Nissan Navara ST-X 550 2010 Review

Nissan Navara ST-X 550

On a very brief drive program during Nissan's 4WD Panorama event at the Mount Cotton driver training centre in Queensland, the Navara proved once again why it is such a class act among the 4x4 dual cab pick-ups in this market.

This particular Navara was the Navara ST-X 550 -- powered by the new V9X turbodiesel V6. While it's based on the same level of trim as the four-cylinder turbodiesel Navara recently upgraded and tried out by the Carsales Network back in March, the V6 variant can be distinguished from the four-cylinder by: a hard tonneau cover, roof bars, a black satin-finish sports bar, privacy glass, underseat storage and unique badging and decals.

The new powerplant won't be widely available through dealers until January, but the all-too short time behind the wheel provided the Carsales Network with a taste of the exceptional refinement of the turbodiesel V6.

This is an engine that approaches the 3.0-litre diesel V6 in Jaguar and Land Rover models for NVH -- it's that quiet and smooth. Like the JLR unit, the Nissan V6 in the Navara conceals that it's a diesel most of the time. The Jaguar Land Rover engine has the ultimate edge in refinement -- as indeed it should -- but the Navara's V6 is arguably well above the standard required for a light commercial vehicle.

The reason for that lies with the same engine powering the Nissan Pathfinder Ti 550 -- an SUV based on the D40 Navara platform. It's one thing for contractors to live with hoary old rattletrap engines in their pick-ups, but parents and kids have a whole different level of expectation for the SUV that transports them to school and the shops.

For both the Navara ST-X 550 and the Pathfinder Ti 550 Nissan has bolted the engine up to a seven-speed (count 'em!) automatic transmission that copes very well with the abundant torque. Even with the V6 wound up on full boost (pounding out 170kW and 550Nm), the transmission was very genteel when shifting up a gear. Together, the engine and transmission make for a highly capable combination that almost seems out of place in a vehicle designed fundamentally for tradies.

The Navara comes with side-curtain airbags and stability control, two features rarely found in dual-cab pick-ups. If there's a downside to that, it all adds to the purchase price of the vehicle: $60,990 -- now well above the Luxury Car Tax threshold. As we've noted before in respect of the four-cylinder turbodiesel Navara ST-X 4x4, any sum near or above the Luxury Car Tax seems princely once the talk turns to a commercial vehicle.

This, in fact, is our principal misgiving about the diesel V6 Navara. It's over $7000 dearer than the HiLux SR5 dual cab 4x4 turbodiesel, although the Navara provides substantially more power and torque, which makes itself felt in the Nissan's 3000kg towing capacity. For its part, the HiLux has been recently upgraded for extra peace of mind in the form of stability control with EBD and Brake Assist.

But the ST-X 550 has all that as well and the Navara flagship can face the HiLux on at least an equal footing. We don't know as yet what Volkswagen's Amarok and the new Ford Ranger will bring to the party, but the Navara ST-X 550 will be in there competing with a degree of credibility.

To make a point, Nissan provided Aussie journalists with the opportunity to punt the Navara reasonably hard during the truncated drive, in order to demonstrate the commercial vehicle's outstanding primary safety. The standard stability control proved a real boon in a swerve-and-avoid test from 70km/h.

On other occasions, cornering hard, the Navara allowed the driver to feed the torque in slowly and feel how the rear suspension was coping. It was surprisingly tactile in the way it provided feedback for what could be achieved. Forget cadence braking, the Navara was providing cadence traction and you could ease off the throttle just enough to keep performance right on the threshold between outright power oversteer and a touch of lightness in the rear.

It's a credit to Nissan for getting the drivetrain, traction control and suspension working together in such an effective combination, although not many Navara drivers will ever expose the vehicle to driving like this.

According to Nissan, the V6 Navara returns the same fuel economy as the Toyota HiLux SR5 4x4 Dual Cab turbodiesel: 9.3L/100km. While Nissan claims a win for the V6 Nissan against the four-cylinder Toyota, it's probably worth noting that the HiLux displaces roughly the same capacity and it achieves much the same degree of fuel efficiency with three fewer ratios in the transmission. That said, the Navara has that power and torque advantage in compensation -- plus the extra towing capacity.

As a final observation, Navara is sufficiently well placed to take sales away from Toyota's HiLux with the continuing improvements to specification -- of which the introduction of the V6 turbodiesel engine and seven-speed automatic is but one example. The four-cylinder ST-X variant is already hurting HiLux sales, we're told by Nissan. Perhaps Navara's established name will safeguard its market position against Volkswagen's Amarok too (and the new Ford Ranger). And however good the Amarok may be, it won't offer a self-shifting option from the word 'go'.

The high-end Navaras are -- in this writer's opinion -- a better proposition than Mitsubishi's Triton if you like driving and the Nissan has a head start of at least six (and perhaps as many as nine) months on the Ranger, based on the ST-X 550 going on sale in January.

Nissan seems to have a lot of bases covered. Except that is, the price...

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