Drop 16 wheels into a blender, add two fingers of high-octane adventure, a pinch of mud and gravel for good measure, and what do you get? Four two-wheeled haymakers and a pair of paparazzi pickups to escort them. Body accessory maker Stillen teamed with KTM, the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer, and Nissan on these two show trucks. We first noticed these sibling pickups at the '04 SEMA Show, but since then they haven't stayed put for long. This duo has been touring in support of Nissan and the '05 Supercross Series, pausing just long enough for us to take some snaps and eye the high-flying potential of those bikes with envy.
Stillen's '05 Titan is the bigger of the two Nissans, standing taller than its sibling thanks to an 8-inch lift kit from CST. The truck plows the countryside on a set of crenellated BFGoodrich LT325/60R20 All-Terrain T/As that grip bold, black Fuel wheels from American Racing.
The vinyl-wrap masters at Ape Wraps tattooed Hukill Paint & Graphic's charcoal-to-orange body fade with what could be Stillen's corporate coat of arms: the company name streaking behind the checkered flag of a winner. Below the vinyl cloak lies a Street Scene grille and a Stillen urethane front bumper cover that is pierced by integrated PIAA driving lights. Stillen's roll pan tightens the Titan's rear better than daily climbs up a mountainside ever could.
Tackling terra firma requires the strength of a giant, and the Titan's got it. A brand-new Stillen supercharger tailored to the Titan/Armada 5.6L powerplant beats at the heart of this beast. We don't have dyno results, but the corporate buzz says that the blower boosts performance by 40 percent. Add to that a Stillen high-flow air intake and a Stillen 2-1/2-inch, single-swept exhaust and you have a powertrain that just won't be reined in.
Inside the Titan, Classic Soft Trim custom leather in charcoal and orange on the steering wheel, door panels, and seats blends with the earth tones of this Titan's natural habitat. Heading up the A/V assault is an MA Audio MA7DVD unit that feeds audio and video to the rest of the Titan's entertainment system. High and middle freqs are handled by the 6-1/2-inch HK-60C component speakers up front and 6x8-inch HK-57C drivers in the rear. Meanwhile, four MA800XL 8-inch subwoofers thump out the lows. Pumping up the power is an HK-302SX amplifier bridged to supply 1,400 watts to the subs, while an HK-598 800Wx4 amp tends to the speakers. Video monitors up front and in the headrests keep passengers numb to the outside world.
The Titan's smaller sib is an '05 Frontier not satisfied to wear big bro's hand-me-downs. That being the case, the Frontier has an entirely different suspension setup: a Stillen leveling kit that provides about 2 inches of lift in the front to even out the rear. Cross-drilled and slotted front and rear brakes from Stillen allow the Frontier to tackle the countryside but still stop with confidence. And baby's got it's own pair of shoes: a set of 17-inch, black Victor wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich LT285/70R17 tires. Under the hood pants a Stillen Stage 2, intercooled supercharger, while a Stillen 2-1/4-inch single, swept-design exhaust blows out the bad air.
The Frontier's vinyl livery has the same design as the Titan's but different colors. Its bodily accoutrements are unique and include a front pushbar with six PIAA driving lights, rocker guards, and a rear performance bumper-all from Marken-and a Stillen fiberglass roll pan. Inside, the truck is relatively stock except for the Street Scene racing seats and a MA Audio A/V system that's headed up by the MA7DVD-like the Titan's-and heard through the 5x7-inch and 6-1/2-inch, thin-mount speakers at the front and rear.
Let's not forget these pickups' precious cargo: four 250SX motocross motorcycles built by Austrian manufacturer KTM for high-speed, high-flying, and race-winning antics. These torquey, single-cylinder two-strokes have a five-speed tranny and chain final drive. Quick and nimble, these bikes are no trailer queens. Just unload them, gas 'em up, and-bay-aah!-supercrossers beware.