Nissan Navara THROUGH THE RANGE
Donor car provided a strong base for Mercedes, and it’s yours for much less money Which trim level might suit you?
MODELTESTED: Nissan Navara 2.3 dci 190PS Tekna auto PRICE: £34,240 ENGINE: 2.3-litre 4cyl, 187bhp
WHILE the Navara name can trace its roots to the early nineties, the third-generation model is a thoroughly modern pick-up. It’s offered in a variety of bodystyles, although the double cab is the one that’s geared towards work and play. Here we test the top-spec Tekna automatic model.
Design & engineering
WITH many years of pick-up truck experience behind it, Nissan was able to give Mercedes the head start the German manufacturer needed to get the X-class on the road.
The Navara was the most advanced pick-up on sale when it arrived in 2014, thanks to the double cab’s multi-link rear suspension set-up. Apart from this, however, the Nissan is fairly conventional, with a ladder frame, separate body and double-wishbone suspension up front.
Although the Navara is a good chunk cheaper than the X-class, at £34,240, it’s included in this test because of its DNA and to see if the family ties as a well-equipped pick-up are obvious. There’s the same 2.3-litre diesel as in the X 250 d with 187bhp, although Nissan offers a six-speed manual or seven-speed auto with it; the manual X-class gets only 161bhp.
When lined up side by side, the subtle differences between the X-class and Navara are easier to spot. Both models have kicked-up window lines, but the Nissan’s is slightly higher, and the blistered wheelarches give the Navara a pumped-up look.
That continues up front, with a nose similar to the Qashqai’s featuring bright LED daytime running lights, while at the rear the tailgate and lamps are busier than those on the Mercedes, too.
The cabin has a typically Japanese feel about it, because while it’s well built, the quality of the materials isn’t quite up to the standards set by its rivals here. There’s more hard plastic, bright silver trim and a lot of buttons to play with, although that does mean there’s plenty of kit on this Tekna model.
Driving
FIRE up the Navara’s big-capacity four-cylinder diesel, and it starts with a surge of mechanical and transmission noise, but it soon settles once warm. The Mercedes does the same, although with less sound deadening in the Nissan, the noise is more pronounced. Neither truck sounds as refined as the V6 Amarok at idle.
The Navara uses the same automatic gearbox as the X-class, and it’s equally smooth and unobtrusive in its operation, with no jerkiness when it kicks down. You can sometimes confuse the electronics into holding on to a lower gear for too long, but otherwise the transmission is a slick performer.
Our figures here are for a manual model, but performance from the six-speed manual is on par with the X-class. With the same torque output, the Nissan was just as fast in the lower gears and slightly quicker in the higher ratios (although it’s shorter-geared), and doesn’t lack poke.
While Nissan is rightly proud of its multi-link rear suspension set-up, the arrival of the X-class demonstrates that the Navara is only slightly ahead of the rest of the pick-up pack for ride quality. It still bobs up and down at the rear over big bumps, while the suspension sends shudders through the frame when it hits a large imperfection.
Practicality
AS you’d expect, the Navara has similar space to the Mercedes in the load bed and cabin, although the driving position seems oddly cramped for such a large car. It feels as if the driver’s seat is offset, so you’re hemmed in by the door; it’s not something the X-class suffers from.
One helpful boost to practicality is Nissan’s 360-degree Around View Monitor system. Select this and the multiple wide-angle cameras combine to produce a plan view of the truck’s surroundings, making it easy to manoeuvre the large vehicle with precision in tight spaces.
Our test car came with a tow bar and a hard top for the load bed, which turns it into a vast boot area. The premium version fitted here costs £2,750 and offers opening side windows, as well as the lifting tailgate glass. However, we’d advise you to try one of these hard tops before you buy, because the combination of the truck’s tinted windows and the tint of the hard top means rear visibility isn’t great; it’s made worse in poor weather by the fact that there’s no wash/wipe.
Ownership
NISSAN doesn’t have a separate commercial vehicle network, so you’ll be heading to your local car dealer to look at a Navara. These franchises ranked 25th out of 26 networks in the most recent dealer poll, conducted as part of our annual Driver Power satisfaction survey. Mercedes came 21st and Volkswagen 14th.
The Navara got a four-star safety rating from Euro NCAP in 2015. As with the X-class, it features seven airbags and automatic emergency braking, but it doesn’t have trailer assist or lane departure warning. As on its rivals, there’s hill descent control for off-roading, and a rear diff lock is also offered.
Running costs
A Four-year service plan is available on the Navara for £291, which is reasonable even when you consider it only covers two check-ups if you don’t hit the 12,000-mile limit in the meantime. In comparison, VW offers a similar plan for £349, although it’s more than £600 if you’re not buying the truck on finance.
The Navara’s group 37 insurance rating is the lowest here; the Mercedes is in group 39 and the VW is in 41. Adding a factory-approved lockable cover for the load bed can reduce premiums, be it a hard top, a hard tonneau or a metal roll-back cover.
Testers’ notes
“As well as the X-class, the Navara is the donor model for the Renault Alaskan (see coming soon, Page 45). It’s already on sale in Europe, and is due in showrooms here later this year.”
THE Navara offers the broadest range of these three, as there are king cab and double cab bodystyles, plus Visia, Acenta, Acenta+, N-connecta and Tekna trims.
We’d go for the double cab because it’s more spacious inside, plus Tekna has every piece of kit you could possibly want, especially that 360-degree camera system. The automatic model also takes the strain out of driving, so we’d pick that, too.
Nissan is offering some big incentives on the Navara at the moment. There’s no deposit contribution, but you can get zero per cent finance with two years’ servicing thrown in for free. That’s with a deposit of £11,069 and 37 monthly repayments of £269. As with the VW, there’s a final payment of £11,786, or you can hand the truck back or refinance against a new one.