At the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Nissan took the wraps off the Titan Warrior concept, revealing what appears to be a pickup that can easily be mistaken as an answer to the Ford Raptor. Just to be clear, it's not.
According to Nissan, it took the design to the extreme with "unapologetic, aggressive, athletic styling features," showcasing the carmaker's determination in the off-road scene. Notably, it sports custom "Thunder" matte gunmetal paint and "Magma" accents.
"Nissan has always pushed the boundaries of traditional automotive design and engineering, from our Nissan GT-R supercar to the new Titan XD," José Muñoz, executive VP of Nissan Motor Company and chairman of Nissan North America, says.
While it seems odd for a vehicle to have elements for both off-road and daily driving, the result is a great and powerful-looking pickup.
Compared with the Titan XD, it's taller by 3 inches and wider by 6 inches, while the wheelbase remains the same size. It reached that height because of the 18-inch wheels fitted with 37-inch tires.
Under the hood with functional vents to effectively dissipate heat, it has a Cummins 5.0-liter V8 Turbo Diesel engine with a two-stage turbo system that's paired with a six-speed automatic transmission.
Up the front, it has a new custom bumper that connects to the skid plates under the body, along with LED lights which are also featured on the roof and at the back. In the bumper, there's a quad-tipped exhaust, and on the rear cab and tailgate, there are carbon-fiber spoilers.
Inside, the design follows the same motif, with some "Magma" orange accents as well. It even has nifty containers for hot and cold drinks sitting in the middle. What's more, it features robust toggle switches and auxiliary gauges.
Nissan boasts that the custom steering wheel is milled from a single block of aluminum. However, seeing as it's covered by durable leather, it's a bit hard to completely appreciate that.
As for the driving aids, it has Around View Monitor (AVM), Moving Object Detection (MOD), Blind Spot Warning (BSW) and a front and rear sonar system, making it one safe pickup to drive around.
Regarding suspensions, it has custom upper and lower control arms on the front. It also has ball joints and racing-style coil-over shocks equipped with tie-rod extensions and custom reservoir mounts.
At the rear, it has custom internal bypass reservoir shocks that are also with custom reservoir mounts, a custom sway bar, relocated sway bar brackets and hydraulically pressurized bump stops.
As a whole, it sure is one heck of a build, but there's no announcement about whether or not these features will be up for production. On top of that, Nissan says that the Titan Warrior concept is simply made in celebration of the Titan XD.
At any rate, it provides a good idea of how the 2016 Titan XD will turn out, and if it'll take a ton of design cues from the concept, then this automobile will sure be quite the looker.
