If you want more friends, buy a truck. It will help if you like pizza because as soon as word gets out, you’ll find you’re invited over for a lot of it. (It will also help if you enjoy lifting things.) Whether you’re up for instant popularity or you have your own stuff to haul, you’re going to be impressed by the possibilities when you start shopping. For instance, let’s look at two of today’s best options––the 2022 Nissan Titan vs 2022 Toyota Tundra. Either of these sturdy workhorses will enable a lot of hauling, off-roading, and yes, moving. Don’t worry, we won’t tell your friends.
Trucks have changed a great deal over the years. Once, they were known for hard bench seats, tools clattering around the bed, and shocks that could bounce you right through the windshield. Today’s trucks are a world away from those origins, as you’ll soon see. Let’s take a closer look at what the 21st century has to offer.
Something In Common
First, the 2022 Nissan Titan and the 2022 Toyota Tundra share a few features. It won’t surprise anyone familiar with these manufacturers to learn that most of those features involve safety. Trucks haven’t traditionally been the province of the deeply safety-conscious, but times change, and these days most drivers have begun to expect that their vehicles ought to be reasonably protective––even trucks. Nissan and Toyota have stepped up to the plate here, each providing a full array of driver-assistive tech.
The Titan is equipped with Nissan’s Safety Shield 360, which includes standard features like automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, rear automatic braking, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot warning, lane departure warning, and more. The 2022 Tundra contains Toyota’s Safety Sense 2.5 suite, a comparable collection of tech features with lane departure alert, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert, to name a few. “Intelligent” high beams are standard on all trims of both trucks, and the Toyota Tundra throws in adaptive cruise control on all trims as well. Adaptive cruise is available on higher trims of the Titan. Both vehicles warrant a closer look at their capacities, though, so let’s review them in more detail.
A Giant in the Wilderness
First, the 2022 Nissan Titan. Rated at 7.5 out of 10 by US News & World Report and 7.1 out of 10 by Edmunds, the Titan is available in four different trims. The S and SV are both available in King or Crew Cabs and as a 4×2 or 4×4. The Crew Cab PRO-4X and the Crew Cab Platinum Reserve, the top trim, are both 4×4 only. Prices range from an MSRP of $38,310 for the base 4×2 King Cab S to $60,280 for the Platinum Reserve. All trims are equipped with a 9-speed transmission and the 5.6L Endurance V8 engine, delivering 400 hp and 413 pound-feet of torque.
Base trims have a standard 8-inch touchscreen and a 7-inch Advanced Drive-Assist Display, a rear-view monitor with sonar, both traction and trailer sway controls, hands-free Bluetooth, a six-speaker stereo system, and more. As you move into higher trim levels such as the PRO-4X and the Platinum Reserve, Nissan tosses in extras such as captain’s chairs in the front, a 9-inch touchscreen with navigation capability, Bilstein off-road shocks, LED headlights, a 12-speaker stereo system with subwoofer, and additional options packages.
Titan also adds some features sure to interest off-roaders, such as (available in all 4×4 trim versions) a shift-on-the-fly two-speed transfer case that allows you to easily move between 4LO, 4H, and 2WD, which can be very handy if you’re trying to negotiate fast-changing terrain. You’ll also find another feature convenient for off-roading––a locking rear differential, standard on the PRO-4X, will keep both rear wheels moving at the same rate, so you can stop spinning yourself deeper into the mud.
Take a Gander at the Tundra!
If you like variation, then you’ll love the new 2022 ToyotaTundra––and it is new, as Toyota has made a lot of changes for this model year. With the 2022 Tundra, Toyota presents a veritable sea of choices. The number of options may seem overwhelming, with seven trims, two body styles, a choice of 2×4 or 4×4, and options in bed lengths––plus a slew of packages––but Toyota is all about giving you what you want. You may be able to make your choice easier with a few decisions upfront, so we’ll look at a few of the options to give you a better idea of what Tundra might be right for you. First, though, let’s see what’s new for all models.
A New Year, A New Tundra
The biggest change in the 2022 Tundra is that Toyota has switched out the previous 5.7L V8, and Tundras are now equipped with a twin-turbo 3.5L V6. Toyota has also added a ten-speed transmission, standard in all grades. The available i-Force Max hybrid somewhat increases fuel efficiency and provides electric-only driving at lower speeds. Further, the Tundra’s traditional leaf spring suspension has been dropped in favor of new coil suspension in the rear, and Toyota has a range of suspension-related packages available. Depending on what you want to do––hauling, off-roading, or just a lot of driving––you can select the suspension package best designed for your needs.
First Decision – Gas or Hybrid?
Knowing your preference here will narrow your options a bit. The SR, the SR5, and the Limited come with the twin-turbo i-Force engine, while the Platinum and 1794 Edition are available with either the standard i-Force or the hybrid i-Force Max. The sporty, off-road-oriented TRD-Pro and the top-trim Capstone are only available as hybrids. The hybrid i-Force Max engine reaches 437 hp with 583 lb-ft of torque, and the straight i-Force logs in at 389 hp with 479 lb-ft of torque, except in the base SR, which is slightly lower-powered at 348 hp with 405 lb-ft of torque––still certainly enough to manage most work-truck tasks perfectly well.
Second Decision – How Far Off-Road Are You Going?
If there’s a lot of rock-crawling and mud-slinging (real mud, not the metaphorical kind) in your future, you’ll want to take a good look at the TRD Pro trim, developed for 2022 with exactly those activities in mind. This tough 4×4, designed for off-roaders and those who frequently need to drive in harsher road conditions, comes with a CrewMax cab and a 5.5-foot bed. Toyota has added a number of standard features designed to get you there over rough terrain. In addition, there are several packages you can add to the TRD-Pro to enhance your driving experience. For instance, Toyota’s Crawl Control feature, available on the TRD-Pro, allows you to select, while in 4-Lo, one of five possible drive modes specific to low-speed off-road conditions.
Once you’ve decided whether you want to go hybrid or head off-road, you’ll still have to negotiate your way through Tundra options such as bed size and cab configuration, but your choices will be narrowed down a bit.
Back On The Road – With Everything
Both the 2022 Toyota Tundra and the 2022 Nissan Titan offer sturdy towing and carrying capacities, and both companies have options for specialized needs. We just discussed the Tundra TRD-Pro, Toyota’s off-roading champ, so let’s take a quick look at Nissan’s hauling heavy-hitter. If the regular Titan can’t meet all your needs, consider the beefed-up Titan XD, likely capable of hauling all the contents of your castle (and maybe even the castle itself, if it’s a prefab variety).
This 4×4 crew cab is available with its own set of trims and features. The primary difference from the Titan lies in hauling capacity. The bigger, heavier Titan XD has a 6.5-foot bed capable of lugging along 2,430 lbs of payload and can pull 10,920 lbs with a traditional receiver hitch. Add the available fifth-wheel adaptor, and you can bring along over 11,000 lbs.
At higher trim levels, both the Toyota Tundra and the Nissan Titan offer the typical range of extras, such as leather-trimmed seats with lumbar adjustments and heating, stereo upgrades, and more. If you’re looking at the 2022 Toyota Tundra vs Nissan Titan, it’s likely that either vehicle will meet your needs and exceed your expectations––and your friends will definitely be calling!
