“The world’s toughest Navara”: Nissan reveals new-look Raptor rival

Nissan has whipped the covers off its new-look updated Navara PRO-4X Warrior off-road ute, the spiritual successor to the Warrior N-Trek. 

The new hardcore Nav adopts all of the changes made to the 2021 model-year Navara, which recently landed in New Zealand (NZ Autocar’s first road test appears in this month’s magazine). And, it throws in new looks, new suspension, and other changes. 

The hoopless front bullbar is the most striking of the changes, melding together the updated Navara’s new grille with the old N-Trek’s aggressive front profile. It gets an integrated LED light bar, and a painted and branded bash plate. As per the last N-Trek, it’s been engineered with the help of Premcar; Nissan paying tribute to the firm by giving the new ute the full name of ‘PRO-4X Warrior by Premcar’. 

Much of the model’s mechanical underpinnings carry over from the last N-Trek. It’s been reported that the front suspension set-up, beefed up bump stops, widened track, and 42mm ride height are all lifted from the outgoing model. 

Rubber is one of the larger changes. The PRO-4X Warrior now gets 32-inch Cooper Discover all-terrain tyres. The shocks and springs are now red (presumably as an alternative to the striking blue of the Fox Racing shocks hooked to the Ford Ranger Raptor). 

The release did not detail powertrain specifics. As per the last Warrior N-Trek, the model will most likely deploy the same twin-turbo 2.3-litre turbodiesel producing 140kW of power and 450Nm of torque. Full specs are set to be revealed closer to the model’s release date, which itself is expected around September.

“Nissan chose Premcar as its core partner to produce the first Navara N-TREK Warrior in 2019, a vehicle we believe set a new benchmark for locally developed dual-cab utes in Australia, and the first of what will soon be several exciting new Warrior models in our line-up,” says Nissan Australian Managing Director, Stephen Lester. 

“We’re taking all the key improvements made by Nissan on the Navara PRO-4X, like its impressive NVH levels, steering quality, extensive safety equipment and core dual-cab functionality, and we’re overlaying those updates with our own in-house engineering expertise to create the toughest and most capable Navara in the world,” adds Premcar Engineering Director, Bernie Quinn. 

“We’ve taken everything we learned on the first Warrior, and the feedback we’ve received from customers and the media, to create a tough, capable, and refined vehicle that we think will be unrivalled in the dual-cab ute market in this country. It doesn’t just look the part. The Warrior is the real deal.”

The eagle eyed will have noted Lester’s phrasing above … “several exciting new Warrior models” are on the way. Nissan hasn’t revealed what they are, although it’s been reported that a wild lifted Patrol SUV is on the cards.