Nissan Titan Diesel

[bzubke1]

I'm not a crazy fan of the Nissan Titan's body style but I'm glad somebody is finally coming out with a small diesel engine half ton pickup.

http://blogs.insideline.com/straight...of-energy.html

[harmsway]

Interesting... I read a few months back that Nissan was pulling the plug on the Titan because of lack of sales. Now they must be pulling the plug on pulling the plug.

[bzubke1]

The wife of my dad's work partner is VP of something, can't remember what at nissan and he told him about it.

[KG's Supra24]

Maybe Nissan IS pulling the plugs on the Titan.

[mmandley]

Its great to see someone finally doing this. I have been reading a lot about small diesels like the TDI comming out in the next two years in cars. I have not herd a solid confimed statement saying any 1/2 tons will get a diesel. I can tell you unless they make the titan under 4500 lbs that engine will be slow and get poor milage.

Several high end SUVs have diesels and all of them get high teens or very low 20s city due to weight vs power.

[bzubke1]

They're estimating 28mpg in the article. I agree though 220hp isn't much for a 1/2 ton 380 lb-ft of torque isn't too bad though.

[rdlangston13]

As long as manufacturers are posting 1/2 ton tow ratings that are 11,300 lbs you will have people trying to pull alot of weight with half ton trucks. I saw a f150 pulling a fifth wheel travel trailers a couple years ago. Looked like the rear end was riding on the bump stops! I do think a 6 cyl would be a better way to go tho

[sandm]

I was led to believe that they don't put the diesels into 1/2 ton trucks as 1/2 are considered "cars" and subject to the same crash/emissions requirements, where a 3/4 and up truck is considered a "truck" and not subject to the same crash/emissions requirements. seemed that the decisions were made by NTSB and EPA, not detroit.

a decent diesel in a 1/2 ton would be a huge hit if it had some good base numbers. we all know what companies like bully dog can do with a diesel so if this cummins is like the rest, 400hp and 600ft/lbs won't be far behind from the aftermarket..

[mmandley]

I was led to believe that they don't put the diesels into 1/2 ton trucks as 1/2 are considered "cars" and subject to the same crash/emissions requirements, where a 3/4 and up truck is considered a "truck" and not subject to the same crash/emissions requirements. seemed that the decisions were made by NTSB and EPA, not detroit.

a decent diesel in a 1/2 ton would be a huge hit if it had some good base numbers. we all know what companies like bully dog can do with a diesel so if this cummins is like the rest, 400hp and 600ft/lbs won't be far behind from the aftermarket..

Yup that was what has always been posted in the diesel mags about why you cant get a diesel in a 1/2 ton. It seams the public outcry for a diesel is finally being herd. I think this also might be why your seeing a much smaller diesel engine then you do in 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. I am sure you will see a lot of the aftermarket jump on board with these diesels too, to release the hiden power but the biggest problem is most of the aftermarket stuff is requires you to remove Emission equipment, thats ok when you dont see DEQ like my truck in OR.

Lets say Claudia's TDI now, it has to goto Emissions in 4 years, then ever 2 after. So its a lit harder to tamper with it. Most of it could prolly be handles with a decent computer reprogram. Unfortunatly for her TDI its staying bone stock. She is averaging 43 MPG with less then 1K on the car, so engine hasnt even broken in yet. Since we are leasing it, i have no intentions of spending anything on it. Not even tires LOL. All the servies are included in the lease so all i technically have to play for is brakes and tires.

[sandm]

I don't know that there is a real public outcry for diesels in 1/2 ton trucks at this point. If there was a true outcry, the big 3 would already have them in european countries as diesels are preferred over there.
the guys that need to tow heavy loads really need a diesel 3/4 ton. guys like me(and probably 90% on this board) use the truck to tow a boat to a ramp occasionally and at this point, the gas v8 does the job just fine.
the math of economics will determine if a diesel really is cost-justified, just like high-mpg cars. Chevy has idled the production line that makes the volt as the demand is not there. could be the same thing with smaller diesel trucks depending on price.. as technology like the ecoboost becomes more widely available and fits the needs of 90% of truck owners, would be interesting to see the sales numbers of boosted-v6 engines and smaller diesels..
at the end of the day tho, the consumer would win with more choices...

fwiw, emissions inspections always have a workaround. I had no cats on my last 2 mitsu evos. passed every time. there are ways to trick the ecu into thinking they are there. never felt guilty as turbo'ed motors are cleaner than their normally aspriated bretheren, it's all gov't hype..