There was no Ford/Nissan relationship, ever, on the Titan (there was a mercury minivan relationship, many years ago, the Mercury Villager). There are no Mopar parts in a Titan pickup from Nissan. There was a relationship between Chrysler and Nissan, that would have seen Chrysler manufacturing Nissan pickups, but the deal fell through when Chrysler went into the hole. Just as well, as Chrysler has terrible gear trains, it would have brought Nissan down to the Chrysler level of reliability. (apologies to the guy who uses his Jeeps offroad, and has had no problems -— my buddy’s stepfather is a transmission rebuilder, and he sees more Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge than any other brand, combined).
I own a 2010 Nissan Titan. It has a 5.6L 32V V8, and while Ford claims that their 5.4L 3V cam phased Triton V8 has more HP, the Nissan will literally run rings around it at the track, or towing a horse trailer. Gas mileage is equivalent between the two, but you get more bang for your fuel buck in the Nissan, if you want something that can get out of its own way :) The Ford and Nissan motors are about as dissimilar as can be made and still result in a V8. Ford uses SOHC heads to drive 3 valves/cylinder. Nissan uses dual overhead cam heads to drive 4 valves per cylinder. Ford uses a cam phaser to adjust valve timing to alter intake behavior. Nissan uses a 2 stage plenum, which supplies only one intake valve until about 3KPRM, when the plenum starts feeding both intake valves. The Nissan and Ford engines are both proven designs, and both will get you decent reliability nowadays (earlier Ford Tritons did have problems with failing cam phasers, but this has been resolved to my knowledge).
Ford was the followup choice on my list, when I went truck shopping. But the Nissan had so much better handling performance, that there was really no contest. I didn’t test a Toyota -— I prefer boxier looks to a organic design Toyota seems to be embracing, and I thought the accelerator pedal issue was too important to overlook (I seriously doubt the pedals are flawed themselves, but I think there could be ergonomic issues at work). However, it should be noted that the Tundra is a full second quicker than the Titan to 60mph, and can tow slightly more weight, still running on 87 octane fuel.
Finally, it was great to buy a pickup that didn’t have the UAW seal of inadequate quality control stamped all over it. Instead it was built proudly in Canton Mississippi by non-union employees, and the motor was built in TN. So I still bought an American made pickup, WITHOUT paying the UAW tax on both quality and price.
Mazda does not sell a full-size truck to my knowledge, but they do sell a Ranger class truck, which is in fact a Ford Ranger. It even comes with the old yet reliable 4.0L SOHC 2V V6. The Ford Ranger and Mazda pickup are both ancient designs from bottom to top, but since there is no money in the compact truck market, don’t expect the compacts to improve anytime soon. Even Nissan & Toyota are holding off on major redesigns of their compact pickups.
Finally, the Nissan Titan fullsize has NOT been discontinued. It was rumored it would be in 2009, due to lagging sales from the recession, and the fact that it was already a niche pickup. However, NIssan has confirmed that they will continue production on the pickup, and there are hints that a major redesign is in the pipe for 2012 (Infiniti dealerships are not getting anymore QX56 fullsize luxury SUVs in, since the line is being updated -— the QX56 and Armada are based on the Titan design).
Me? I love my Titan, but it is a very new truck. But given Nissan’s quality record, I have no concerns. But you know -— you can buy a lemon at anytime if you are buying something mass produced. I just think its statistically highly unlikely for my pickup.
The titan has a dana rear axle/differential. I believe that’s a mopar product.
The titan is no work truck. It’s a weekend play truck. I don’t know where you get your horsepower figures. The titan is rated for 317hp/385ft-lb and the 5.4 rated for 310hp/365hp. Furthermore, the ford weighs around 5200lbs and the titan about 4950lbs. Gearing makes a big difference too. I see no surprise that the nissan is quicker in a dragrace than the ford. But who the heck buys a truck for drag racing?
As for towing and payload...that is greatly affected by gearing, transmission, engine, etc. Ford has numerous combinations and permutations available. The nissan has limited combinations. So what you get is only two tow ratings and one payload rating for the nissan...standard tow=7400lbs, optional tow=9400lbs. Ford on the other hand is up to 11,300lbs JUST FOR THE F150. The f250 goes up to 12,500lbs for tow rating. payload for the titan is a measly 2100 lbs. ford f150 is up to 3030lbs depending on options. Up to 3950lbs for the f250 depending on options.
As for engines, the ford 5.4L isn’t even their biggest motor. There is also a 6.2L gas V8 rated at 385hp/405ft-lbs and a 6.7 diesel V8 rated at 390hp/735ft-lbs.
btw, horsepower is not as important as torque in pickup trucks. go back over the torque figures I’ve posted above...and note that those are all 2010model year figures for the fords. the 2011 figures are naturally higher than that.
The nissan is CLEARLY a lightweight in the pickup market.