Starting at
Starting at
420 | Max Horsepower (HP) | 400 |
460 | Max Torque (lb-ft) | 413 |
13,300 | Max Towing Capacity (lbs) | 9,310 |
In the showdown of full-size pickup trucks, potential truck shoppers narrowing down their choice between a Silverado 1500 and Nissan Titan would probably love to know how both pickups stack up against one another when it comes to the latest model years. The 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 vs 2021 Nissan Titan is an interesting competition. While the Titan is a great truck, the Chevy Silverado just offers customers more features, more options, and ultimately, more fun.
The Silverado 1500 is available in eight different trims, including the Work Truck, Custom, LT, Custom Trail Boss, RST, LTZ, LT Trail Boss, and High Country. These trims are available in rear-wheel or four-wheel drive configurations. The 2021 Nissan Titan is available in five different trims, which include the S, SV, PRO 4X, SL, and Platinum Reserve, with either rear-wheel or four-wheel drive.
When it comes to picking the perfect truck, you want the one with the best performance features and better road performance overall when it comes to power and handling. Another important facet to dissect is a breakdown of the towing and trailering capacities, which is an important trait that many potential truck shoppers need when they are shopping for a new truck. When it comes to all of this, the 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 outdrives, outperforms, and outmatches the 2021 Nissan Titan.
The 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 comes with a variety of different powertrains, suited for different drivers at different price points and capabilities, so you can customize the Silverado 1500 to what you desire out of a pickup. The 2021 Nissan Titan only has one powertrain option that has to accommodate every hat you may want the Titan to wear. These differences have a stark contrast in outcomes when it comes to performance, especially for the higher-end Silverado 1500 configurations.
The base 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 Work Truck trim is fitted with a 4.3-liter EcoTec3 V6 engine that produces 285 horsepower and 305 pound-feet of torque. The LT Trail Boss and High Country trims come standard with the 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V8, which produces up to 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. When you compare this to the base 2021 Nissan Titan, which has a 5.6-liter direct injection DOHC 32-valve V8 engine made standard across all trims with 400 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque, it looks as if the Titan has the edge.
However, the Silverado 1500 has both the 6.2-liter EcoTec3 V8 engine and 3.0-liter Duramax turbo-diesel, both of which completely surpass the Titan's only available powertrain when it comes to torque. The 6.2-liter V8 and 3.0-liter Duramax both offer drivers 460 pound-feet of torque, while the 6.2-liter V8 also trounces the Titan's 5.6-liter V8 in the horsepower department by delivering up to 420 horses. The availability of scaling up the Silverado 1500's power is what makes it so enticing in this case, giving truck drivers who want more top-end speed or more torque (or both) the option to fulfill that desire.
One of the most important aspects of a full-size pickup truck is its towing capabilities. Both the Nissan Titan and the Chevy Silverado 1500 have impressive towing feats and trailering capabilities. The 2021 Nissan Titan is capable of achieving a max tow rating of 9,310 pounds when configured with a King Cab with rear-wheel drive. This opens up the Nissan Titan to tow and trailer a wide range of different vehicles, platforms, and stock. The Titan is certainly designed to adequately tow large loads, but it comes up short in comparison to the Silverado.
The 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 series offers lots of scalability for its trailering capabilities across multiple formats. You can tow up to 7,900 pounds with the 4.3-liter V6, up to 9,300 pounds with the turbocharged 2.7-liter, up to 9,500 pounds with the 3.0-liter Duramax, and 9,700 pounds with the 5.3-liter V8. The Silverado scales much higher on the towing charts with the 6.2-liter V8, which boosts the trailering capabilities of the 1500 up to 13,300 pounds when configured as a four-wheel drive with the Max Trailering Package equipped.
When it comes to payload capacity, the 2021 Nissan Titan tops out at 1,690 pounds. By comparison, the Silverado 1500's minimum payload capacity is 1,590 pounds and scales up to a maximum of 2,280 pounds when configured in the two-wheel drive long-box. Whether for towing, trailering, or cargo hauling, you have a lot more variety, options, configurations, and top-end capacities with the 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500.
Another important aspect of a full-size pickup truck is its ability to not only trailer and tow, but also what it's capable of carrying in the bed, as well as how many people it can hold in the cab. The 2021 Nissan Titan seats up to 6 people across the front cabin and rear bench seat. The total passenger volume on the base trim is 119.7 cubic feet and 112.4 cubic feet with the moonroof equipped.
The Titan is situated on a 139.8-inch wheelbase with a max ground clearance of 10.6-inches when the PRO-4X trim is outfitted with skid plates. You have a maximum interior headroom of up to 40.4 inches, up to 41.8 inches of legroom, and up to 63.6 inches of shoulder room in the Crew Cab format. With the long bed, the Titan has a maximum rear cargo length of 78.7 inches.
The 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 sits on a 139.5-inch wheelbase for the Regular Cab in the long box format and a 147.5-inch wheelbase for the Double Cab. The Silverado extends up to 157.5-inches for the Crew Cab with a standard box. The Silverado reaches a ground clearance of up to 10.88 inches and features a maximum cargo box length of 98.18 inches in the long bed format.
In total, and with the right configuration, you have up to 89.10 cubic feet of cargo bed volume to work with for the Silverado 1500. Inside, the Silverado Crew Cab can seat up to 6 people, offering 43 inches of headroom, 44.53 inches of legroom, and 66 inches of shoulder room. In short, you gain more headroom, legroom, shoulder room, and bed length with the various Silverado 1500 options compared to the Nissan Titan.
Today's pickup trucks aren't just designed to tow, trailer, and ferry passengers around in comfort; they're also expected to provide the driver and passengers with the latest in automotive technology. The 2021 Nissan Titan comes with many of the standard amenities and features you would want from a new model year pickup truck. This includes a touchscreen display at up to 9-inches, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, hands-free phone calls and messaging, as well as standard driving assists such as lane departure and blind spot warnings, cross-traffic alert, and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. All Titan also comes with the NissanConnect services for emergency roadside assistance.
The 2021 Silverado has the same availability of driver assists, as well additional technologies such as the advanced trailering camera views, cargo bed view enhancements, and jack-knife alerts, all of which are new for the 2021 model year. All 2021 model year Silverado 1500 trims also come standard with Teen Driver mode. This feature allows parents to keep report cards of their teen driver's performance, as well as put checks in place so that certain safety requirements must be met before a teen is allowed to drive.
OnStar with Chevrolet Connected Services is also available, allowing easy access to emergency services and roadside assistance. All Silverado 1500 trims come with a Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system with a color touchscreen display, Bluetooth support for hands-free phone calls, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, and 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities. You also get up to 10-way power driver and front passenger seat features with power lumbar support and an additional digital driver information center for driver profiles, vehicle health reports, and navigation integration.
Both pickups feature a litany of technology and advanced features that many truck owners have come to expect from today's offerings. Whether it's the NissanConnect with Wi-Fi Hotspot and navigation support for the Titan or the OnStar services and suite for the Silverado, both trucks are fully featured on the safety and technology front. The Silverado, however, gets the leg up over the Titan when it comes to technology, thanks to the Teen Driver mode, which many parents may find helpful if they have young drivers ready and willing to drive the truck.