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.
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.
The next generation Frontier will also need to see improvements in its frame and structure to handle the towing capacity the new engine will allow. So while this stands as a nice proof of concept and a way to gauge interest in a small(ish) Nissan diesel pickup, it should in no way be thought of as a representation of the next Frontier which is still a ways a way. The primary goal here I would think would be to continue to associate the Nissan name with Cummins and get the public thinking about Nissan as THE diesel truck company for small and mid/full size light duty trucks. Oh, and that carbon-fiber hood with the acrylic see-through hood is awesome!
Revealed this morning--or rather, discovered this morning, is the fact that Nissan is revealing a Nissan Frontier powered by a Cummins diesel! Still under a tarp some eagle eyed attendees have spotted the Cummins badge under the Frontier's tarp as well as a horde of Cummins execs strolling about the Nissan display. Now the vehicle under the tarp looks to be your standard 2014 Nissan Frontier so this is likely not a production model of the next generation Frontier but instead a way of showing the auto world that they are developing the next gen Fronty with a diesel engine--though you never know...Nissan does sell an oil burner version of the Frontier in international markets so could they be shoe-horning a Cummins diesel into the 2015 version of the Fronty? Might they be just rebadging the international diesel with the Cummins logo and selling it here to pair up with the true Cummins powered Titan coming in a year from now? We'll find out soon enough!
Oh, and here are some more Nissan Titan spy shots from about a week or two ago up in Wisconsin doing some cold weather testing. Closer and closer I can feel the excitement building!
All in all, very minor updates and nothing mechanical. At least the Arabs will be happy to have some new options!
Likely to show up in a SpaceX museum that I can imagine will be breaking ground soon the Grasshopper Vertical Take Off and Land rocket has been officially retired by SpaceX.
Two very different ideas but one goal--to get the US back on a regular scheduled with the ISS. I have one favorite company in my heart and one favorite company for my bank account (I own some Orbital stock) but I'm rooting for both of them to succeed. Photos here are of (above) Orbital's Antares rocket on the Wallops Island site preparing for today's launch and a rendering of Orbital's capsule approaching the ISS. The launch can be watched on Space.com
It would have seemed like a no brainer...but I guess it isn't...
Of note here is that this test vehicle appear to be PURELY an engine test vehicle. The only part that appears modified from your standard 2013 Nissan Titan is the very front engine area which has received new bodywork likely to house the large engine. The rest is completely stock and provided by a '13 (or similar) Titan. You can even go as far as looking at the rear differential housing in some of the shots and see that it is your standard Nissan axle housing--and not even of the "finned" variety now found present on the Titans to keep it cool. Somehow I doubt that Nissan is going to crank up the engine power and torque and yet leave the rear differential unchanged and even more brittle than it was before.
It still seems as if Nissan has a long way to go before getting to running a full production version on the road and I'm thinking '15 is a far more likely model year to see the new Titan than any '14 edition and I'm betting by the size and structure of the front end sheetmetal that it is going to be a LARGE truck--likely bigger than the current Toyota Tundra and more on par with the new Ford Atlas that will be the base for the next gen F150.
Well now here is something unexpected.
My biggest concern going into the test was that some 1200+ hard driven stage miles might have caused some sort of internal damage to the engine and reduced its already meager horsepower and left me facing large bill for an engine rebuild. Post dyno test my only concern surrounds how to eek some additional power out of the engine.
Torque is more of an estimate as the only torque readout is done at the same point as the peak hp. That being said, peak torque appears to be about 148 ft. lb. at the wheel at about 4150 rpm. With the 15% loss applied this brings the torque number back to 170.2 ft. lbs. Its scary how using the 15% figure brings both the torque and hp #s right back to near EXACTLY where they were from the factory.
