Nissan's 2016 Nissan Titan XD diesel pickup gets quite classy

The first version of the second generation of Nissan's full-size Titan pickup has arrived for 2016, much bigger and bolder than its predecessor - and for now, available only with a whopper of a diesel engine and only in crew-cab form.

A smaller, lighter version of the new Titan, with a choice of V-6 or V-8 gasoline engines, will arrive later this year for model year 2017, using a different chassis that's 14.7 inches shorter than that of the XD, Nissan announced at the recent Chicago auto show.

The Platinum Reserve 4WD, which we tested for this report, comes with lots of bling, including a premium leather interior with contrast stitching; and lots of exterior chrome to give it an upscale look similar to the Ford F-series King Ranch, Chevrolet Silverado High Country and GMC Sierra Denali models.

Chrome is used for the exterior door handles; dark chrome adorns the outside mirrors; there is a dark chrome tailgate finisher, as well as a chrome exhaust finisher; and the grille has both dark and satin chrome trim.

Inside, the leather-wrapped steering wheel has a wood insert, and the leather shift knob on the steering-column-mounted gearshift has a dark chrome trim ring.

[...] this is not the model you'd want to buy to send out to a worksite every day, loaded with equipment and/or workers.

The interior of this truck is designed to feel more like that of a luxury sedan, with very comfortable leather bucket seats up front, and a quite roomy rear bench seat that genuinely gave three adults plenty of leg, knee and headroom.

Front and rear are Nissan's NASA-inspired Zero Gravity seats, designed to be more ergonomic than standard seats, allowing for a comfortable ride, especially on long trips.

Premium, five-passenger, four-door, four-wheel-drive, V-8 turbo-diesel powered, heavy-duty pickup truck.