First drive: updated Nissan Navara tested off the beaten track

In 2026, the humble Nissan Navara will be celebrating its 40th birthday. In those forty years, we have seen four iterations of the Navara come and go, and more than 500,000 were sold in the trans-Tasman market. According to Nissan, 425,000 of those sales came from Australia, but even so, it still became a staple on Kiwi roads. If the Navara’s birthday were a wedding anniversary, a ruby-based gift would be in order, so it only makes sense the global unveiling of this all-new Navara was headlined by a Lava Red-clad PRO-4X. 

Familiar looks?

If you are feeling a sense of Déjà vu while looking at this new Nissan, it’s because it shares a lot with the Mitsubishi Triton. During the unveiling presentation, executives from Nissan Australia were more than happy to talk about its Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance underpinnings, but the “T” word wasn’t mentioned. 

On the outside, this new Navara wears very Nissan-centric front and rear fascias. According to Ken Lee, Nissan’s Global Senior Design Director, a lot of inspiration for the front end was taken from the 2016 Titan Warrior concept. To us Kiwis, it has more of a Patrol look about it, which I think does wonders to separate it visually from its Triton-badged cousin.

It’s also worth pointing out the three slots above the grille, as they are a homage to the iconic D21 Navara and Pathfinder models. As for the side profile, you genuinely have a hard time telling it apart from the Mitsubishi, as the majority of sheet metal is shared between the two Japanese utes. At the rear, it’s less distinctively Nissan, but at least it gets a fresh pair of taillights. 

It was also announced that this new Navara will be offered in double-cab configuration exclusively. This reportedly came from both dealer and customer requests for simplicity in the line-up. Along the same lines, this Navara retains a payload of around 1000kg (depending on the model), and a 3.5-tonne towing capacity.

If it ain’t broke, give it the same drivetrain

Beneath the body, the Navara gets the same 2.4-litre bi-turbo diesel four-cylinder engine as the Triton. It makes the same 150kW and 470Nm of torque, which is sent through a six-speed automatic transmission.

According to Nissan, lower-spec models will get an “Easy 4WD” system that will work as on-demand, whilst the range-topping ST-X and PRO-4X variants will get a full-time “Super 4WD” system. As for fuel economy, Nissan claims a combined figure of 7.7l/100km, but it does come with an AdBlue tank, which needs to be refilled every now and then. 

Tuned for trans-Tasman conditions

The biggest point of difference Nissan really pushed at this unveiling was the locally-tuned suspension, which is reportedly optimised for Australian and New Zealand roads. Long-time collaborators Premcar were responsible for this work, in which they covered more than 18,000km over 12 months to perfect it.

Andrew Humberstone, Managing Director of Nissan Oceania stressed that they didn’t want to rush the process of getting this suspension system right  — which explains why the Navara has lagged behind the Triton. As for hardware, this new Navara gets leaf springs in place of the old model’s coil spring set-up at the rear.

According to Premcar CEO Bernie Quinn, the dampers were the only element of the Navara’s suspension system that needed to be swapped out for more beefier units. Quinn also noted that Premcar has developed three separate suspension tunes for the new model. 

Alliance interior carries over

On the inside, you’d be forgiven for thinking you had stepped into a Mitsubishi, considering all the equipment that has been carried over. When asked about this interior, Ken Lee explained how the customer is after a certain set of features, and the Alliance package already offered these, so there was no need to change them for the sake of it.

The features in question are a 9.0-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There’s also a 7.0-inch tft display located between the analog gauges. A wireless phone charger is also available on the ST-X and PRO-4X models. A Nissan badge in the centre of the steering wheel and Navara-embossed seats are really the only Nissan-specific additions inside. 

How does it drive?

For the unveiling of this new Navara, Nissan Australia sent us to an off-road park in the Adelaide Hills. While this provided great insight into how this locally-tuned suspension system performs in the rough stuff, we still have no idea as to how it goes on the road, which is a shame. In saying this, we had a fair bit of time behind the wheel across the reasonably serious terrain, the Navara performed well. 

Though I am yet to drive the new Triton, I have driven plenty of leaf-sprung utes, so I am well aware of how badly some can ride. I am happy to report that this isn’t the case for this Navara. While driving at around 60km/h across rough gravel roads, the ute holds its composure well.

It’s obviously not at the level of a Ranger Raptor, but you can feel that this isn’t an out-of-the-box system like so many other leaf-sprung utes are. 

I was also impressed with the steering feeling, as it was another area Premcar focused its tuning on. While a lot of 4x4s forgo any sort of steering feeling in favour of sheer capability, the Navara’s electric system has a nice weight to it which will communicate what the ground is doing beneath.

I can also imagine that this will be a nice element once we get to test this ute on the open road. 

Across the more extreme terrain, the four-wheel drive system did the heavy lifting, providing a sense of confidence. The engine is also quite torque-heavy, and has no issue in pulling the Navara out of sticky situations.

I did manage to get it somewhat stuck over a couple of large holes, but after reversing and giving it a bit more jandal, the Navara hopped over the obstacle without complaint. 

As a whole, I feel that this Navara is a good product that may fall victim to an identity crisis in the eyes of the consumer. Badge engineering is nothing new, especially in this ute segment, but this is an example that’s tough to overlook.

The bottom line is that this Navara is good, and the suspension work completed by Premcar should differentiate it from the Triton, but a big element of a buyer’s final decision will come down to how Nissan prices it.