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...

Reminder...Raana Horan Still Kicks Ass in His Nissan Titan in New Zealand

Its been a while since I checked in on Raana...but he is still on the other side of the planet and still running strong.  This past '16 season Raana finished first in his class for the year and accumulated the third most points of any racer in the ORANZ (Off Road Association of New Zealand) series.  The Nissan Titan he runs is more of a tube frame vehicle and not a Titan as you can buy off the lot and the engine is a supercharged VK56.  Raana has been racing and winning in New Zealand with this truck for the better part of a decade now, showing that the engine can be a long term powerhouse winner.  If you want to follow along with Raana and his team Big Black Motorsport you can see them here: Big Black Motorsport FB page...

and you can check out the ORANZ homepage here:  ORANZ Homepage...

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...

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...

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...

A Nissan Frontier Returning to the Baja 1000 Next Weekend!

At least it currently looks that way!

 Los Angeles resident Glen Tanizawa has had this race in mind for a number of years now and has been transforming his Frontier into a SCORE compliant racer over the course of at least the past year with a significant amount of the work (of course) taking place in the last few months, weeks and days.

Glen and I have talked a bit back and forth with him being particularly interested in my efforts to race down the Baja peninsula earlier this year in my Nissan Frontier during the NORRA 1000.  Both the NORRA 1000 that I raced in and this year's Baja 1000 ran the entire length of the peninsula though the B1K is an whole order of difficulty greater than the NORRA event.

Unlike the NORRA 1000 there is zero downtime in the race.  We at least had each evening to try and make repairs and recover...not so in the B1K.  Glenn and his crew will have to go non-stop for likely close to 48 hours if they hope to finish.  They will also be taking on a course significantly more difficult that what I encountered--bigger rocks, deeper silt, steeper inclines, etc. and will have much fewer "transit" sections that we had in the NORRA event where we covered at least some of the mileage on pavement.

It is a HUGE undertaking, one that defies my imagination even having gotten a taste of what Baja racing entails earlier this year.  If you want to follow along with Glenn you can certainly go to his personal Facebook page and "friend" him to get updates before the race.  The race begins on 11/13 with the motorcycles off the line at 6AM local time and cars/trucks beginning at 12:30PM local time.  Running in the Sportsman 2000 class under #2003, Glenn should be starting darn near the very last of the vehicles to race, probably not until close to 3PM.  It has been years since a Nissan vehicle has even entered a SCORE event, let alone finish a B1K (I believe Bob Graham and his Nissan Titan was the last Nissan vehicle to finish a SCORE event back in '07) and I wish Glenn the best of luck.

If I have any advice coming out of my experiences?  Go slow.  Real slow.  As slow as you think you're going??  Go slower.  Stock or near stock vehicle components are just not meant to endure that terrain for any length of time.  You will get lulled into thinking you can go faster than is actually smart and you will be hauling ass down a fire road like course at 80 mph or better and then you'll run right into a minefield of rocks, ruts and ditches while your adrenalin is still coursing from driving with your hair ablaze...Knowing how to flick that switch between the two types of driving is huge.

Regardless, what you find here in photos are some of the build and development photos of Glenn's Frontier.  Enjoy and drop Glenn a line if you can.  I'm sure he could use the pat on the back and encouragement.

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!

Bret Michaels for Nissan Commercial Vans

I'm not 100% sure what Nissan is going for here...

We have a aging rock star long past whatever prime he had to the point where he and his band are most often associated with a lack of talent, bad hair, worse makeup and decidedly misogynistic lyrics.  He and his band are not exactly viewed as tough, macho men either...so what audience are you targeting??  Carpenters and plumbers are not looking at Bret Michaels and saying they want a truck or work van like he is promoting, nor are many women going to be attracted to the vehicle by this "man" in makeup.

Now is it good for a laugh?  Sure...the number of phallic and sexual innuendos contained in this advertisement are so over the top as to actually make fun of Mr. Michaels and his history rather than a tribute to him.  Maybe that's the angle...promotion and attention through humor...it got me to watch that's for sure, if only for the juxtaposition of two seemingly unconnected items like Commercial Vans and the lead singer of a hair band.  Nissan sure put a lot of effort into this as well.  Not only is there this 4+ minute long "Endless Love" music video but there are a series of other videos where Mr. Michaels extols the values of various features of the Nissan Commercial Vans.  He looks like he's having a good time, probly came pretty cheap and I'm betting this gets a good deal of attention...so I guess this works?????

Throwback Thursday: CORR Bully Dog Nissan Titan

Hopefully this can be a new trend for the site going forward, ripping off 10,000 other "throwback Thursday" items.  Here we'll try to highlight a single old school Nissan/Datsun, particularly a motorsport/dirt related vehicle.

Here we have the old BullyDog/CORR Nissan Titan.  Nissan was a title sponsor of the CORR events for a handful of years, also sponsoring Carl Renezeder and the pace truck as well in conjunction with aftermarket ECU tuner BullyDog.  The last I knew, Mike DeFord of BullyDog was still in possession of this vehicle and may have tried to sell it at one point.  The suspension setup has a number of PRG components including rear leafs and Sway-Away shocks and bumpstops.

2015 (?) 2016 (?) Next Generation Frontier Details To Be Released!

Well, we kinda knew it would happen sooner or later but no less authority than Nissan's Global Boss Andy Palmer at last weeks NYC Auto Show revealed that they would begin releasing info on the next generation Frontier in the coming couple of weeks.

With the Titan (introduced in '04 as an '05 model) seeing its complete redesign, the Frontier and Xterra (if it were to continue to exist) were next on the hitlist.  Now that the Pathfinder has returned to its own, unibody, more "refined" model it leaves open the question of how related the Titan and Frontier would be given in their current form they ride on the same basic platform.

Pressed by Australian journalists in NYC and the Aussies get the Frontier in both a 4.0L Petrol and a 2.2L turbo diesel badged with the "Navara" name, Palmer would discuss that no diesel version of the Patrol (the Infiniti QX80 here) would be produced (disappointing many there as well as in the Mid East).  What he did indicate is that not only would the details on the Frontier's replacement come shortly but that "it would be logical" if that replacement also spun off an SUV variant.  Given that the Xterra is the current Frontier's SUV clone, it would seem "logical" that the Xterra would be living on in the next generation of "smaller" truck and SUVs within Nissan's portfolio.

Quoting Palmer "should go back to that basis of good durability, good quality, and good reliability. If I was doing a pick-up, that’s where I’d start...It’s around about the same [size as the current model] - one-tonne pickups are fairly generic in terms of their overall dimensions..I think it’s about what you deliver on fuel consumption, what you deliver on styling...these are the key differentiators for that kind of pickup market"

To me the first part sounds an awful lot like the Xterra's original tag-line of "Everything you need, nothing you don't" while the fuel consumption and style sound a lot like a diesel with a bold design--much like the original Frontiers were, being the first to introduce the quad cab and other queues.

Should be an exciting month or so!  Oh, and given they are releasing this info right now, I'd say the next generation Frontier should be about six months to a year behind the introduction of the next Titan which means, as the next Titan will be introduced in Q1 '15, I'd look for the next Frontier later that year...and with a diesel as well and that means a diesel Xterra could be in the cards as well...

Andy Palmer talks about next generation Frontier and Xterra...

Update!!

Now confirmed that at least in its overseas version it will house a 3.0L turbo diesel and will spawn a 7-seat SUV based upon the same platform...now the 3L diesel isn't much of a surprise but a SEVEN seat SUV is a big surprise...Maybe Nissan feels that people don't want a 5 seat SUV anymore but a body on frame 7 seater??  That seems a bit odd and it also flies in the face of thinking that this rugged SUV (vs. the soft-roading Pathfinder) would hold closer to the Xterra demographic...and it now appears that the reveal of the vehicle will be within the next month per this report...

Next Gen Navara/Frontier/Xterra update...

2016 Toyota Tundra Getting Same Cummins Diesel as Nissan Titan...

So now it appears EVERYONE is jumping on the diesel bandwagon...

Toyota is now known to be adding a diesel option to its 2016 Tundra using the same 5.0L Cummins engine as the Nissan Titan will use.  This is a great move for Cummins as they are likely hedging their bets against the Titan being a low volume vehicle and generating additional business for their factory.  When you go from producing engines for Dodge or other high volume sellers, putting all your eggs in an unproven basket like the Titan is not wise.

Couple items here as it impacts Nissan.  1) it means that if Nissan wants to appear as a market leader and not a market follower it will need to get the diesel Titan to market BEFORE the Tundra, likely pushing Nissan even harder to get it wrapped up. 2) the Tundra is no slouch of a truck in terms of quality and so the Titan better be damn good or else why not just move over to the Tundra and get the same engine but better overall quality. 3) the Toyota diesel is reportedly more of a "test" for the Tundra to see if its a viable product before Toyota goes off on its own and produces its own diesel.  Nissan then has an opportunity to truly get in bed and market around the Cummins brand vs. Toyota who is likely not to push the Cummins brand very hard if it intends to go its own way in the near future.

Regardless, it will continue to push the domestics on trucks harder than they ever have been before and more competition is always a good thing....

Tundra and Titan to share Cummins diesel...

Most Miles Ever On A Nissan Titan??

This might not be a winner...but I bet its a contender...

Was cruising around looking at trucks and came across this beauty...A 2006 with 402,000 miles on it!  That is a LOT of miles on the truck though it looks like it is in decent condition.  Also looks like the driver did a lot of entry/exit from the vehicle given the wear on the driver's seat.  Anyone have evidence of one with more miles?  Oh, and if you want it, this one is for sale with a listed price of $5,900.

Nissan Titan with 402,000 miles...

Nissan Frontier Cummins Diesel Coming Soon!

 The Chicago Auto Show is usually the sleepy step-sister to the Detroit, New York and LA autoshows but perhaps that's not the case this year.  Certainly it doesn't seem to be that way for Nissan.

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!

Next Nissan Frontier to be a Diesel?? Or a Hybrid??

Sure sounds like it according to Fred Diaz who is head of US sales.  All powertrains are under consideration and given that Nissan has moved to put a diesel in the 2016 Titan would it surprise anyone if a smaller diesel ended up in the next generation Frontier?

Unchanged in terms of basic body design and powertrain options since its introduction as a 2005 model, the Nissan Frontier saw one of its best years of sales in 2013 with over 60,000 units sold in the US.  Worldwide the Navara is also a successful model but one that comes with a turbo diesel engine not available here.  Though the Truck Trend article mentions that they test drove just such a model at the Nissan 360 event in California in 2013, I wouldn't anticipate that this exact engine would end up in a US version of the next Frontier.  This engine has been in use for these past near 10 years and any updated Frontier would likely receive an updated and more efficient engine as well.  The suggestion of a small Cummins diesel is an exciting proposition

The more interesting possibility is that of a hybrid option.  Nissan likes to be seen as an innovative company on the cutting edge of automotive options--the first mini-pickup in the US, first truck with a crew cab option, first mass market all electric with the Leaf, etc.  So it wouldn't shock me to see Nissan be the first to offer a hybrid small pickup or perhaps a hybrid turbo diesel?  Or perhaps the "First Manufacturer to offer a Cummins diesel in a Mid-Size truck"??

In any case, the next Frontier is likely to stay "about" the same size as it is today given it will still need to differentiate itself from the new Titan though, as with the current version, the two models will see a number of identical parts--axles, hubs, frame, etc. to curb costs.  With the Titan rounding into its final form before its introduction to the world in less than a year, the next Frontier is definitely entering the design phase as we speak.

Nissan Frontier--Diesel? Hybrid? Cummins?

2016 Nissan Titan Debut Confirmed For 2015 Detroit Auto Show...

One year folks...

That's what you have to wait for to get a complete look at the next generation Nissan Titan with its Cummins diesel engine.

Announced on 1/14/14 by EVP Andy Palmer at this years Detroit Auto Show was the following "On this stage, you’ll see our next-generation fullsize pickup next year,"  adding "You have to come from left field with something unexpected and different."

Good news that this is being finalized.  Bad news that it is a full year away.  With Ford introducing their "aluminum" F150 and Dodge making big strides with their truck, Nissan is really going to have to put something spectacular together in addition to making it EXTREMELY competitive on price in order to get it noticed.  I would expect Nissan to begin releasing teaser shots of it late this year as they have done with most new vehicles of late.  The 2016 Nissan Titan should go on sale in Q2 or Q3 of 2015.

Andy Palmer gives date on introduction of 2016 Nissan Titan...

Would You Sell One Testicle For A 370Z?

Hmmm...I dunno...I'm done having kids (two kids are plenty!) but it still feels right to keep my god (small g) given body intact.  The guy in the story below is trading his testicle to medical research for $35K which he is using to get a 370Z.  That's not even a top end 370Z...

Man donates testicle to buy 370Z...

That said...I might be willing to part with an extra organ or two in exchange for a copious amount of cash or a really nice Nissan.  So let's play the organ for Nissan game shall we?




Kidneys:  I'd trade a kidney for a nice Nissan Titan.  The Titan is a bit outdated of a vehicle and a bit of a gas hog.  Then again, a kidney isn't that big of a loss.  So I'd have to pee more often and my ability to filter stuff would be a bit compromised...meh...I can adjust.  Seriously....I think I'd donate a kidney today if it got me a vehicle to tow my race vehicle with.

Lungs:  Hmm, this one is a bit tougher.  Without a lung I assume my ability to perform physical actions would be compromised.  Plus I feel as if I'd end up leaning to one side or the other as the absence of a lung would mean a pretty big weight imbalance wouldn't it?  That said, I could use to lose a few pounds and getting into actual decent shape would help mitigate the loss of the lung.  I say a lung is what I'd trade for a 370Z which is a real nice sports car but not something ridiculously valuable.

Testicle: Now we get into some serious stuff...though the loss of a testicle doesn't present any obvious outwardly visible signs I just feel like it would change how I would walk around...a little less swagger in my step so to speak.  A loss of manhood, even just 1/2 of it requires a big return and a mere stock 370Z just wouldn't cut it.  Something classic, something race, something with a great deal of value, if not monetarily then historically.  A fully restored Datsun BRE 510 from the Baja perhaps??

Eye:  This would be near the top of my value list for dual organs.  The others mean losing something but being short of breath or having to pee more often is more of an inconvenience than an actual LOSS of something.  Losing an eye however...now that's big.  Depth perception is gone, range of vision is cut in half...plus you have to decide to go the Stuart Scott route or look like the Governor from the Walking Dead...neither is a good look.  I'll need something truly special and one off.  I'm going with the 1992 24 Hours of Daytona winner R91CP which thoroughly destroyed the field finishing nine laps up on the closest competitor and finished more laps in the 24 Hours of Daytona than anyone ever before or since.

That's my list and I'm sticking to it...anyone know a good surgeon??