Full details: Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior launched

When the 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior rolls into showrooms from around September, the broad-shouldered new flagship dual-cab 4x4 ute will offer significant improvements over its predecessor, the N-TREK Warrior.

But you’ll also pay extra.

Just how much extra is still to be officially confirmed, but it’s expected to push up about $3000 from the previous Navara Warrior that was priced from $63,490 plus on-road costs for the manual and $65,990 plus ORCs for the auto.

This would keep the top-selling Warrior auto model below the $70,000 psychological barrier, as well as underneath the Toyota HiLux Rugged X (from $69,990) – which is also a locally-developed, factory-backed tough truck.

Once again developed and engineered by Melbourne-based Premcar, the new Navara PRO-4X Warrior has an increased payload rating to almost a tonne thanks to new Monroe suspension and, among a host of other modifications, comes with a winch-capable front safari bar, which wasn’t previously offered.

It also gains all of the updates from the MY21 Nissan Navara facelift revealed in late 2020, such as improved safety and infotainment systems, more creature comforts in the cabin and updated front and rear styling.

Nissan says the Warrior has been designed to offer the benefits of a jacked-up, heavily-modified aftermarket ute while retaining a full five-year/unlimited-kilometre factory warranty on all components, as well as the added benefit of extensive testing and development.

Other new gear? There’s plenty, including the most popular aftermarket upgrades of tyres, suspension and front bar.

Compared to the Nissan Navara PRO-4X donor vehicle, the Warrior adds:

• Monroe dampers
• Monroe springs
• Jounce bumpers
• Safari bar with LED fog lights and Hella light bar
• Steel front bash plate
• Second-stage underbody protection plate (3mm)
• 17-inch alloy wheels
• Cooper Discoverer all-terrain AT3 tyres
• Wheel-arch extensions
• Tow bar
• Speedo control module
• ‘Warrior’ embroidered head restraints
• ‘Warrior’ sticker kit

Premcar engineering director Bernie Quinn said: “Almost every component we added to the vehicle to give it the Warrior treatment is different between the N-TREK and PRO-4X warrior models.

“We set out to create the world’s toughest Navara, and that’s exactly what we’ve achieved with this new Warrior,” he said.

While the wheels, tyres and tow bar remain unchanged, all other components are new or at least tweaked, according to Quinn.

The upgraded suspension, Cooper tyres and front safari bar are the major upgrades, which help improve the vehicle’s capability.

For starters, the new Premcar-calibrated Monroe springs and shockers, along with bigger tyres, deliver an almost two-inch (40mm) lift but also increase the vehicle payload from 724kg to 952kg, following customer feedback for increased load lugging.

There’s no change to the Navara’s tow limit of 3500kg, and there are no revisions to the 4x4 system, which continues with low-range ratios and a locking rear diff.

The 2.3-litre twin-turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine (140kW/450Nm) also carries over.

The raised ride height together with the bigger 275/70R17 Cooper A/T tyres deliver a total of 260mm ground clearance – up from 220mm in the PRO-4X but down slightly on the previous Warrior’s 268mm.

The redesigned body-coloured front bar that slots into the PRO-4X’s front assembly (and retains airbag compatibility) now includes an integrated LED light bar. It’s also winch compatible and the new front safari bar improves on the donor vehicle’s approach angle, from 32 to 36 degrees.

While the departure angle is down slightly from the Navara PRO-4X – 19.8 to 19.0 degrees – the Warrior achieves this figure with the fitment of an underslung full-sized spare tyre with alloy wheel.

Wading depth is rated at 600mm.

The vehicle is now 30mm wider, thanks to the wider alloy wheels, which add 15mm on each side, and the new front bar extends the vehicle’s length by 90mm.

The 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior is already being considered for export markets such as South Africa and New Zealand, but the current annual production run of 1500 units is expected to be snapped up pretty quickly in Australia.

And for good reason. The Warrior has been tailored to local conditions, including a blend of sand, mud, dirt and sealed road surfaces, all of which are within a day’s drive of many Australians.

“It has to be Australian developed, by Australian engineers, for Australian customers in Australian conditions and it has to increase the bandwidth capability of the vehicle,” declared Quinn.

“We can’t simply take a PRO-4X and make it more capable off-road, at the expense of its on-road behaviour. That’s what happens most of the time, when you do things like put a lift kit on a vehicle, or different suspension or put off-road tyres on a vehicle.

“That wasn’t acceptable for us. That’s where all our work goes into – making sure we don’t have any compromises.”

While the new jounce bumpers and Monroe suspension components offer increased wheel travel, rebound and compression damping has been increased to improve on-road handling stability.

Some of the testing was carried out at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) near Anglesea in Victoria, while development vehicles also spent significant time out in the Victorian high country.

The idea was to create a highly durable ute as well as a capable one that was up to factory standards.

“[We had to] make sure we stay within the durable bandwidth of the platform. It’s not an easy job, and it’s not something you get in the aftermarket and it’s not something you get from other OEMs [car-makers], I can tell you that,” said Quinn.

“To make sure that we do that job properly … we set out a brand criteria that we committed to meeting every time we put the Warrior brand on a vehicle. Specifically what that means is that it’s got to be fully validated, which would support having a five-year warranty, the same as any other Nissan you can get from a Nissan dealership.

“We’re really, really proud of what we’ve done in the Warrior program. It’s important to note that Nissan trusts us with the brand. They hand that over to us and they trust we’ll deliver something that’s fitting with the brand.”