Nissan Australia has just unveiled their latest range-topping Navara dubbed the N-Trek Warrior which has it sights set firmly on beefed-up utes such as the Toyota HiLux Rugged X, HSV SportsCat and of course the Ford Ranger Raptor.
Ute and off-roading enthusiasts will undoubtedly recognise the moniker ‘Warrior’ from when the brand first unveiled its Titan Warrior Concept at the 2016 North American International Auto Show, which was made to showcase their roughest and toughest off-roading concept of the full-sized Titan V8 pick-up truck.
In the case of the Navara N-Trek Warrior, it’s no concept. Nissan will be shipping it straight from its Rayong, Thailand plant to Victoria-based tuning specialist Premcar, who in the past were responsible for fiddling with Fords and Toyotas under the guise of FPV and TRD respectively. So, it’s safe to say that the Warrior isn’t just garnished with decals and store-bought off-roading bits.
The Warrior starts out in life as the N-Trek (which is based on the ST-X) which is then worked on in by a skilled team at Premcar’s Epping manufacturing facility using a plethora of parts sourced from reputable OEM suppliers and tuned specifically for the Australian market.
Some of the biggest changes made to the Warrior lie beneath its skin such as the uprated suspension system. The standard springs are ditched for a two-stage setup that’s been tuned for softer initial spring rate with a harder secondary spring rate. This makes for a better ride as it softens the energy transfer to the chassis when off-roading. It’s complemented by dampers with a larger outer tube diameter for better oil cooling, tuned specifically for better response whether on or off-road.
While the standard N-Trek ships with 18-inch wheels, the Warrior gets a unique set of 17s wrapped around Coopers AT3 275/70 all-terrain tyres, which when combined with the aforementioned suspension upgrades result in an overall lift of 40mm. It even has a unique towbar cross member on its ladder frame chassis to support the underside fitment of a full-size spare wheel while keeping its 3,500kg braked towing capacity.
No serious off-roader would be complete if it didn’t at least look the part. The Warrior receives a hoopless body-coloured steel bullbar with an LED light bar attached to it along with black Warrior-unique bits all round.
While the exterior gets the visual upgrade that sets it apart from the rest of the range, the interior hasn’t been drastically changed for the Warrior. Keeping with the orange-accented theme, the seats have orange inserts with the front pair getting embroidered headrests. Orange stitching is applied to the seats, centre console, front door armrests and steering wheel; even the floor carpets are orange-accented.
The Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior is powered by the same 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel lump making 140kW at 3,750 rpm with 450Nm from between 1,500-2,500 revs driving all fours via a 7-speed automatic or 6-speed manual transmission.
Nissan Australia, however, has yet to reveal prices for their range-topping ute. Manufacturing is slated to begin next month with a daily production capacity of 10 units (or more depending on demand) with the first wave billed to hit the showroom floors in December. The Warrior will also ship with Nissan’s five-year factory warranty.
For more information on the Nissan Navara, please visit our Showroom.
