Expect Nissan to double its line of trucks in 2004 by trumping the full-size truck market with a new model that brings top-of-class power and tow ratings.

Nissan's big truck, titled the Titan, looks brash and features a large cab and big rear truck box. Assembled in Mississippi on a new ladder frame chassis featuring full-length boxed rails, Titan rolls out at the end of 2003 in King Cab or Crew Cab format with a new Nissan 5.6-liter twin-cam V8 engine worth more than 300 hp and 375 lb-ft of torque through a standard five-speed automatic transmission. Both rear two-wheel-drive (2WD) and four-wheel-drive (4WD) modes will be available, along with a unique truck box track channel tie-down system and optional factory-applied sprayed black bedliner.

Nissan's other truck, the compact-class Frontier, divides into multiple models, including a King Cab XE 2WD, Desert Runner 2WD, four-door Crew Cab 2WD and 4WD plus the Open Sky cab issue and choices for box lengths with regular or extended bed capped by the Crew Cab Long Bed S/C (supercharged) edition. For 2004, Frontier adds a Super Value Truck package available on King Cab editions.

Nissan enters the big league of trucks with the introduction of Titan, which stretches to full-size dimensions on the new ZW boxed-rail platform.

Titan debuts late in 2003 after assembly at Nissan's new manufacturing facility in Canton, Miss., with power supplied by a new aluminum-block V8 built at a Nissan engine plant in Decherd, Tenn. Although ultimate engine production numbers are still pending, Nissan promises that the dual-cam 5.6-liter powertrain will deliver more than 300 hp plus 375 lb-ft of torque with towing capacity climbing to 9400 pounds. If so, these figures will be good enough to position Titan at the top of its full-size class in terms of power and tow rating.

Traction options split into either rear-wheel 2WD or a shift-on-the-fly 4WD system featuring 2WD and 4H/4LO 4WD modes through an electronically-controlled part-time transfer case and switch-operated locking rear differential. Titan shows two cab configurations -- King Cab and Crew Cab. The King Cab has two front-hinged front doors and two rear-hinged back doors that swing wide to nearly 180 degrees for east access to the cab.

Seats consist of bench or buckets up front and rear flip-up seat cushions with grocery hooks on bottom of the cushions. The Crew Cab carries four conventional front-hinged doors and seats for as many as six. A front bench is standard with column-mounted shifter, but front captain's chairs are available and bring a gated floor shifter and center console.

Titan's rear truck box runs six and a half feet in length and contains five channel rails (two in the floor, one on each side rail and another on the header panel). Utility cleats slide in or out of the grooves for an infinite number of tie-down points to secure a load of cargo.

Safety gear in Titan extends to optional front seat side-impact and curtain-style air bags plus four-wheel disc brakes with anti-lock braking system (ABS). Titan Crew Cab trims in XE, SE and deluxe LE editions, while the King Cab uses similar designations plus an entry-model dubbed simply as the E.

All versions utilize a five-speed electronically-controlled automatic transmission and roll on 17-inch wheels, with options for 18-inch aluminum-alloy wheels and 265/70R18 tires, a DVD-based navigation system with dash-mounted 6.4-inch color video monitor, DVD Mobile Theatre System with seven-inch video monitor folding down from the ceiling and a 350-watt Rockford Fosgate sound system with ten speakers.