Nissan's Bulked Up Family Truck

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The gas and brake pedals are power adjustable -- a must for shorter drivers. And to keep the kids occupied, there's a rear-seat entertainment center ($1,450) with wireless headphones so they can watch movies or listen to music in back while their parents have their own music on in the front. The storage bins in the doors are big enough to store lots of books and games, and optional storage bins can be added under the rear seats for $150.

For fresh air without wind-buffeting, the crew cab comes with a standard 13 in. by 28.5 in. power rear window, about twice as wide as in most pickups. Adding a sun roof will set you back $900. The rear seats are especially well-designed for hauling stuff. They fold down to form a platform or can be pulled up against the back wall of the cab, creating a big space on the floor -- especially handy for traveling with dogs because cleanup is easy and the seats are spared the wear-and-tear of claws.

For tying down gear like lawnmowers and bikes, there are reinforced rails on the sides and in the floor of the bed that you can slide heavy-duty cleats onto. There's also an optional sprayed-on bed liner for $340 (something you usually have to buy as an after-market add-on) to avoid scratching up the truck bed. Another unusual feature is a lockable compartment in the truck's left rear flank for storing gloves, flares, and other such items.

SAFETY FIRST.

If you really want to go All-American, there's a $2,500 package that adds 18 in. spoked wheels, lots of chrome, fog lights, and special "Texas Edition" badges. For off-roaders, the Titan is more rugged than the other Japanese truck to hit the market lately, Honda's Ridgeline, and has an optional off-road package that includes heavy duty tires and shocks which goes for $1,000.

Like other big trucks, the Titan is quite safe. It earned an "excellent" driver safety and "good" passenger safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It hasn't been tested for side collisions, but you can add a package for $1,200 that includes side and side curtain airbags (not offered on the F-150), stability control, a rollover sensor, and braking assist.

If you like what the Titan has to offer, it's priced comparably to its main rivals -- though GM dealers will probably deal a lot more on price, given the company's sales slump. The cheapest Titan, the two-wheel drive XE with extended cab, starts at $24,105, rising to $27,305 when you add four-wheel drive. The mid-range SE with the big crew cab, captain's seats, and basic comforts like power windows, mirrors, and doors, starts at $28,755, rising to $31,955 with four-wheel drive. With the big cab, the top-of-the-line LE version of the Titan with leather seats starts at $33,555, rising to $36,605 with four-wheel drive.

BIT OF A WHINER.

The Titan uses regular gasoline and its mileage rating is similar to those of its main rivals: 14 mpg in the city and 18 on the highway. In a stretch of 175 miles of mixed highway and local driving, I got 14.3 mpg.

One big doubt-raiser about the Titan for me is that it only earns a two star (out of five) overall quality rating from J.D. Power, though it gets four stars for overall appeal and performance. Nissan's team also really should re-engineer the growl of the Titan's V8. It's annoyingly high-pitched during hard acceleration and becomes a continuous whine at highway speed. It also bothered me that the Titan sometimes bounces like a much bigger truck when you're cruising on the Interstate.

Should you buy one? If you're mainly interested in Japanese quality, you might consider waiting until Toyota's (TM) redesigned Tundra comes out this fall. I would also definitely test-drive a Detroit model or two first. This is one market where they offer very tough competition.

Thane Peterson reviews cars for BusinessWeek.com.