Nissan Pickups to get Cummins Diesels, Future of RAM in Peril? (Page 1 of 2)

Cummins To Supply 4-Cylinder Diesel For Nissan Titan
Jeff Cobb August 20, 2013
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Today Cummins of Columbus, Ind., is expected to announce a four-cylinder diesel engine developed for use in Nissan Titan full-sized pickup trucks.

This is according to the Wall Street Journal which cited people familiar with the arrangement.

The Titan’s sales have flagged in comparison to offerings by General Motors and Ford, and last year Nissan sold 21,576 units in the U.S. and a few more in Canada and the Middle East.

Previously Cummins had been developing a four-cylinder diesel for Chrysler’s RAM 1500 but in the wake of the 2009 Chrysler bankruptcy, that contract was voided.

Cummins already supplies a powerful six-cylinder diesel for Dodge pickup trucks that is also used in medium duty commercial applications.

Cummins is the largest supplier of heavy duty truck engines in North America, and holds down 40 percent of the market.

The new four-cylinder diesel engine slated for the Nissan was reportedly developed under a U.S. Department of Energy program. The decision to use it in the Titan line followed just months after Nissan hired as sales chief former Chrysler Ram brand chief Fred Diaz.

Nissan’s mirroring of Chrysler’s lead is also not without precedent in the area of chassis. In 2008, Nissan had said it would buy from Chrysler its RAM truck platform to underpin the Titan. For this chassis, Nissan had planned to trade a compact car design desired by Chrysler, but its bankruptcy nixed this deal as well.

The engine has a 2.8-liter displacement (170 cubic inches). Initial power figures on the engine dyno have the mule test engine producing 350 pounds-feet of torque at around 1,800 rpm. A chart in the presentation shows targeted power levels to be approximately 220 horsepower and 380 pounds-feet.

The engine is a derivative of the four-cylinder ISF architecture that Cummins builds overseas, with 2.8-liter and 3.8-liter displacements, according to a Cummins spokesman. The overseas 3.8-liter is rated at 168 horsepower and 443 pounds-feet of torque.

widgetsltd wrote:

The plan circa 2008 was for the Ram 1500 to receive a new Cummins V6 & V8 engine family that was developed with some assistance from Department of Energy funding: http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/dodg … ewall.html  In the end, it apparently was decided that there wasn't a big enough market for a 1500 diesel pickup. GM and Ford apparently came to the same conclusion regarding the diesel engines that they had developed for light pickup use. The new Ram engine is a 3.0L V6 from VM Motori/Fiat.

Interesting.  Pondering a new Jeep, and they are blathering on about an upcoming Eco Diesel engine option.  I thought that was something from Mercedes, but maybe it's this new Fiat derivitave instead?

bs

Now what I want as a tow rig is a Suburban on the HD chassis with a Duramax. Of course, GM won't make that deal, so I'm just going to have to Frankenstein it one of these days...

Mulry wrote:

Now what I want as a tow rig is a Suburban on the HD chassis with a Duramax. Of course, GM won't make that deal, so I'm just going to have to Frankenstein it one of these days...

There's a guy on the Duramax forums who does the conversions... even into a GMT900 Sub it's not a direct swap. Not sure the particulars but I know a couple guys have attempted it and given up. Having a complete truck to do the swap from would do wonders.