Nissan details Navara Pro-4X Warrior, but no pricing

NISSAN Australia has finally revealed specifications of its locally-developed Navara Pro-4X Warrior ute flagship, although those hoping for an official price tag will have to wait a little longer as brand executives say the “pricing approvals process” is still ongoing.

Compared with its predecessor’s year-long production run, the new Warrior is promised to become a permanent member of the Australian D23 Navara range for the remainder of its lifecycle – and overseas interest could yield export opportunities, particularly to South Africa and New Zealand.

Speaking to media at the Warrior’s national unveiling, Nissan Australia local product development and enhancement senior manager Matt Baily said he expected annual Navara Warrior sales to exceed the 1400 units achieved by the previous version.

“We’re planning on producing in excess of 1500 a year and I think current manufacturing capacity is around 32 a week,” said Mr Baily.

“But I’m confident that we have the ability to scale up on that a little bit.”

A Nissan Australia spokesperson added that more than 400 expressions of interest had been received for the Navara Warrior in the space of a week.

Due in showrooms “within the next few months”, the new Warrior will be offered in both manual and automatic forms but with no changes made to any of the powertrain, meaning it will share the same 140kW/450Nm outputs as the rest of the Navara range.

Premcar engineering director Bernie Quinn – whose company partnered with Nissan to develop the Warrior – said that while there has always been a temptation to squeeze more power out of the twin-turbo 2.3-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, question marks hovered over the validity of such modifications.

“It’s a common question and it’s something we do get feedback on,” he said.

“The main issue is making it reliable… we know we can get more power and torque out of this engine, the problem is managing that, particularly from a heat point of view.

“You can go and make something that’s got a little bit more power and a little bit more torque and for 90 per cent of its duty cycle life, it’s going to be fine.

“But go and tow a caravan up ‘Big Sally’ or whatever and you start burning your (catalytic converter), you start destroying your turbo … destroying components is a big problem.

“If you weigh it up against what extra value does it get, what’s the increase in absolute performance to the guy or girl that bought that car, there’s very little benefit.”

Instead, Premcar focused on enhancing the standard Navara Pro-4X’s off-road capabilities and upping the visual ante even further in the process.

Compared to its donor car, the Warrior rides 40mm higher with ground clearance now up to 260mm. Combined with the new hoopless bullbar, this improves the approach angle from 32 degrees to 36.

By contrast, the departure angle has been reduced from 19.8 degrees to 19 on the account of the modified towbar mounting.

Despite the extra clearance, the standard Navara’s 600mm wading depth has been carried across to the Warrior, meaning it still lags behind the 800mm depth claimed by other dual-cabs such as the Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50.

The front and rear tracks have also been widened by 30mm due to the more aggressive 275/70/R17 Cooper Discoverer AT3 tyres – replacing the Pro-4X’s 255/65/R17 Yokohama Geolandar A/Ts – housed within black wheelarch extensions that boost overall width by 45mm, to 1920mm.

More than just a lift kit, Premcar has also fitted the Warrior with beefier dampers all round and gone to town on the spring rates, damping tune and rebound settings to retain the Pro-4X’s on-road manners while improving its off-road capabilities.

A heavy-duty Navara-branded bash plate has been added to aid peace of mind when off-roading, with the rest of the undercarriage largely protected by a 3mm steel ‘second-stage protection plate’.

Furthering the sense of security is the addition of winch compatibility to the revised bullbar – the old N-Trek Warrior’s was not winch-compatible – while a snorkel is optionally available for those who fancy testing the 600mm wading depth.

Mr Baily said the “high” and “super high” grade dual cab utes were seeing the most sales growth within the segment, with strong customer demand “for modifications over and above the base vehicle”.

“This is where the Pro-4X Warrior comes in; it’s very well positioned to provide Australian customers with what they want in a new ute,” he said.

“It’s not enough just to accessorise a vehicle anymore. Customers demand that it’s developed for Australian conditions, they demand that the vehicle needs to be capable off-road without compromising on-road comfort. 

“They want a hassle-free purchase experience and they want to enjoy the vehicle and its capabilities. That enhanced capability that you see and you know with N-Trek Warrior, but also that premium specification directly from the dealership.”

Given its uses the Pro-4X as its donor car, the new Warrior shares almost all its standard equipment, with highlights including the familiar 7.0-inch instrument cluster display and 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system featuring both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

Other inclusions are black sailplane sportsbars, leather-accented seats with power adjustment for the driver, red interior stitching, embossed Warrior logos, LED headlights, integrated LED lightbar and a full-size spare wheel.

The Warrior’s standard safety features are headlined by forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, driver alertness alert, lane-departure warning with lane-keep intervention, blind-spot monitoring, surround-view cameras with off-road monitor and rear cross-traffic alert.

Not neglecting the Navara’s origins as a workhorse nor the more luxurious appointments of the Pro-4X, Premcar has gifted the new Warrior a 100kg GVM increase over its donor vehicle in the name of payload capacity.

With a new GVM of 3250kg, Nissan says the manual Warrior’s payload is rated up to 961kg, or 953kg for the automatic.

Either way, both versions are still able to tow up to 3500kg braked.

“This will run much longer than 12 months, this will run all the way through the model life,” Mr Baily said.

“It’ll be a permanent addition to the range … there will be limits in terms of production capacity. 

Mr Baily also revealed there to have been interest in the Warrior from overseas, including the South African and New Zealand markets.