD tank.  Designed to fit into the same space as the stock version, the Transferflow unit nearly doubles the capacity and range of the Titan XD.  At $1654 though this upgrade doesn't come cheap...and that's before you either perform or pay for the labor necessary to remove the old and install the new version.

It is good to see the Titan supported in this way as the aftermarket continues to build for this truck and this should meet the fueling needs of any long road or heavy duty hauler so that they aren't pulling off the highway every other hour to refuel.

Transferflow Titan XD Gas Tank...

McNeil Racing Fiberglass Fenders for 2016+ Nissan Titan

These are some of the first and likely best looking fiberglass fenders and bedsides being produced for the new Nissan Titan.  Now I don't know if it makes a difference between whether it is a Titan XD or just the regular Titan as the site doesn't say.

It looks like McNeil was the fabricator behind these for the Titan at SEMA this year.  The price is in line with what prior Titan fiberglass has been going for and McNeil is well known in the industry as putting out some of the best stuff around.  With lift kits starting to be available and Titan sales starting to pick up on a monthly basis, hopefully this is just a start of aftermarket support.

McNeil Racing Fiberglass for 2016+ Nissan Titans...

Headed to the OiLibya Rallye du Maroc

Yup, headed there in three weeks.  Will be covering the event for an online publication (I think?!?!) and trying to give readers a feel of what the event and major international Rally-Raid is like in person.

I will be getting schlepped from location to location by the organizers and also staying in a tent with the rest of the media during the desert bivouac that marks the highlight of the event.  The list of racers is not out yet but is expected to include all the best racers from the top flight teams including Nasser Al-Attiyah, Giniel de Villiers, Yazeed al-Rajhi, Stephane Peterhansel, etc.

Let me know if you have any questions or photos you'd like me to ask or take while on site.  I should have consistent internet access so I will be posting info on a daily basis.

OiLibya Rallye du Maroc

Hellwig Introduces 2016 Nissan Titan Sway Bars

For lifted and stock height Titans.  Good to see some aftermarket support for the new Titan...hope it keeps coming and gets more varied...

Hellwig Sway Bars for 2016 Nissan Titan...

Coolest Cars (IMHO) at '16 Barrett Jackson Auction

Some have already been sold, some not.  Not going to provide a lot of details here as there are so many.  Just the basic vehicle info and if it has been sold already, how much it went for.  Lots of Corvettes, Mustangs, Camaros, etc. all quite boring and also lots of old Toyota FJs with Chevy heart transplants...Zzzzzz...All in all, not a lot of good stuff given the # of vehicles available.  Not a single Nissan, only a single Datsun...maybe another year...

'71 Beetle Dune Buggy.  Sold for $9,570

'69 International Harvester Scout.  Sold for $17,600

'70 Chevrolet Blazer.  Sold for $35,200

'78 Toyota Landcruiser FJ-40. Sold for $37,400

'64 Austin Mini Cooper S Historic Rally car.  Sold for $20,900

'82 Toyota Pickup.  Sold for $24,200

'65 Datsun 1500 Roadster.  Sold for $22,000

'71 Ford Bronco.  Sold for $27,500

'75 Ford Bronco.  Sold for $31,900

'13 Local Motors Rally Fighter.  Not Sold Yet.

'90 BMY HASCO M923A2.  Not Sold Yet.

'86 Land Rover Defender Pickup.  Not Sold Yet.

Finishing Nissans of the 2016 Dakar

Not that there were that many of them...and the best performing Nissan wasn't wrapped in Nissan clothing at all as it wore a Renault badge.  The best Nissan Frontier of the event suffered a bad crash on the second to last stage of the event and DNF'd...As we've seen in recent years...the Nissan marque has dwindled at the Dakar.  Our last best hope is from the Redline Motorsports guys in South Africa who continue to build great Rally Raid vehicles designed around a V8 Nissan engine at a price appropriate for serious privateers while providing event support as well.  So here they are...the Nissan finishers of the 2016 Dakar.

17th Place, #317, Renault Sport Argentina, Renault Duster (Nissan VK50 V8), Emiliano Spataro

18th Place, #308, Renault Sport Argentina, Renault Duster (Nissan VK50 V8), Christian Lavieille

36th Place, #375, Red Line Racing Team, Nissan Navara (Nissan VK50 V8), Sean Reitz

40th Place, #363, Revival Aventures RS 13 Nissan (4L Nissan), Jean Philippe Theuriot

Three other Nissan Navaras, one Nissan powered Renault Duster and one Nissan powered buggie were DNFs in the '16 Dakar.

National Motocross Returns to Southwick!

I hadn't realized this until now (about three months behind the news) but its great news for offroad racing of any kind here in the Northeast.

After two years away, a change in promoters, a reacquiring of town permits and a rebuilding of its AMA relationship, the sand of Southwick, MA will see a national level motocross event in '16.  Last held in '13 with the 450 class won by Ryan Dungey and the 250 class won by Broc Tickle, the Southwick event is likely the largest pure offroad event in New England and its not likely that anything is even a close second.

Scheduled for Saturday 7/9/16 tickets are already on sale and available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/red-bull-southwick-national-motocross-2016-tickets-19320759913

I can tell you from having attended the event before, if you are going to attend, be prepared for a hot day and TONS of people with little room if you are holding a "general admission" ticket.  This was about as or more crowded an event as any concert I've been to with long lines for bathrooms and food/drink.  The action is great and you can be right on top of the track, the grounds are beautiful with the greenest of grass and pine trees and the most wonderfully tan sand/dirt track manicured as if it were Augusta National...but its not an event for those looking for cushy conditions on the cheap...If you have the ability to buy a VIP ticket that includes an all day pit pass, private bathroom and viewing areas, they are highly recommended.

Regardless, it will be great to has such a prestigeous and nationally known offroad event return to New England.  Website here: http://thewick338.com

New England International Auto Show 2016

I think I've gone to this auto show about four times in the last six years.  Often I come away, having spent my $20+ on myself and my son and wonder if it was really worth it.  After all, I'm not really seeing anything I haven't before.  These aren't primarily custom vehicles and are overwhelmingly your run of the mill family sedans and haulers.

This year at least there was the new 2016 Nissan Titan to look at for the first time as it has only gone into production in the last month.  The '16 NEIAS had two of these new Titans.  Given I had not one but two ten year olds with me, my time with the Titans was a bit limited but did get a few impressions on it and the other vehicles in attendance this year.

Greeting you right when you come in is the new Ford Focus RS...Unfortunately Ford did not allow anyone to open the vehicle up, look at the engine, feel the interior, sit in it, etc.  This was quite odd as the only other vehicles like this on site were those up on rotating platforms or the high-end luxury marques that I can understand the brand worrying that some 12 year old is going to spill his Coke on the inside of a $250,000 Maserati.  Missed opportunity here, particularly as right next to the Focus RS is an identically black Ford Fiesta ST looking like a near identical vehicle.  I'm betting 1/2 the audience thought they WERE the same vehicle just on display twice and just shrugged their shoulders, "Eh, a Fiesta..." not knowing just what the RS is...

Uhhh, yeah...I guess (?) I have to be happy that there was one motorsports related display vehicle present (?)

No, this wasn't an actual GRC race vehicle.  It was just your standard beetle with a faux wing and a GRC/Andretti Motorsports related wrap on it...and not a very good one.  Heck, the little flip up (for the rearview camera), chrome, VW logo on the rear truck was COVERED with the wrap so it wouldn't open or flip up...VW should demand a refund.

Perhaps the most interesting stand to me, maybe because I'm just not familiar with them, was the Alpha Romeo display.  First was the Alpha 4C Spyder.  A beautiful car though I'm still not sure how I feel about the nose...It is also strikingly similar in size and design cues to the Lotus Elise--not that this is a bad thing.  With more power, more weight, more cost, fast 0-60, higher top speed than the Elise, this is seems like a Lotus on HGH.

Then you have the Alpha Giulia which is the exact opposite of the 4C.  The Giulia is so unassuming and small you might think it a simple econobox commuter.  Its dimensions are about the same as my Altima, it has 4 doors and if it weren't for the bright yellow calipers (and the four-leaf clover Quadrifoglio logo) the vehicle would have zero visual performance pretensions.  That said...it puts the 4C (and most other vehicles this side of a supercar) to shame in terms of raw numbers.  Under the hood is a Ferrari derived twin turbo V6 with over 500 HP, a 0-60 time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 190 mph...all in a four door "family" saloon...

Oh, and Alpha also had the most stunning collection of "booth babes" I've seen in any number of auto shows I've attended....like they just picked them up off the runways of Milan and flew them in on a company charter...

 Yup...Mercedes...no gullwings...moving on...














Ugliest R8 ever??  Yup...ugliest R8 ever...

Awesome Porsche 911 GT3 RS...Mean and purposeful as the best Porsches are.  No faux wheel vents and louvers here.

A Nissan GT-R that all those in attendance think looks cool and fast but wold be flinging fiberglass and plastic parts all over the track in the first five minutes you start thrashing it.  Not too many custom vehicles present...but this was one.  Built by toycompaniesinc.com out of Marlborough and Norwood, MA.

Also "built" by Toy Companies, Inc. was the saddest custom vehicle I've ever seen.  A Toyota Camry with a "custom" grey paint job, blacked out logos, and stanced wheels...Some soccer mom must be feeling hella fly cruising Metro-West in this machine...

The new '16 Toyota Prius.  I've never hated the Prius design in the past.  It was always smooth and very neutral in a "must be as aerodynamic as possible" sort of way.  This new edition has exchanged the feminine, swooping "curves" of the old model to more masculine angles both front and rear and also has given the vehicle a more extended rump rather than just cropping the vehicle off right at the rear wheel.  It is not a becoming look for the Prius.  With numerous hybrids and fully electric vehicles flooding the market now Toyota felt the pressure to renew the grandmother of all hybrids and "green" vehicles for it not to get lost in the shuffle.  This look does not benefit it and it will have to get by on its long reputation for fuel sipping and general Toyota reliability.

The Subaru BRZ...oh, the poor BRZ and its sibling the Scion FRS...poor forgotten children of the cheap sportscar family...Only looked at by pimply faced teen boy racers...oh...how sad...They deserve better.

 No exterior shots of the Titan.  If you want those there are plenty around to be found.  Instead you have here the in bed the gooseneck attachment for heavy-duty towing.  Won't see one of these in your Toyota Tundra.  You can also see the bed mounted cargo boxes as well.

Rear diff.  No sharing of the rear diff between the Titan and the Frontier or Xterra or other Nissan models this time.  It is an American Axle designed and built, 9.84" differential with 3.5" axle tubes.  There is some serious beef here.

Lastly the Cummins engine.  Do we have enough Cummins logos yet?  One on each front fender and here a big honkin chrome logo on the engine block.  Well, if you're going to partner with Cummins, you might as well promote it right?

One final note...the leather in the Titan XD--supplest leather I've ever felt--in a car or out.  I wouldn't get my work truck with leather but goodness...its like they skinned baby golden calfs for this stuff...you could sleep for days on that stuff...

NORRA Announces Dates, Payment Plan, New Classes and More...

NORRA (National Off-Road Racing Association) has sent out invitations to prior racers and announced a number of changes to vehicle classes amongst other changes.  Some of the racer beneficial changes include a payment plan starting this month so you can stretch the cost out over a long period of time.  One of the class changes includes the elimination of a "rally" class and now includes three Rally-Raid classes (I would imagine "Rally-Raid Production" would cover most stage rally vehicles) and divides vehicles into a number of categories based on age and eliminates an "overall" winner (though adds an "overall" winner for each age category).

I don't know (OK, I'm pretty sure I won't) if I will return to this race in '16 but it was such a great/horrible/wonderful experience for me as a racer I can't help but recommend it to any rally/offroad racer out there.  Nowhere else in North America will you have a chance to race some 1000 miles in a single rally event.  Kudos to NORRA to continuing to make changes that benefit racers and not remaining static.

NORRA 2016 Announcement

Nissan Returning to Super Bowl Advertising Showing Titan and Murano

For almost 20 years Nissan has been absent from advertising during the Super Bowl.  It has now announced plans to return with one produced by advertising powerhouse TBWA/Chiat/Day for the '15 edition of the Super Bowl in early February next year.

Why now?  Well, because Nissan has its three flagship vehicles with redesigns/introductions coming to production in the '15 model year.  For crossovers you have the new Murano which has seen a very recent introduction as a '15 model, for sedans you have the '16 Maxima which is to be introduced in the first half of '15 and of course and perhaps the focus of this ad you have the production of the '16 Nissan Titan diesel for trucks at the January NY Auto Show.  Though none of these will be Nissan's sales leaders (the Rogue, the Altima and the Frontier will likely still lead their category sales in '15) these are the top offerings in each segment and represent the models Nissan hopes its customers aspire to when buying the less expensive models.

Nissan Returns to Super Bowl Advertising...

2016 Nissan Titan Cummins Diesel Spy Shots

 Until now all the next generation Nissan Titan photos we have seen have been more or less merely test mules using the existing Nissan Titan body/frame with its new engine shoehorned into the bay.  Little was able to be discerned about the nature of the actual looks of the 2016 version.

With its full introduction only a few months away we are finally seeing what is likely a near production ready version of the coming diesel Titan being taken out on the road.  While still heavily camouflaged at this point there are a number of items worth pointing out in these photos.

First we have the single exhaust pipe and a small one at that.  Look at any heavy duty diesel truck and you will see a giant honking exhaust pipe hanging out the back to expend all those gases.  Evidently one example of how a smaller turbo diesel will change things up is in the exhaust design.  Lighter and in only a single outlet is different than a lot of the diesel trucks out there today.

Secondly we have evidence of the differentiation of the '16 Titan from its Ram counterpart.  The next gen Titan was originally going to be co-developed by Nissan and Chrysler/Dodge/Ram.  When that deal fell apart a few years back one wondered just how much would Nissan pull from the early Ram designs for its next fullsize truck.  Well, in terms of rear suspension??  Not much.  While Ram has moved to a coil sprung rear suspension these photos show that the Titan has retained the leaf spring suspension that is more common (and simpler?)  You might argue that the coilspring setup of the Ram is a more advanced system and maybe you're right...but its nice to see that Nissan went back to the board and came up with their own idea rather than taking what was Ram's preference at the time of their cooperation.

We also see evidence in these photos of additional nods to fuel economy found on most modern trucks including the aero skirt at the very front of the truck.  These have been viewed as major targets for curbs, rock and other debris typical of locations where fullsize trucks operate but have become fairly standard across the industry and one of the first things to be removed by many offroad oriented owners.

Lastly, size-wise the new Titan looks to have beefed up quite a bit compared to its prior version.  Asian trucks (the Toyota Tundra and Titan) have always been viewed as being just slightly undersized compared to their American brethren--a 7/8ths size truck or the like.  The crew-cab version here does not appear to lack for bulk or length with the passenger cab looking particularly cavernous.  The windshield also looks more raked than its predecessor and should help the overall aero and diesel sipping nature of the vehicle.

Here's hoping we see more of this in less and less disguised versions in the period leading up to its full introduction in Detroit in January '15.

All Nissan Dealerships to Receive Diesel Training in Preparation for 2016 Titan

There's an item I hadn't thought of.

With the upcoming introduction of the 2016 Nissan Titan at the January 2015 Detroit Auto Show, many Nissan dealerships will find themselves in a position where their techs may never have worked on a diesel engine before, or at the very least, are unfamiliar with the Cummins diesel platform.

In order to assist their franchises in getting their staff up to date, Nissan is going to be taking technicians from each dealership offsite to do training specifically on the Cummins engine specifically and diesel engines in general.  Hopefully the platform is buttoned up enough that their coming skills are not of much use in the near future but it does stand as another example of just how committed Nissan has to be to this new product.  If the diesel Titan fails it will be a sunk cost of billions of dollars, one which would hamper Nissan from doing anything truly innovative in the near term.

Nissan sending its techs to diesel school...

Introducing the New 2015 Nissan Frontier!

Yup...this is it.  While the rest of the world will get the Frontier that was shown a few months back as the next generation Navara and will be produced in Thailand for distribution for 43 other countries, THIS will be the Frontier that we will see here in the States.


With tons of torque immediately on demand thanks to its electric motor and no use of gasoline this will be the perfect work truck for your local plumber and electrician.  Plus it makes a great looking little beach truck for surfers and hipsters everywhere.  Can't wait to get my hands on one!