After living with the Titan...
After living with the Titan for a month or so, we've come to really appreciate the versatility and design of the cabin. It has 126 cubic feet of space and lots of room to stretch. With 41.8 inches of front and 40.4 inches of rear legroom, 41.0 inches of front and 40.4 inches of rear headroom, as well as a fold-flat front passenger seat to double as a work station, you can use it as additional storage.
The Titan's creative use of space and clever storage options are just about the best of any pickup we've driven. For example, our Titan crew cab features a front passenger seat that folds flat to allow extra storage, or to function as a working area if needed. The rear seat features 24 degrees of seatback angle with a 60/40 split. The seat's fold-up feature provides more usable space than fold-and-tumble designs, increasing the rear compartment's generous and efficient storage, including door storage bins and rear-door bottle holders in the armrests.
The center console is like a Swiss Army knife. It can hold just about any beverage container, including 1-liter bottles, and has a 12-volt power point ready to power cell phones or other portable electronics. The console's storage box can also accommodate hanging file folders, a cool feature for road warriors. It also has holders for maps, paper, pens, and business cards on the console lid.
In addition to crumple zones,...
In addition to crumple zones, energy-absorbing steering column, and hood buckling creases with safety stops, the standard safety features on the '04 Titan include dual-stage front supplemental airbags with seatbelt sensors and a front passenger occupant classification sensor, front seatbelts with adjustable upper anchors, pretensioners and load limiters, three-point rear outboard passenger seatbelts, and LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tether for Children) child seat anchor system. You can also opt for the supplemental front seat side-impact airbags and curtain airbags for side-impact and rollover protection for outboard passengers, the first application in a fullsize pickup according to Nissan.
All the above is cool, but the highlight of the interior for us is the rear-seat DVD mobile theater system with fold-down 7-inch monitor and 350-watt 10-speaker Rockford Fosgate-powered sound system. In addition, we like the fact that the console holds the rear audio controls and also contains storage bins for both front and rear passengers for personal items such as sunglasses, CDs, cell phone, PDA, or iPod.
BOX TALK
The smart design of storage and utility found in the passenger compartment is also present in the cargo bed. Firstly, it features a special factory-applied spray-in bedliner that uses a special high-durability hard-surface resin; it's the first offered by any original equipment manufacturer and is covered by the Nissan basic limited warranty. It seems to be working out OK so far, but after this weekend's furniture-moving foray, we'll let you know if this thin spray-on 'liner has the goods to stand up to the abuse.
The second part of the bed utility solution was the use of what Nissan calls its Utili-track tie-down channel system. This system uses five C-channel rails; two channels in the bed floor and one each on the bedside rails and the bed header panel. Removable utility cleats slide into the channels, providing a wide range of attaching points for cargo tie-down. The cleats are rated at a hefty 500 pounds, so the Utili-track system also includes 22 additional structural reinforcements to strengthen the bed to accommodate the loads associated with the channel system.