2020 Nissan Titan Fuel Economy Figures Emerge

What can a nine-speed automatic do for a full-size pickup that once carried a seven-speed unit and a reputation for guzzling fuel at a prodigious rate?

That’s a question answered not by the EPA, which hasn’t gotten around to posting updated MPG figures for the refreshed 2020 pickup, but by its counterparts north of the border. Natural Resources Canada has the new figures on file, but you’re out of luck if you’re only interested in rear-wheel drive Titan models. For 2020, Canadians aren’t allowed to have those.

Forgive the inclusion of metric figures on these predominately American pages.

If you’ll recall, the EPA rated the 2019 Titan (not Titan XD) at 15 mpg city, 21 mpg highway, and 18 mpg combined when equipped with four-wheel drive and Nissan’s lone 5.6-liter gasoline V8 engine (retuned to make 400 horsepower for the current model year). Canadian ratings amounted to the same. It’s worth noting that 2WD Titans earned the exact same rating, so that’s something to remember as we plow forward.

For 2020, the Titan ditches its seven-speed in favor of a nine-speed automatic with a larger final drive ratio aimed at improved pulling power across the range. This implies not much in the way of increased fuel economy.

And that’s what we see here. Natural Resources Canada rates the 2020 Titan 4X4 at 15.1l/100km in the city, 11.1 on the highway, and 13.3 combined, which translates to (just barely) 16 mpg city, 21 mpg highway, and 18 mpg combined. The only upward movement of gas mileage occurs in the city and combined fields, which creep upward by one-tenth of a liter per 100 km. For city driving, that slimmest of increases is enough to round the U.S. figure up to 16 mpg.

So, not a lot of change, but things get more exciting when considering the brawny Pro-4X variant. The 2019 model carried an EPA rating of 15 city, 20 highway, and 17 combined, which is born out in annoyingly metric Canuck calculations.

For 2020, the four-wheel drive Titan Pro-4X earns a Canadian rating that translates into 16 mpg city, 21 highway, and 18 combined. In other words, a 1 mpg increase in all fields. Not a full MPG, mind you, but an increase nonetheless.

The updated tranny hasn’t done much to improve the Titan’s thirst, especially when compared to its Detroit rivals, all three of which have light-duty diesels on offer (or, in the case of GM, on the way), downsized six-cylinders, and even a lone four-cylinder turbo. But fuel economy is just one consideration when buying a big-bucks pickup.

As one colleague likes to inform me, Titan owners often state that their fuel economy doesn’t drop in the slightest when towing, which is a perk that’s hard to shoehorn into marketing materials without calling out the unloaded truck’s thirst.

Stay tuned for a broader range of EPA figures.

[Images: Nissan]