Off-road trucks are big at this year’s Detroit Auto show, with the star attractions being the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew and a potential competitor, the Nissan Titan Warrior Concept. And the best way we can think of to show them off, is a face off.

Ford already showed their hand last year with the Raptor Concept in SuperCrew form. But at the Detroit Show this year we see a production ready SuperCab version. A few details have changed here and there, and a few have emerged.

Ford tells us the new Raptor SuperCrew is 500 pounds lighter than the last one on count of that aluminum body. But what they haven’t told us still, is what the horsepower is from its second-generation 3.5 liter EcoBoost V6, other than to say its more than the old 6.2 liter V8.

Nissan seems to want a piece of this ultra off-road pie though, showing off a decked out version of their all-new 2016 Titan XD called the Warrior Concept. Like the Raptor, the Warrior gets a pretty good lift and bulging body work that makes it 3-inches wider.

The face is much better looking than the Titan XD most will agree, the headlights being the major contributor. Fenders have the same cut out look we see on the Raptor up front around the headlights, but it isn’t entirely a carbon copy.

The production interior of the Ford Raptor looks pretty nice. It gets upgraded seats and special trim inside that amp up the look quite a bit. There’s the special steering wheel with center mark, some cool auxiliary switches, and you can bet a lot of special off-road toys in its digital information displays.

Nissan takes a similar route with the Warrior, almost an identical one in fact. It’s a little more over the top being that it is a concept but its racing down the same track with bright colored accents, upgraded seats and yes special manly switch-gear.

Suspension on both is purpose-built. The Raptor will have the next generation of internal bypass FOX Racing Shox and a suspension with a massive 11-12 inch travel. All of it’s bolted to what Ford says is a purpose built frame for the Raptor.

Rolling stock will be BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 tires mounted to some new 17-inch wheels that are bead-lock capable. That means you need to convert them after you come home from the dealership, as for some reason Ford doesn’t want to take the warranty or safety hit for them.

At any rate, the new Raptor promises to be more agile than ever with its lighter weight overall as well as the better balance with the boat anchor of the old 6.2 liter V8 big-block replaced with the EcoBoost V6.

Nissan also fortified their Warrior Concept with a beefy suspension. While they aren’t dropping big brand names like FOX, they tell us it has nearly a 3-inch lift and custom suspension with internal bypass shocks.

Wheels are 18-inch with 37-inch tires which pop pretty nicely but lets face it, they always do on concept vehicles. Nissan does talk a lot about the heavy duty nature of their suspension as this is based on the Titan XD with it’s heavy 5.0 Cummins V8.

And that gets us to the big difference between these two trucks. The Warrior Concept utilizes a 310 horsepower diesel with 555 pound-feet of torque which would make for some nice off-road cred. Even if a production version ended up with their new 5.6 gas V8, that now will have 390 horsepower.

Ford still hasn’t coughed up the power rating for their so called second-generation EcoBoost V6. But the rumors out there are it’s and above and beyond performance version that will have between 500-600 horsepower and torque out the ass. I just hope it doesn’t sound like an angry weed-eater through those dual exhausts.

In fairness, this isn’t an apples to apples face off because the Raptor is a production intent vehicle that lands on dealership lots this fall. It’s the real deal, not faking, you can buy one. Nissan on the other hand shows they’ve got some serious bones to work with if they press the start button to compete.

The bottom line is that it’s a good to see the automakers showing some balls in the face of ever tightening CAFE standards which are out to kill all the fun. Hopefully Nissan joins in with something like the Warrior, but even if they don’t, the Raptor ain’t a bad way to spend an afternoon at all.