2004 Nissan Titan Pickup Reviews & Ratings

The Titan interior manages to feel spacious and snug at the same time. It's roomy in cubic feet, yet the interior is organized into handy tucking spaces and storage bins that corral all the stuff we are heir to.

Two interior configurations are available: a standard bench seat with column shifter that seats six passengers or an optional Captain’s Chair Package that features two front bucket seats with a gated floor shifter and a large center console. The leather upholstery in the LE models is sporty, attractive and quite pleasing; the rear seats in the LE are covered in matching vinyl that most people will assume is leather.

The bucket seats are firm and comfortable. The seat bottoms are relatively flat, making it easy to slide in and out, yet they offer good support and feel like they'd be comfortable on crosscountry trips. We find them more comfortable than the cushy seats in the GM trucks or those we've seen in the new Ford F-150 which could use more side support. The driver's seat and passenger's seat are power adjustable. Memory and seat heaters are available.

The King Cab has 60/40 flip-up rear seats and the nearly flat floor beneath makes loading and toting a wide mix of people and things a breeze. Three people can ride in the back seat, enjoying lots of legroom and headroom, but the upright seatbacks make anything longer than a trip to the restaurant or store feel like a journey. Bottle holders are provided in the rear doors to keep back-seat riders contented. Flip up the rear seat bottoms and the King Cab can carry a 160-pound dog in comfort. Hooks provided on the seat bottoms useful for hanging grocery bags, tote bags, or gear bags so their contents don't end up scattered around the floor. The seat backs also fold down, adding another cargo-carrying option. Add the benefits of the 180-degree rear door and the King Cab offers real flexibility.

The Crew Cab is roomy and comfortable whether sitting in the front or rear seats. Nissan claims the Crew Cab offers more front legroom and rear legroom than other full-size half-ton pickups and it feels like it. The rear seat is large and relaxing, with a full 24 degrees of seat back angle. The rear seats are split 60/40 with bottoms that flip up, revealing much more interior cargo space than what's available in the King Cab. The fold-up seat bottoms leave more usable space available than fold and tumble designs. Ample storage is available in the rear compartment, including door storage bins and rear door bottle holders in the armrests.

Up front, both models feature large knobs, handles and grips friendly to hands wearing heavy work gloves. Increasingly, Nissan interiors are standouts and the Titan continues the trend. "Smart" could be the operative word both in looks and in function. It looks as if it would work and it does.

The manual heating/air conditioning controls feature big knobs. The topline Rockford Fosgate audio system has a big volume knob and large station buttons that can be set simply by holding them down for a couple of seconds. Secondary audio functions are easy to access and operate. An auxiliary input is provided on the dash for plugging in an Apple iPod or other MP3 player.

Thoughtfulness in the design is everywhere in evidence, inside and out, making the Titan a singularly useful truck. The lid on the center console is flat, so you can set a clipboard there without having it slide off; the lid is indented and lined with rubber for small items. The center console on bench-seat models is larger than that in the Dodge Ram, large enough to accommodate laptops. The center console in bucket-seat models is designed to hold DVDs and CDs. Well-designed cup holders are provided that are welcome homes for that sleeved grande cappuccino. Decent-sized coat hooks are easily accessed for hanging a coat or a load of dry cleaning. The glove box is large with a damped lid that doesn't slam open. Battery power points are provided for charging laptops.

An available overhead console offers several storage compartments, including a sunglasses holder large enough to hold those big Ray Bans that won't fit anywhere else. Adjustable pedals are available to help ensure a perfect driving position and are especially useful in moving smaller drivers away from the airbag-equipped steering wheel.

The LE model's optional navigation system features a bright screen with two views of the world. It's easier than most to operate. It appropriately integrates some of the audio functions and indicates the status of your air conditioning, but avoids integrating all of them so you can quickly change the fan speed without having to call up a menu, for example. The navigation system comes bundled with rear park assist, a great aid when parallel parking; the system sounds a beeping tone that increases in frequency as the rear bumper approaches an object, such as a parked car, a short metal pole or a child on a tricycle.

Safety features include optional front-seat side-impact air bags. The Titan is the first full-size pickup to offer curtain air bags, which can improve protection against head injuries in a side impact or rollover accidents. Standard safety features on the 2004 Titan include dual-stage front air bags with seat belt sensors and a front-passenger occupant classification sensor. Titan's front seat belts feature pretensioners and load limiters, adjustable upper anchors; seat belts are your most important line of defense in a crash, so be sure to wear them. In the rear are three-point outboard passenger seat belts and the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tether for CHildren) child seat anchor system.

Looking good isn't enough for a truck, not even one bristling with clever ideas. It has to perform well, too. The Nissan Titan does just fine in that department. Driving the Titan is a pleasure. Nissan in the past has sometimes muddied a neat package with weakness in power. Lesson clearly learned.

The Titan's 305 horses are hairy-legged enough to get the job done. Doubly welcome is the well-shaped torque curve with the segment-leading 379 pounds-feet of torque. The Titan's engine delivers 90 percent of its peak torque across a wide band down to low rpm. (Torque is that force that propels you from intersections and pulls heavy trailers up long grades.)

Nissan's new Endurance 5.6-liter V8 is a modern design with double overhead-cams (four total) and four-valve heads (32 valves). It's designed to strike the ideal balance between performance and fuel economy. Titan 2WD gets EPA ratings of 14/19 mpg City/Highway, while Titan 4WD models are rated 14/18 mpg. Regular unleaded is recommended.

Towing capacity is 9,500 pounds, which is more often seen in 3/4-ton trucks, not 1/2-ton trucks like this. Nissan thought it had a first in class for towing but it got snookered by Ford. Ford purposely understated the towing capacity in the specs it first released on its new 2004 F-150 hoping to con its rivals into benchmarking the low figure. Nissan did just that. Then Ford announced its "true" towing capacity of 9,900. Nyah-nyah-nyah. Ford might just need such trickery to sell the 700,000 F-150s it must sell. Nissan is looking to sell 100,000 Titans. Titan's V8 (standard) has more horses than Ford's V8 (optional) and Titan has a five-speed automatic to Ford's four-speed, but towing capacity is one of the bragging points that rank high with truck buyers.

Anything rated to tow 9500 pounds can really move its bod when unencumbered. Our first impression of the Titan was its responsive powertrain, perhaps the most responsive among the full-size pickups with comparable engines. The Titan always feels alert and wide awake, like it started the morning with a double espresso. The V8 delivers quick acceleration performance whether launching off the line or pulling a quick pass at speed. It isn't a whisper quiet engine, but has a deep exhaust note that sounds pleasing when accelerating.

The five-speed automatic is equally responsive, quickly downshifting whenever needed. With five gears to choose from, it can always find an appropriate ratio for smooth, rather than abrupt, downshifts. The transmission features a Tow/Haul mode.

Titan handles twists and turns just fine. It's easy to drive quickly and smoothly at the same time. It does well in the braking department with big four-wheel disc brakes standard. It's easy to modulate the brakes for smooth stops in everyday driving. Anti-lock brakes come standard with electronic brake-force distribution and Brake Assist. (ABS helps the driver maintain steering control in a skid. EBD improves balance and stopping power by apportioning the braking force to whichever tires are getting the best grip. Brake Assist helps ensure full braking potential in a panic stop.)

4x4 models offer a shift-on-the-fly four-wheel-drive system with an electronically controlled part-time transfer case. Simply turn a knob to shift from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive; this can be done on the fly, while driving. At very low speeds, almost a full stop, push in the knob and turn it to shift into low range. The low creeper gear keeps steep descents in the comfort zone. An off-road package includes a feature exclusive to the Titan in this market segment: an electronically activated locking rear differential to aid the slog through the toughest conditions.

The 4WD King Cab we drove rode very well in most situations and its suspension offered quick and agile handling. One rippled section of I-405 in Los Angeles, however, set up a harmonic that had the Titan 4x4 pogoing uncomfortably. A 2WD Crew Cab we drove seemed to offer a better ride.

Nissan Titan is available in two body styles: King Cab with a 6-foot, 7-inch bed or a Crew Cab with a larger cabin and conventional doors and a 5-foot, 6-inch bed.

All Titans boast Nissan's new 5.6-liter V8 engine and a 5-speed automatic transmission. All models are available in 2WD and 4WD versions.

Three trim levels are available, XE, SE, and LE. The XE comes standard with a split front bench seat with a fold-down armrest storage bin and split pop-up rear seat; XE comes with 17-inch aluminum wheels, but has manual door locks and wind-up windows. SE adds captain's chairs, a better grade of cloth, 18-inch wheels, power everything, and host of other features; SE is expected to be the most popular trim level. LE comes with leather front seats. All models come with a high level of standard equipment including features such as a tire-pressure monitor, automatic headlamps, cruise control, and a CD stereo.

A navigation system is optional and comes bundled with a rear park-assist system. Also optional is a package that includes front-seat side-impact air bags and curtain air bags, always good choices in tall vehicles like SUVs and trucks. The Utility Bed Package includes a clever channel system in the bed for flexible tie-down configurations to fit a wide range of cargo; a lockable storage system in the outside of the bed; tailgate lighting; a power point at the rear; and that factory-applied spray-in bedliner. The Rockford Fosgate system boasts 10 speakers and is standard on LE, optional on SE.

An off-road package is available with a unique lower-ratio Dana axle, switch-on-demand electronically activated locking rear differential, off-road-style Rancho performance gas shock absorbers, large all-terrain tires, fog lights and lower radiator, oil pan and transfer case skid plates.

Nissan has made no effort to match the staggering mix of options in engine, transmissions, body styles and accessories that greet, say, a Ford pickup buyer. So you'll have to look elsewhere if you want a big duallie or a cheap, V6-powered regular cab. Nissan says its plan is to get the basics right and then build on that with a new level of style and innovation. We think the Nissan Titan has achieved those goals.