The 2021 Nissan Titan crew cab earns a lower rating in the passenger-side small overlap test than its predecessor after changes to the pickup’s structure, but now comes with standard front crash prevention that earns superior ratings, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

While the previous iteration of the crew cab earned a good rating in all six of the IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, the 2021 model, including the extended cab, earns an acceptable passenger-side rating due to increased intrusion into the front seat passenger’s space, the IIHS said. 

However, the Titan also now comes with standard front crash prevention that earns superior ratings in the Institute’s vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests. Both the crew cab and extended cab pickups avoided collisions at 12 mph and 25 mph in the vehicle-to-vehicle test. These ratings apply to 2020 and 2021 models; no front crash prevention was available on earlier models.

For 2020, Nissan made changes to the front frame structure, hinge pillar, roof rail and lower sill of both pickups and added driver-side knee airbags, according to IIHS. Beginning with 2021 models built after September 2020, the company also added passenger-side knee airbags, so these ratings apply to vehicles built after that date.

The 2021 Titans also earn lower headlight ratings than the 2019 models. Both variations offered on the pickups earn poor ratings, compared with earlier scores of marginal.