Compare the2022 Nissan TitanVS 2021 Toyota Tundra

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Payload
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Titan have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Toyota Tundra doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Titan are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Tundra doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Titan has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Tundra doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

Full-time four-wheel drive is optional on the Titan. Full-time four-wheel drive gives added traction for safety in all conditions, not just off-road, like the only system available on the Tundra.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Titan PRO-4X’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Tundra doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

The Titan (except S/SV) offers an optional Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Tundra only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

The Titan has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Tundra’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Titan has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Tundra and isn't available on the not available.

Both the Titan and the Tundra have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available daytime running lights.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Nissan Titan is safer than the Toyota Tundra:

	Titan	Tundra
	Driver
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	31%	41%
Neck Stress	364 lbs.	367 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	123/436 lbs.	474/515 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Nissan Titan Crew Cab is safer than the Tundra Double Cab:

	Titan	Tundra
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Restraints	GOOD	GOOD
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Head injury index		97
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Lower Leg Evaluation	ACCEPTABLE	POOR

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Nissan Titan is safer than the Toyota Tundra:

	Titan	Tundra
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	134	396
Spine Acceleration	34 G’s	34 G’s

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and its standard front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Titan the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 214 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Tundra was not even a “Top Safety Pick” for 2016.

Warranty

The Titan comes with a full 5-year/100,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes free 24-hour roadside assistance. The Tundra’s 3-year basic warranty expires 2 years or 64000 miles sooner.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan fifth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 11 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 13th.

Engine

The Titan’s 5.6 DOHC V8 produces 19 more horsepower (400 vs. 381) and 12 lbs.-ft. more torque (413 vs. 401) than the Tundra’s 5.7 DOHC V8.

As tested in Motor Trend the Nissan Titan is faster than the Toyota Tundra:

	Titan	Tundra
Zero to 60 MPH	6.3 sec	6.7 sec
Zero to 80 MPH	10.5 sec	11.2 sec
Passing 45 to 65 MPH	3.1 sec	3.3 sec
Quarter Mile	14.9 sec	15.2 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	94.5 MPH	92.7 MPH

Transmission

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Nissan Titan, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the Tundra.

Brakes and Stopping

The Titan stops much shorter than the Tundra:

	Titan	Tundra
60 to 0 MPH	123 feet	145 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Titan has larger standard tires than the Tundra (265/70R18 vs. 255/70R18).

The Nissan Titan’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Toyota Tundra only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

Suspension and Handling

The Titan has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Titan flat and controlled during cornering. The Tundra’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Titan has engine speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Tundra doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Titan Crew Cab 4x4 handles at .74 G’s, while the Tundra Short Bed TRD Pro CrewMax 4x4 pulls only .66 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Titan Platinum Crew Cab 4x4 executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.3 seconds quicker than the Tundra Short Bed TRD Pro CrewMax 4x4 (28.3 seconds @ .59 average G’s vs. 30.6 seconds @ .53 average G’s).

Chassis

The front grille of the Titan uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Tundra doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Passenger Space

The Titan Crew Cab has 2.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Tundra (119.7 vs. 117).

The Titan Crew Cab has 1.3 inches more front headroom and 1.5 inches more rear headroom than the Tundra CrewMax.

Cargo Capacity

The Nissan Titan SV/PRO-4X/Platinum Reserve offers an optional rear cargo step, which allows for much easier access to the cargo area. The Toyota Tundra doesn’t offer a rear cargo step.

The Titan has stake post holes, to allow the containment of tall, light loads. The Tundra doesn’t offer stake post holes.

Payload

The Titan has a higher standard payload capacity than the Tundra (1600 vs. 1560 lbs.).

Servicing Ease

A maintenance reminder system is standard on the Titan (except S) to save the owner time and money by calculating maintenance intervals for oil changes, spark plug replacement, air filter replacement, tire rotation, radiator flush, brake pad replacement and transmission fluid replacement based on odometer mileage. This takes the guesswork out of keeping your vehicle in top condition and helps it last longer. Toyota doesn’t offer a maintenance reminder on the Tundra.

Ergonomics

The Titan (except S/SV)’s optional easy entry system raises the steering wheel and glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Tundra doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Titan’s front power windows open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Tundra’s standard power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. Only its driver’s window opens automatically. The Tundra’s optional windows’ rear windows don’t close automatically.

If the front windows are left open on the Titan the driver can close them at the outside door handle. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows at the outside door handle or from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Tundra can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Titan’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Tundra’s power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The Titan’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Tundra SR’s standard wipers have no intermittent settings at all, so the driver will have to constantly turn them on and off. The Titan’s optional wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Tundra SR5/Limited/Platinum/1794/TRD Pro’s manually variable intermittent wipers don’t change delay with speed.

The Titan’s power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The Tundra’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.

Both the Titan and the Tundra offer available heated front seats. The Titan also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Tundra.

On extremely cold winter days, the Titan’s optional (except S/SV) heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The Tundra doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Titan owner. The Car Book by Jack Gillis rates the Titan with a number “8” insurance rate while the Tundra is rated higher at a number “10” rate.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Titan is less expensive to operate than the Tundra because typical repairs cost much less on the Titan than the Tundra, including $117 less for a water pump, $30 less for a muffler, $445 less for a starter and $6 less for fuel injection.

Recommendations

Motor Trend selected the Titan as their 2017 Truck of the Year. The Tundra was Truck of the Year in 2008.

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