Nissan Navara Review

Nissan Navara Review

Nissan’s portfolio of 4WD vehicles is nothing short of extensive with a list including the Patrol, X-TRAIL, Murano, Pathfinder and Navara; add on the 4WD Qashqai and that makes six.

Why so many? Well, they all do different jobs. Some are soft-roader SUVs, some are more family orientated and then there are the workhorses. The Navara is a mix of ‘lifestyle’ and commercial, depending on how it is dressed.

Navara and Pathfinder were designed at the same time and share mechanical and technical properties, so it makes sense that they should be built alongside each other. Indeed, you could think of the Navara as a Pathfinder Pick-up, as they share front end features. But rather than calling it an SUV, Nissan came up with a new one; Sports Utility Truck or SUT. But that still doesn’t cover it.

A large imposing vehicle, the Navara offers the cabin space of a family car and the load-lugging properties of a traditional pick up. The load bed is claimed to be the largest in this segment and is capable of transporting a quad bike or building materials. As I said, it depends on how you dress it and there are plenty of optional extras to make it suit your needs.

The Navara is just over 5 metres long (5133mm) and comes in choice of King Cab or Double Cab configurations. The King Cab can be described as a cab and a half with two full-size seats at the front and two smaller, occasional seats in the back. If extra, interior space is needed, the short squabs fold up against the very upright backrests revealing storage bins underneath, depending on the trim level.

Access is via what used to be called ‘suicide doors’; rear half-doors that are hinged at the back and, because of the absence of B-pillars, interlock with the front doors. The ‘truncated’ cabin means that the load floor is longer than that of the Double Cab; 1861mm as opposed to 1511mm.

The Double Cab is more in keeping with an SUV, with five seats and four full-size doors. The rear seats are fairly bench-like but comfortable, nonetheless. They have a 60:40 split and fold with a different form of storage underneath. As expected, there is more legroom in the Double Cab: 612mm over the 448mm of the King Cab.

The interior is by no means industrial; instead it has the ambience of an executive saloon, again, depending on the trim level. The front seats are very comfortable and I liked the plain, functional layout and the focus on the chunky centre console - it makes the interior feel more car-like.

Trek, Sport and Outlaw come in both King and Double Cab formats, while the top-of-the-range, Aventura is a Double Cab only.