Nissan Navara Warrior 2021 Review

The 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X by Premcar, as it’s now known, is the locally-developed flagship of the Nissan Navara dual-cab 4x4 diesel ute range in Australia.

Replacing the Nissan Navara N-TREK Warrior limited-edition, of which 1500 were built for Australian and New Zealand consumption, the PRO-4X Warrior is a permanent member of the D23 Navara line-up.

Pricing starts at $67,490 plus on-road costs for the six-speed manual and rises to $69,990 plus ORCs for the seven-speed automatic.

That’s around $10K more than the standard PRO-4X, and the pricing is a fair old hike up from $62,990/$65,490 (auto/manual) drive-away prices the N-TREK Warrior launched at in 2019.

But there have been important upgrades which we’ll run through below.

The PRO-4X Warrior pricing still just undercuts the auto-only Toyota HiLux Rugged X, which is its most logical opposition. It is significantly cheaper than the Ford Ranger Raptor X, but that’s another step up in capability.

The PRO-4X Warrior tries to be a one-stop shop for ute buyers who like to go off-road and like to accessorise. So there’s Monroe suspension, a 40mm lift in ground clearance and a group of bolt-on bits that are both cosmetic and practical, like the new winch-compatible hoop-less bull bar.

As per N-TREK Warrior, the new model is a joint effort between Nissan Australia and the automotive engineering and design consultancy Premcar, which takes the donor Thai-built Navara PRO-4X and turns it into a Warrior on an assembly line at its base in Melbourne’s north.

We’ll get into the nitty gritty of the modifications that add up to a Warrior further on, but first off let’s check out what the equipment list looks like.

The starting point for this project is the Nissan Navara PRO-4X, a new model for 2021 which we’ve covered extensively at carsales and even taken for a lap of Tassie. With some caveats noted, we really like it.

Carried over to Warrior unchanged is the entire drivetrain, starting with the 140kW/450Nm 2.3-litre twin-turbo diesel four-cylinder engine, those aforementioned transmission choices, the part-time dual-range 4x4 system and locking rear diff.

Other stuff, including the blacked-out grille inspired by the US Nissan Titan pick-up, sport bar with sail plane, side steps, drop-in bedliner and roof rails are familiar too.

Apart from some embroidery on the front head restraints, the equipment level is the same as PRO-4X inside the five-seat cabin.

There are leather accents for the seats, steering wheel and gear-shift lever, push-button start, dual-zone climate control, sat-nav, a new 7.0-inch instrument cluster digital display, 8.0-inch colour touch-screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth, three USB-A and one USB-C connectors and six-speaker audio.

As per all Navara models, the steering wheel still only adjusts for rake (no reach) and there’s also been a relatively minor equipment deletion compared to the N-TREK Warrior – the bespoke floor mats are gone…

Importantly, the Warrior is covered by Nissan’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and Premcar covers its modifications identically. The service intervals are 12 months/20,000km and a six-year capped-price service plan costs $3666 for the manual and $3622 for the auto.

Huge strides have been made by the 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior in terms of driver assist safety systems. This is not unique to Warrior, but reflects an upgrade across the entire Navara range.

So, just like PRO-4X, the Warrior now boasts autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning and a driver alert that monitors for tiredness.

There’s also blind spot warning, intelligent lane intervention, rear cross traffic alert, reverse parking sensors, high beam assist, auto rain-sensing wipers and tyre pressure monitoring.

All Navaras miss out on adaptive cruise control (ACC), which is often twinned with AEB. Nissan says that’s because the powertrain is incompatible with ACC technology. They also stick with rear drum brakes, rather than opting for discs as an increasing number of utes are doing.

Other safety features include seven airbags, including a driver’s knee airbag, second-row child seat top tethers and ISOFIX points, and LED headlights, which based on previous experience are a bit underwhelming on low beam.

The ANCAP rating is five stars, but dates back to 2015.

The 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior is evolutionary not revolutionary compared to its N-TREK predecessor. That makes sense because all along the stated aim for the Warrior has been to broaden off-road capability while maintaining on-road behaviour.

The need to keep the project affordable for buyers means there’s no fundamental changes to the donor Navara’s ladder-frame chassis, double-wishbone front suspension, beam-axle five-link rear-end with its rare use of coil springs (rather than leaf springs) or – as mentioned – the drivetrain.

Going for an engine transplant or power-up would add cost, complexity and make the approval process from global HQ all the harder. Still, it’s not been entirely ruled out for the future.

As Premcar delved into the 2021 Navara it discovered it had some unexpected changes to work with: significantly different front control arms, a fundamentally strengthened rear axle assembly and some chassis strengthening.

A slightly different tailpipe also required a modification to fit around the spare tyre.

But those changes didn’t mean the basic Warrior recipe changed. The familiar ingredients include Monroe shocks and coil springs, larger and taller jounce bumpers and carryover Rosta 17-inch alloy wheels and Cooper Discoverer 275/70 all-terrain rubber.

Some stuff you might think obvious, like a snorkel and cover for the tray, didn’t make the equipment list but are under review for the future.

The suspension changes produces a 40mm ground clearance lift to 260mm (8mm less than the old Warrior, put down to the extra strengthening material on the rear diff housing) and a 30mm-wider 1600mm track compared to the standard PRO-4X (but same as the previous Warrior).

The new bull bar is sourced from Frontline in Australia rather than made in China and now integrates the Hella light bar and winch compatibility. There’s also a Warrior-specific tow bar, a red ‘Navara’-branded bash plate and 3mm underbody protection plate.

Overall, the Warrior is 90mm longer (5350mm) than the standard PRO-4X.

The 36-degree breakover angle is one degree better than the old Warrior and four degrees better than the PRO-4X. The 19.0-degree departure angle is the same as before and 0.8 degrees worse than the PRO-4X, because the full-size Cooper tyre swallows up more room underneath the body. The breakover is 26.2 degrees, 1.3 degrees reduced from N-TREK Warrior and 3.3 degrees better than PRO-4X.

There are no figures given, but front-end corner clearance is vastly improved compared to PRO-4X because of the bull bar’s shape. At the same time, turning circle has also increased to 13 metres, up from the old Warrior’s significant 12.7m (and the regular PRO-4X ute’s 12.5m).

Retuning of the shocks and springs by Premcar and Nissan’s rear axle strengthening mean the PRO-4X Warrior has a huge payload increase compared to its predecessor, rising from 724kg to 952kg (auto) and 961kg (manual). The GVM also rises 100kg to 3250kg (GCM is 5910kg). Maximum braked towing capacity remains 3500kg.

Other key numbers are: 600mm water fording (unchanged), and 2289kg (manual) and 2298kg (auto) kerb weights. These two numbers are about 150kg more than the standard PRO-4X.

Despite that, the fuel consumption claim remains unchanged at 7.5L/100km (manual) and 8.1L/100km (auto) because the Warrior is allowed to retain the PRO-4X’s ADR rating.

Premcar’s goals for the 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior were to make it a more refined drive and quieter to travel in. Some of this was achieved by its own suspension changes, and some of it was the result of Nissan’s updates to the base car.

For instance, in 2020 Nissan introduced a faster steering rack and noise-dampening laminated front and side window glass. For 2021 even more NVH material was added in the engine bay and bulkhead.

Based on our first drive there is a fundamental familiarity from old to new Warrior, both on- and off-road. But it’s fair to say the new one is just that tad more resolved.

Mind you, we really do need to get the Warrior onto familiar ground and give it an extended test and compare it against its obvious logical competitor, the Toyota HiLux Rugged X.

So far we’ve only been able to drive the Warrior at the launch in the hinterlands of Coffs Harbour on a day that started gloomy and simply got wetter, muddier and slipperier – to the point not even the Coopers were coping with the gluey slop.

There was plenty of slithering sideways downhill at 5km/h and scrambling uphill no faster!

With deep ruts being created as a convoy of Warriors chewed through the soft surfaces, the added ground clearance came into its own. A standard Navara (or any other ute) would have been pancaked and we’d have been in for a fair old walk home.

In those conditions and other, happily, drier and firmer ascents and descents, the Warrior chugged along, rolling in 2Hi when the going was easy, 4Hi as the challenges started, 4Lo as they got more pronounced and rear diff locked at their worst.

Essentially, Warrior takes the acceptable off-roader the Navara is and dials it up a notch. That said, we didn’t get a chance to really test out axle articulation on the course set by Nissan. Next time.

On-road, the suspension changes add to the Navara’s capability. It rolls over bumps and corrugations firmly and with good control. So there’s no wobbly overly-soft body rolling in corners, or hopelessly early onset of understeer.

Where the Navara Warrior package needs a bit more help is under the bonnet. The Renault-sourced YS23DDTT intercooled twin-turbo DOHC four-cylinder diesel engine is adequate but not compelling. It’s been left in the dust (mud?) by plenty of rivals now.

That’s exacerbated by the way it’s slow to respond to initial throttle inputs (even when the auto transmission is shifted to Sport mode). Speaking of transmissions, we only sampled the auto during the test drive. The manual select function proved handy retaining first gear 4Lo during those especially slimy bits.

Alternatively, the hill descent control proved capable of walking us downhill, feet off the pedals.

Being so little changed inside, the Warrior is a familiar place to reside. For me, the driver’s seat position is too high at its lowest position and the steering wheel still too low at its highest, so it’s hard to get entirely comfortable.

The front seats are also undersized, so definitely put them on the update list for Warrior 3.0.

Rear seat space is only acceptable, but we do like the rear air-con vents. Functionality is aided by the way the seat flips up to aid storage of big items like swags. Sadly, the seatback does not also fold down.

The driver is aided by the new larger digital readout between the speedo and tacho dials. It’s far easier to understand than the old design.

Outside the cabin you get the same features as any Navara, including a tray that won’t fit an Aussie pallet because it’s too narrow between the wheel-arches. Thumbs up for the Utili-Track channels and tie-down points though.

The 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior does not present a whole new driving experience. It is a very familiar product that is definitely better on- and off-road than the standard Navara.

The old N-TREK Warrior was just a tad rougher and gruffer in the way it went about the same job.

It’s the safety equipment and payload upgrades that are key improvements, although whether they’re enough to justify the rise in pricing is up to you.

There’s still some stuff not included here like a snorkel or cover for the tray, but they could come soon.

Adaptive cruise control? Rear disc brakes? Maybe when the next-gen Navara arrives around 2024.

Despite our reservations, we definitely like the Warrior, appreciate its capabilities and respect what Nissan and Premcar have achieved here.

There’s no doubt it adds appeal and talent to the Navara line-up.

How much does the 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior cost?
Price: $67,490/$69,990 manual/auto (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.3-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel
Output: 140kW/450Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual/seven-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.5/8.1L/100km manual/auto (ADR combined)
CO2: 197/213g/100km manual/auto (ADR combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2015)