2022 Nissan Navara

The base Nissan Navara SL cab chassis has the following features:

• Trailer sway control
• Full-size spare steel wheel
• 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• 17-inch steel wheels
• 7.0-inch digital trip computer with digital speedometer
• Cruise control
• Automatic headlights
• Hill descent control (4×4)
• Rear differential lock (4×4)

Moving to the SL dual-cab or king cab adds rear air conditioning vents for second-row passengers.

The Navara ST adds the following features:

• Satellite navigation
• DAB+ digital radio
• LED headlights, daytime running lights, fog lights, turn signals, and tail lights
• 17-inch alloy wheels
• Privacy glass
• Powered sliding rear window
• Single-hoop sports bar in polished stainless steel
• Leather-accented steering wheel and gear shifter
• Auto-dimming internal rear-view mirror
• Auto power-folding, heated door mirrors
• Rain-sensing wipers

Moving to the ST-X brings:

• Towbar
• Sliding in-tray tie-down hooks
• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Polished twin-tube sports bar
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• Keyless entry and start
• Dual-zone climate control

The Navara PRO-4X features:

• All-terrain tyres
• Black stainless steel sports bar with sail panel
• Black fender flares, roof rails
• Black alloy wheels
• Black painted door mirrors, side steps, grille and door handles
• Leather-accented PRO-4X seats

In addition to revised damping, new spring rates and a larger and taller jounce bumper, the range-topping PRO-4X Warrior includes:

• 100kg GVM upgrade to 3250kg
• 275/70 R17 Cooper Discoverer AT3 tyres
• Red bash plate and 3mm under-body plating
• Front light bar
• Winch-compatible Nissan Genuine bullbar
• Payload increase over N-Trek Warrior, to 961kg
• Warrior-specific fender flares
• Warrior decal pack
• Warrior headrest embroidery

The Navara is available in the following colours:

• Forged Copper
• Burning Red
• Solid White
• White Pearl
• Twilight Grey
• Stealth Grey
• Brilliant Silver
• Black Star

All bar Black Star and Solid White cost an extra $650. Pro-4X and Pro-4X Warriors have a more limited colour palette than other variants.

The Nissan Navara is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Nissan offers five years of capped-price servicing. The first five services cost $503, $541, $710, $562, and $544 in automatic models, and $510, $548, $716, $570 and $552 in manual models.

The Navara’s engines remain solid if not spectacular offerings. The Nissan is generally quite refined until you’re really hard on throttle, and the seven-speed automatic transmission has a tall final ratio for highway use so you should see 1600rpm at 100km/h. It’s intuitive for the most part.

The powertrain itself could do with more torque. It can definitely do the job but an extra 50Nm or so would really transform how it feels when it comes to overtaking or merging on to the highway.

Under the tub in dual cab models sits unusual-for-the-class five-link rear suspension with dual-rate coil springs. These control the ride when laden without messing with the unladen road feel, and stand in contrast to the leaf springs found in most rivals (plus single and king cab models). This is alongside double-wishbone suspension at the front.

This means dual-cab Navaras are quite supple over road bumps when unladen, and don't jiggle or bounce around at the rear sans load. The extra few mm of tyre sidewall in the PRO-4X further isolate you from repeated low-amplitude cobbles and corrugations, especially next to a Triton which rarely feels settled.

While early D23 iterations felt unwieldy and sagged under load, this new one stays level with 700kg in the tub and offers SUV-like body control more often than not.

The four-wheel drive system is a part-time system that defaults to rear-drive, and has high- and low-range four-wheel drive operated via a switch. There’s an electronically-actuated lockable rear diff, hill descent control, and a nifty off-road monitor built into the surround-view camera that shows you where your wheels are tracking.

While the latest Series 5 Navara is itself an improvement, the Warrior build unlocks more potential. The added clearance and far better frontal protection means you feel much more confident tackling steep terrain and dropping into deep ruts.

Despite its raft of modifications aimed at improving off-road ability, the Warrior also remains surprisingly quiet and comfortable in urban driving.

Overall, we were pretty happy to drive the PRO-4X Warrior around town and would not hesitate to recommend it as a daily.

Two options packs are available on the ST-X. The first adds the following:

• Leather accented seat trim
• Heated front seats
• Eight-way driver seat with power slide/recline/height adjustment
• Power lumbar support

The second options pack adds the features above and a sunroof.

Nissan says that, like the rest of the industry, its stock levels are constantly fluctuating due to supply constraints and increased demand. It says it has “reasonable stock levels” of the Navara and will have additional supply in the coming months.

It says wait time depends on a number of factors including variant and location, and recommends talking to a dealer.

The Navara’s tub may be one of the shorter ones in the segment, but it’s wider than the likes of the Mitsubishi Triton and Ford Ranger.

It measures 1509mm long, 1560mm wide (1134mm between the arches) and 519mm deep.

Payload of all dual-cab models is at least 1000kg, except for the Pro-4X Warrior where it's 961kg with the manual and 952kg with the auto.

The single-cab Navara SL cab chassis has the range’s highest payload (1282kg), while the ST-X king cab 4×4 has the lowest (876kg).

All 2022 Navara models have a 3500kg braked towing capacity and a 750kg unbraked towing capacity.

The Nissan Navara competes in Australia's hotly-contested 4x2 and 4x4 ute segments. It's aimed at people who want to carry a load or tow something like a boat.

Although it's still a work vehicle at heart, the Navara is increasingly aimed at lifestyle buyers – witness the slick Pro-4X or the rugged, adventure-ready Pro-4X Warrior.

In 2021, the Navara was Australia's sixth best-selling ute with 15,113 sold.

That put it behind the Toyota HiLux (52,081), Ford Ranger (50,279), Isuzu D-Max (25,117), Mitsubishi Triton (19,232) and Mazda BT-50 (15,662).

The Nissan Navara has remained one of the most reliable utes on the market with little indication of systematic issues reported.

Though it rides well and has a quiet cabin, the Navara is arguably a mid-pack offering in the ute segment.

Its performance isn't top of the class, it isn't the cheapest, and its interior is showing its age, but fundamentally it still does enough right to deserve being on your shortlist.

Mercedes-Benz used the Navara as a base for its short-lived X-Class ute, while a restyled version of the Navara was also sold as the Renault Alaskan.

The next-generation Navara will share a great deal under the skin with the next-generation Triton from Nissan's Alliance partner Mitsubishi.