Nissan Hasn't Forgotten About a V6 Titan - It Just Looks That Way

(In the interest of providing readers with all the news they can use, we sometimes tap sister publications when an article attracts our interest. In this piece by Matthew Guy, published by Off-Road.com, our in-house truck lover tries to find out when Nissan’s promised six-cylinder Titan will finally make its appearance.

Nissan has been doing a good job getting back into the full-sized truck game, rolling out various cab and bed configurations for the Titan along with an array of trim levels. There’s still one thing missing, though – a V6 engine.

Right now, truck customers walking into a Nissan showroom are limited to a single engine in the half-ton Titan. The 5.6-liter Endurance V8 is a great motor, cranking out nearly 400 horsepower and an equal amount of torque and allowing drivers to tow nearly 10,000 lbs, but not everyone needs that hauling capability.

More importantly, not everyone wants to pay the price. Some, particularly construction crews and people in the trades, simply need the space of a full-sized truck for all their gear. A V6 engine, such as the base mills offered by the Detroit Three, allows them to schlep around their stuff without breaking the bank at the pumps.

“We did confirm that a V6 will be coming [in the Titan],” said Nissan spokesperson Kevin Raftery. “However, that’s all we are able to say as of now – no official timetable.”

Nissan has busied itself with rolling out three different Titan body styles during its first two years on the market, starting with the Crew Cab, then adding the Single Cab and fabulously-named King Cab. Notably, they’re all exactly the same length: 228.1 inches.

It’s a smart play, one which allows Nissan to have an answer for just about every customer. The addition of a V6 would give the company another round in its chamber, providing an option for the shopper who is looking for space and not brute power. A smaller engine in the Single Cab and Crew Cab models would also allow for a lower starting price.

Currently, the cheapest Titan is a two-wheel drive long bed, checking in at $29,780. A comparable Silverado, but equipped with a V6, is about $1,000 cheaper before incentives. Customers will find a $27,910 F-150 at their Ford store, while Ram sells a $27,095 Ram 1500. Both of those machines are 4×2 longbox base models and are powered by V6 engines.

After all, Nissan has a raft of experience with V6 engines and while most folks will immediately call the company’s front-drive six-cylinder passenger cars to mind, it’s worth remembering that certain versions of the NV van are available with a 4.0-liter V6. A smaller 3.5-liter V6 is also available in other Nissan products like the Pathfinder, making 284 hp and 259 lb-ft of torque, just enough to motivate a base model pickup truck.

[Images: Nissan]