Nissan Titan Warrior Concept (2016)

Custom LED lights, front and rear, add to the Titan Warrior Concept's stealthy presence. The headlights carry a sense of the new Nissan signature boomerang lights, but with a more precise, upright, robotic feel. In the rear, the integrated LED taillights take the form of a Titan "T" logo, split by the wide tailgate. As a finishing touch, a quad-tipped exhaust system is integrated into the rear bumper.

Despite its massive bulk, Titan Warrior Concept adds several aerodynamic elements, including carbon fiber rear cab spoiler and tailgate spoilers. Additional unique body elements include integrated, roof-mounted LED off-road lights.

The Titan Warrior Concept is covered in a custom matte-gunmetal paint called "Thunder" and accented in special "Magma" orange and black color highlights.

"There's a sense to the exterior design that the Titan Warrior Concept could drive right off the auto show stage and retrace the historic route of Nissan's off-road racing victories in the Baja Peninsula," said Muñoz. "And given the high-torque Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel, extensive suspension modifications and Titan XD heavy-duty durability, it certainly could."

A Polished, Premium Sport Interior

Inside the Titan Warrior Concept's rugged performance-focused exterior is an interior conceived to handle the abuse experienced on an extended off-road excursion in comfort and style.

"Today's truck enthusiasts don't just use their trucks for weekend adventures, they do double-duty as daily drivers," explained Muñoz. "Therefore the Titan Warrior Concept's interior reflects a premium outdoor lifestyle, closer in look and content to a new Titan XD Platinum Reserve model than a stripped-down pre-runner."

The interior design team at Nissan Design America wanted to give the vehicle a unique polished "chronograph" look and feel, focusing on materials and detailing while remaining true to the Titan Warrior Concept's active performance theme. For example, the seats are covered in a carbon-colored high-strength seat fabric trimmed with "Magma" orange accents. Interior surfaces utilize material, such as carbon fiber, polished chrome finishes, leather with accented Magma orange stitching.

The Titan Warrior Concept's steering wheel is custom-built, continuing the technical adventure theme, milled from one block of aluminum. Other interior details include unique hot-and-cold drink containers integrated into the center console. Robust auxiliary toggle switches are integrated into the center stack for additional off-road accessories. Instrument panel-mounted auxiliary gauges are provided to easily monitor truck performance.

Performance Unleashed

As an extreme adventure version of the new 2016 Titan XD, the Titan Warrior Concept utilizes the factory fully boxed ladder frame and Cummins® 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel engine and the standard heavy-duty 6-speed Aisin automatic transmission as its base.

Where the Titan Warrior Concept departs from its production counterpart is in the full custom suspension design. In the front, the standard suspension has been replaced with custom upper and lower control arm with performance ball joints, along with racing-style internal bypass reservoir coil-over shocks with custom reservoir mounts and tie-rod extensions.

In the rear, the modifications include custom internal bypass reservoir shocks with custom reservoir mounts. Adjusted-length prototype axles were installed, along with a custom sway bar, relocated sway bar brackets and rear lift blocks and U-bolts. Hydraulic pressurized bump stops were also added front and rear.

Exploring New Boundaries

The debut of the Titan Warrior Concept at the North American International Auto Show comes exactly one year since the debut of the production Titan XD on the same stage. Titan XD has been named "Truck of Texas" by the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in their annual Texas Truck Rodeo, which puts the industry's best trucks, SUVs and CUVs through a grueling two-day evaluation. In addition to the competition's top award, Truck of Texas, the Titan XD won three other honors - Luxury Pickup Truck of Texas, Off-Road Pickup Truck of Texas and Best Powertrain for its standard Cummins® 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel engine.

Now that Titan XD Crew Cab with a Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel engine is in Nissan showrooms, the rollout of new models continues. In December, Nissan announced that advanced gas-powered Endurance® V8 producing 390 horsepower and 401 lb-ft of torque will be available in both Titan and Titan XD models beginning in early spring 2016.

Ultimately, the new Titan will be offered in three cab configurations, two frame sizes, three powertrain offerings and five grade levels (more information on the full lineup will be available at a later date).

"While Nissan still has many roads and trails to travel as we continue to launch additional production versions of our bold new Titan, this new Titan Warrior Concept gives an important signal to American truck enthusiasts that our vision for exploring new boundaries remains strong," concluded Muñoz. "Truck lovers are never static and neither is Titan."