What if Nissan built a truck that could challenge the Ford Raptor for specialty off-road truck supremacy? What would that truck look like? We think this truck would look much like the Titan Warrior concept that the company showed nearly two years ago. However, it would need to be much different underneath.
If you remember, the Warrior concept was based on Nissan’s heavier Titan XD chassis and has a 5.0L Cummins turbo-diesel V8 under the hood. It was taller and wider than a stock truck, and with much more dramatic styling.
How about Nissan keep the Warrior concept styling, but base the truck on the half-ton Titan 1500 chassis, and throw a twin-turbo gasoline V6 under the hood? Nissan has a couple of tempting power plant options: a 3.0L twin-turbo V6 with up to 400 hp that can be found in the Infiniti Q50, and the mighty hand-built 3.8L twin-turbo V6 from the Nissan GT-R that can be tuned to 600 horsepower. It would make this Warrior pickup a “Truckzilla”!
OK, so the hand-built GT-R engine and a GT-R transaxle do not sound practical for a more mainstream pickup truck, but the point is that Nissan has the expertise to come up with a twin-turbo V6 truck engine solution that is good for around 450 horsepower.
Naturally, the Nissan Titan 1500 Warrior would have to have aggressive in-your-face styling and highly capable and robust 4×4 and off-road suspension systems. If Nissan can combine these three ingredients of a bad-ass off-road truck: style, capability, and power; they would have a sure winner on their hands.
This truck would have to be priced competitively against the Ford Raptor that starts at just over $54,000 for a crew cab 2018 model.
What do you think? Should Nissan built Titan 1500 Warrior with gas power? Should they continue with the Titan XD Warrior Diesel concept and challenge the Ram Power Wagon? Let us know in the comments below.
Check out this walk-around of the Nissan Titan Warrior concept from the 2016 Detroit Auto Show.
