The Diesel V8's Fuel Economy So Far - 2016 Nissan Titan XD

Edmunds.com

The Diesel V8's Fuel Economy So Far - 2016 Nissan Titan XD

We've been driving our 2016 Nissan Titan XD for almost 6,000 miles and our average fuel economy is 14.7 mpg.

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bohio

Glad to see this update. Thanks! And not to be too cynical, but in a previous post re: this King Banana Behemoth, a reader quipped something like "The size and weight of a heavy duty, and the performance of a half-ton". Except that performance metrics for 0-60 and fuel economy seem to be even less than a heavy duty truck. I guess we'll find out.

longtimelurker

That would be me. And in addition to its poor fuel economy, it's pretty gutless, too...555 lb./ft. of torque and even with nothing in the bed, during acceleration testing it would not break the rears loose in 2WD? I know it's heavy, but...?

Also, I suspect that an F150 Crew, with the 3.5L twin turbo, packing 375 hp and 470 lb./ft. of torque...but weighing probably all of a ton less than this Nissan, will be a superior tow vehicle, much faster and get probably slightly better fuel economy, even though it's gas and not diesel.

And will be both a better truck and a vastly superior vehicle in daily use.

misterfusion

Why did Nissan go after this extraordinarily niche segment instead of refreshing the Frontier -- which is actually in a growth segment?! (And it's a segment in which Nissan used to be quite competitive.)

I'm guessing it's because they would sell four times more Frontiers, but every Titan sold makes five times more profit...

moparbad

misterfusion said:

Why did Nissan go after this extraordinarily niche segment instead of refreshing the Frontier -- which is actually in a growth segment?! (And it's a segment in which Nissan used to be quite competitive.)

I'm guessing it's because they would sell four times more Frontiers, but every Titan sold makes five times more profit...

New version of the Navarra arrived in mid 2014. Frontier = USA Navarra = most everywhere else
Nissan has a global design for it's midsize truck unlike Toyota. If Nissan wanted to update the Frontier for North America they could have 2 years ago.

So why not? Most likely the answer is capacity. Nissan is maxed out in Smyrna and Canton. They can't sell 5x more Frontier or Titan unless they stop building something else.

moparbad

Titan XD is shaping up to be a major disappointment. It looks OK, it drives OK, fuel economy is fair to poor. Titan XD is great at nothing. Ram, Ford and GM trucks are superior in almost every aspect. Unless you are a Nissan loyalist there seems to be no compelling reason to own a Nissan Titan XD.

g35buf

I've followed the Titan XD mainly because as a RAM EcoDiesel owner, I'm interested in diesel powered vehicles...But in most tests so far, the XD diesel has underwhelmed. TFL Truck did a head to head towing test with an XD diesel vs XD gas V8 and the diesel barely outperformed the gas XD in terms of mileage. Just 1.1 mpg better towing vs the V8 gas. 2.5 mpg better than the XD gas unladen. That is NOT a big delta.

A comparison example since I owned a 2014 RAM 1500 Hemi in the same config as my 2015 RAM 1500 EcoD...Highway difference unladen is 6.5 mpg and about 5 mpg towing in favor of the EcoDiesel from my experience. That is a REAL difference vs what this XD diesel produces vs its V8 gas model.

bohio

It's Halloween here in the USA, i.e. October 31st. Which means THIRTY TWO days since this last XD long-term test update. Egads, that's just really poor reporting from Edmunds. Is this honkin' truck so wretched to drive that it has been parked in the Edmunds lot all this time?

In case anybody cares, I have a few quibbles with my 2016 RAM EcoDiesel to report. In no particular order: (a) the driver's side door makes a rubbery-farty (sorry) sound as it's opened in colder weather, which is likely caused by the friction between the accordion-type cable housing and the A-pillar. I'm going to spray some silicone lube on this to hopefully eliminate that noise; (b) the non-dampened tailgate collects more than a bit of rainwater on top due to the slightly dished design of this component. So, if you lower the tailgate quickly, some of this water can trickle onto your pants and shoes which is a slight annoyance; (c) speaking of rain and annoyance, the door seals are not designed to channel water away from the roofline when the door is opened, meaning there's no seal on the roofline, so a bit of water will trickle onto the edges of the seats when you open the doors; (d) my Sirius XM receiver is just terrible. My wife's BMW gets easily twice the reception that my truck does on the same routes. The only way I would extend my Sirius XM subscription after the initial complimentary year is if it was $20 or less ANNUALLY; (e) I really wish this truck had a telescoping steering wheel to go with the tilt feature.

And now for some factoids, in no particular order: (a) I've purchased DEF, at Walmart for $8 per 2.5 gallon jug, and am getting ready to add it now that my truck has about 9,100 miles since I bought it new on Jan 29th this year; (b) I've purchased Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 synthetic as now recommended by FCA, for $21.36 per gallon at Walmart, and an Ecoguard oil filter via Amazon for $10.57 shipped, to do my own oil change rather than pay a dealer up to $199 for such service (although a nearby dealer quoted only $99 but they have a terrible reputation, so I'm not sure I believe the quote was even accurate); (c) my overall fuel economy, tracked every fill-up since new, is currently 25.1 MPG; (d) shorter, meaning most, passengers really need to grab the handholds to pull themselves aboard because I declined to install side steps/running boards, because such accessories collect dirt/mud/snow/ice like crazy here in New England from Dec-April, and I didn't want to take them off and store them.

Back to the Titan XD. I've still only seen one such truck here in NH (except for the one I viewed at a dealer's lot prior to them actually being available).

bohio

Big news from New England (not really) as it pertains to the King Banana family tree, i.e. the Nissan Titan XD. I've just seen the 2nd such truck since they came on the market, and it's on my own street here in NH. A Pro-4X version, diesel, which the owner said "Nissan is making it easy to buy these now..." Not sure what that meant, as we stopped by only to drop off a package that was delivered by mistake to our house, but out of curiosity I looked at pricing info just this morning using the Edmunds.com tool.

Lo and behold, an SV version of this truck, in a color (brownish ext, beige int) combo that I could tolerate, is available at a dealer in MA -- about 78 miles from my town. VIN 1N6BA1F4XGN507892 in case anybody wants to check my story.

And the big news is that they're taking $10.5k off MSRP via the Edmunds price offer feature. So, a buyer could get this King Cuppajoe version for just $41.4k. Which is, coincidentally what I paid for my RAM mentioned above. Is it a better truck for the money? Moot point for me, but maybe not for somebody else.

Quite a difference from the $500 off MSRP a NH Nissan dealer quoted me about 6 months ago. I think Nissan has stumbled badly on this 'tweener strategy. Fingers crossed that they'll do better with new versions of the Frontier and Xterra, but I'm sure not holding my breath. If I was a Nissan stockholder, I'd be selling.

bohio

FYI fellow readers, it appears that Edmunds is now posting updates (albeit very brief ones) to an Instagram-based blog. The only meaningful info I gleaned from these -- having just spent 3 minutes perusing all of them in total -- is that the XD has a mere 4.5 gallon DEF tank, and that it is relatively thirsty for DEF. For perspective, my RAM 1500 EcoDiesel has an 8 gallon DEF tank, and in my 9,200 miles of driving since buying the truck new, used perhaps 6 gallons of DEF.

Otherwise, it appears that Edmunds is mostly giving the XD an easy time in terms of critique, which I can't help but wonder is at least partially because Nissan provided this truck to Edmunds, rather than Edmunds buying it.