Blaine Stone Lodge and TexPlex Park in Midlothian proved to be the perfect place for Nissan to bring their 2020 Titan for test drives. I was excited to spend a few hours last week learning about the refreshed 2020 Titan from the Nissan truck team. Local auto journalists were invited to take the trucks on towing and/or off-roading adventures after the presentation.
Even pulling a large travel trailer, the 2020 Nissan Titan XD handled superbly. Our route took us on a one-hour trip circling around Joe Pool Lake. With its 5.6 liter V8 endurance engine producing best in class 400 HP and 413 torque, Titan performed seamlessly. After a few minutes you could almost forget the truck was towing a large travel trailer. The Titan operated on a standard 9 speed transmission (up from 7). The new transmission made acceleration for passing on the highway much easier.
Class exclusive automatic rear braking made stopping at lights or for cross traffic easy as well. Titan’s Standard Safety Shield 360 added features like rear cross traffic alert, blind spot and lane departure warnings, and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. A rearview monitor with trailer guides, downhill speed control, in towing mode, front and rear sonar system, and around-view monitor were also helpful aids for the driver.
Blaine Stone Lodge + TexPlex Park
This was my first time to visit Blaine Stone Lodge and its adjoining TexPlex Park. The off road park is an extreme adventure playground for speed addicts. TexPlex draws UTVs, MX Motorcross, SX Supercross, and ATVs, as well as trucks like the Titan, to try their skills on the rugged course. The park’s brochure boasts of “1,000 acres, 72 miles of rip-snort’n big air jumping SXS racing, rugged UTV off-road driv’n, MX motocross twisting, SX supercross fly’n” etc.
Horseback riding, music concerts, and even weddings are also held at Blaine Stone Lodge. All that exercise works up an appetite, and the chef-driven food catered in the lodge is really good. The auto journalists at my table were all trying to figure out the secret ingredient in the delicious potato salad. We finally decided it might be horseradish, but several of us went back for another helping just to be sure.
After lunch, journalists switched from the powerful XD to the Titan Pro 4X to tackle the rugged off-road course. The electronic locking rear differential, hill descent control, Bilstein shocks, and the 18” all-terrain, off-road tires, helped cushion the off-road bumps. The off-road performance of the Pro 4X easily matched its aggressively bold styling.
The cabin is attractively attired in camo cloth or embroidered leather with red stitching. Oh and the dual panoramic moonroof on the 2020 Titan is one of the largest in the industry. The Pro 4X also has all the features of the Safety Shield 360. 2020 Nissan Titan PRO 4X King Cab has an MSRP of $47,590, with the crew cab priced at $49,790. It also features Nissan’s fabled “America’s Best Truck Warranty.” Nissan’s Platinum Reserve crew cab is priced at $55,490.
