2022 Nissan Navara/Frontier on/off-road review

CarExpert

The new 2022 Nissan Navara is here! The dual-cab ute segment in Australia is huge with cars like the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger leading the race. But, has Nissan put enough effort into the latest iteration of the Navara to make sure it too is as good? Paul Maric finds out!  Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE  Read the full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2021-nissan-navara-review/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=review&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=single-car-review  More Nissan content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/nissan More Nissan Navara content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/nissan/navara  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior: 01:03 Interior: 04:19 Infotainment: 06:09 Safety Tech: 07:46 Practicality: 09:16 On-road: 12:29 Off-road: 16:35 Verdict: 18:59  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #nissan #review #navara

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul and welcome to the channel where we're doing yet another dual cab ute video,

00:04 but they're best-selling cars in Australia, so you guys want to watch them.

00:07 This is the new Nissan Navara. It's finally here.

00:11 They've been wanting to get this in front of you guys for ages,

00:13 and I'm glad we've finally had the chance to take it for a bit of a spin.

00:17 This is second from the top. It's called the STX.

00:19 It's priced at just under $59,000 in automatic trim,

00:23 but if that's a bit too much, the whole range starts at around $34,000.

00:27 Now, they've culled a few of those entry-level models.

00:30 This competes with things like, here we go,

00:33 Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-MAX,

00:36 literally every single dual cab ute on sale in Australia.

00:39 Today, we're going to do a detailed review of this car to see whether this update

00:43 yields any benefits over the outgoing model.

00:46 If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review because you're impatient,

00:49 you can use the time codes up on the screen there,

00:51 or if you're on YouTube, just scroll down and you'll see the chapters below.

00:54 And if you haven't done so already, I would love it if you could hit subscribe

00:57 and press the bell icon so you can find out every single time we drive yet another dual cab ute.

01:03 Okay, let's talk design. You've got eight exterior colors to choose from.

01:07 All but black and white are an extra $650.

01:10 There's also a unique color. It's like a dark gray just for the Pro 4X model.

01:14 That's now top of the tree. And if you do want to see our walk around of the Pro 4X,

01:18 click up here. I reckon it's a pretty tough-looking pickup truck/ute.

01:22 I know a lot of you get offended when I call them pickup trucks, but anyway.

01:25 Now, let's talk about the design changes and we'll start with the elephant in the room.

01:29 Not me. It's this giant grille. Have a look at the size of it.

01:32 So that has supersized here. I don't know. Do you like the look of it?

01:36 Does it look too big? It kind of follows on from the American truck,

01:39 which is a bigger size than this and they've kind of gone with that bigger grille there

01:44 and tried to mimic it here. I think it kind of works okay.

01:46 They've got Navara along the front there and then a big Nissan badge as well.

01:50 But one of the things I'm really impressed with is the headlights. Have a look at this.

01:53 You get four LED light clusters in there. You've got this cool-looking LED daytime running light as well.

01:59 So they've gone into a lot of effort here to give this a high-end and premium look.

02:04 You've got yourself a set of fog lights over here and then down here,

02:07 you have these sort of faux recovery hooks. On the Pro 4X model,

02:10 there are different color as well. So they kind of stand out a little bit more.

02:13 Around the side here, there are a set of wheels that have divided opinions.

02:17 So I've shared a video of this and a few pictures on social media

02:21 and a lot of people have called out the wheels.

02:24 They either love them or they hate them. I'm keen to know what you think.

02:27 So you know what you have to do. Go down and let me know in the comments section below.

02:30 But you've got these sort of chrome, shadow chrome highlights up the top with black in the center.

02:36 It's an 18-inch alloy wheel on a highway terrain tire.

02:39 I don't know. I think that this gives it a decent appearance.

02:42 I don't think it's over the top and it looks nice and classy,

02:45 especially when it's got a bit of dust on it. It kind of looks like it has a purpose,

02:48 which I think is pretty cool. Around the side here,

02:50 you have an indicator built into that wing mirror, a camera on the side for the 360 camera.

02:54 We've got these side steps. We've also got privacy glass and a sports bar for the STX model.

02:59 Come around to the back. I'll show you some of the design highlights.

03:01 Look at this. You've got a similar setup to the Hilux.

03:05 Well, the Hilux Rogue that we tested recently. You've got this LED element there.

03:09 Incandescent still for the indicator,

03:11 but this looks nice and sharp and it really makes it stand out at night time.

03:15 In terms of the other design elements,

03:16 I've got this sort of spoiler thing on the rear and this sits really high.

03:20 I don't know if it's just the position that I'm in,

03:22 but you can sort of see if you get your virtual measuring tape out how high that is.

03:26 You've got the Nissan logo there. Navara printed into the rear with that slight recess.

03:31 And then let me show you inside the tray.

03:34 They finally fitted a torsion bar to the tray, which means this is now easier to close.

03:38 You've got Navara insignia off to the side there.

03:41 The STX model comes with these adjustable rails on the side, which I'm a fan of.

03:45 Now in terms of the dimensions of the tray, it's a little under 1,500 millimeters long,

03:49 just over 1,550 millimeters wide, and you've got 1134 millimeters between the wheel arches.

03:55 But the most impressive part is that this has over one ton of payload.

04:00 So you're going to find that a lot of utes in this segment,

04:02 the higher you go up those grades, the less payload they actually have.

04:05 So the fact that they've been able to get a thousand kilos of payload and retain the coil spring suspension,

04:10 I think it's pretty impressive. So I quite like that.

04:13 And then down here, you also have an integrated step and then also a 3,500 kilogram braked towing capacity.

04:20 Okay, we are inside the new Navara. Let's start off with the key. Here it is here.

04:23 You've got the Nissan logo up the top. Lock, unlock.

04:27 There's a blank and then on the back there is nothing. Looks very much like every other Nissan key.

04:32 It's a proximity sensing key as well. And then you have a start button just up the top here.

04:36 Righto, let's talk styling. No, you haven't clicked on a review of the old Navara.

04:40 This is what it looks like. Not a great deal has changed.

04:43 You'll notice first off, this is all still really scratchy.

04:47 I would have thought at this point, you know, when they're releasing a new model now,

04:50 it would have been the perfect time to add a few soft touch finishes.

04:53 And just to make it feel a little bit more premium,

04:55 I guess we've kind of been spoilt with things like the Isuzu D-Max

04:59 and some of the other competitors that are coming into this segment,

05:01 even some of the Chinese utes that really just take it up a notch

05:04 in terms of making you feel good for the money that you've spent.

05:07 So a little bit disappointing that more hasn't gone into this.

05:10 A lot of piano black as well around the place.

05:13 And we know from our other reviews that marks really easily and is fairly hard to keep clean.

05:17 But there is a new steering wheel. Yes.

05:21 That means when you're doing U-turns, you're not going to keep honking the horn.

05:25 Every single Navara I've driven in this new shape,

05:28 basically every time you did a U-turn, you would whack the horn

05:30 and look like a bit of a donkey while you're driving.

05:32 This new steering wheel actually looks really cool.

05:34 It's nice and sporty. You've got a smaller center section there.

05:37 You've got all your controls and it's just a nice leather wrapped wheel.

05:40 So big tick on that. What about our touch points?

05:43 Well, it's nice and soft here and also pretty soft on the door there as well.

05:47 So those points are pretty good. Build quality actually feels nice and solid.

05:51 Do you own a previous Navara prior to the update?

05:54 What's it been like in terms of reliability and stuff? I'm keen to get everyone's feedback.

05:58 Oh, and our durometer. How soft are the surfaces in this cabin?

06:03 We've tested them all. And if you do want to see how this compares to other cars

06:06 that we've tested before, you can use the link in the description below.

06:09 Let's talk infotainment. Today, I'll take you through a quick run through of this.

06:13 If you want to see a more detailed review, click up here to watch one we've recorded previously.

06:18 But in terms of the highlights, you have AM, FM, DAB plus digital radio,

06:23 along with a six speaker sound system.

06:25 And then on the smartphone mirroring front, you have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

06:29 Both of those are wired. And this is what Apple CarPlay looks like, a full screen integration.

06:34 Let's see if that's quick. There you go. That's quick and sharp. Very impressive.

06:38 And this is what Android Auto looks like. There you go. Full screen as well.

06:42 I'll see if that's just as easy to swipe with. Yeah, that's nice and fast as well.

06:47 You also have inbuilt satellite navigation as well.

06:50 So if you don't have a smartphone paired, at least you're able to use the inbuilt sat nav.

06:55 Look, the main infotainment system itself isn't amazing.

06:58 It's definitely not one of the better ones in the segment, but it does the job.

07:03 And more importantly, it has smartphone mirroring, which simply means you do get voice recognition

07:07 with the standard infotainment system.

07:08 But when you have smartphone mirroring enabled, it sends those commands through to the phone.

07:12 So they're nice and accurate, nice and quick.

07:13 You can send text messages while you're driving and do all of that kind of stuff that you can't do

07:18 unless you have your phone in your hands, which you're not allowed to do.

07:21 Okay, so ahead of the driver is another LCD display. I'll just get out of that warning menu.

07:26 Here you've got all your trip computer functions and it really clearly and easily shows you

07:31 exactly what's going on.

07:32 This is also pretty handy for things like your safety controls.

07:36 And then it'll also give you a display down here on the four-wheel drive system to give you an idea

07:40 of which modes you're in and we'll test that out a little bit later on.

07:42 But outside of that, you have your tacho on the left and a speedometer on the right.

07:46 Okay, let's talk safety technology.

07:48 So you have low and high speed autonomous emergency braking.

07:52 You have blind spot monitoring built into that wing mirror.

07:55 Rear cross traffic alert.

07:57 You have a lane keeping assistant, but because this still doesn't have E-Pass,

08:01 which is electrically assisted steering, you have a hydraulic steering rack

08:04 and it means that it pulses the brakes to get you back into the lane,

08:07 which isn't really the best type of system.

08:10 It can get a little bit annoying at times and it's the same as the Hilux.

08:12 So not a big fan of that, but it exists.

08:14 In terms of parking tech, you have rear parking sensors and a 360 degree camera.

08:18 It's a bit disappointing there aren't any front parking sensors,

08:21 given there are on a lot of other utes in this segment.

08:24 But let's have a look at the quality of the 360 camera.

08:27 There it is there.

08:28 So look, this is going to be handy for four-wheel driving as well

08:31 because you're able to see exactly where the car's going

08:33 and then you've got that rear camera sitting there as well.

08:35 But it's not the best quality.

08:37 Like, I don't know, I was driving this last night and at nighttime,

08:40 it's really difficult to see out of this.

08:41 You do have bits lit up, but the quality of it is quite poor.

08:45 So it would be nice to see a high-quality camera here.

08:48 And if you look at something like the Kia range, the Sorento,

08:51 it has a HD camera and the quality of it is remarkable.

08:54 It makes parking easier.

08:55 So it would be nice to see Nissan invest a bit more in its parking tech.

08:59 Okay, before we go any further, I've got to ask you guys a question.

09:01 So this car is now seven years old with this platform.

09:05 Do you think this is enough of an update

09:07 or do you think they should have done a little bit more with this for its mid-life cycle?

09:11 So you know what to do. Go down to the comments below.

09:13 Let me know your thoughts. I am keen to get your feedback.

09:16 Okay, let's talk about practicality.

09:18 We'll start with our connections.

09:19 So it's really interesting.

09:21 You've got a 12-volt outlet down here.

09:23 You have a USB-A port.

09:24 You have an auxiliary port.

09:26 But in the glove box, you have a USB-C port, another USB-A port,

09:30 and then also a 12-volt outlet.

09:32 So you're pretty covered there.

09:33 Then on the storage front, where are you going to put your phone?

09:37 Let's get this out of the way for a second.

09:40 Now, Samsung will fit easily down here.

09:43 There's also room down the front if you want to fit it there,

09:46 although it kind of doesn't really fit.

09:48 It sort of fits in sideways.

09:50 I think this was designed before these bigger phones started coming out.

09:53 On the coffee front, if you do have a coffee cup, it sits in there pretty nicely.

09:57 It doesn't have any teeth, so it moves around a little bit.

09:59 Same story with your water bottle.

10:01 When it is in there, there's really nothing holding it into place,

10:04 but you can stick this in the door if you want to.

10:06 There's enough room for a bottle there, plus other bits and pieces.

10:08 You've got storage along the side here, which is very nice.

10:12 And then in here you have a pretty decent storage area.

10:15 I'll show you how big it is.

10:17 You can sort of fit a bottle sideways in there, which is good.

10:21 You have a glove box down here.

10:24 There you go. You can't fit anything in there once the manual's in there,

10:27 which is a little bit disappointing.

10:28 And then finally, you have a sunglasses holder up the top here.

10:32 Now, what about comfort?

10:33 You have dual-zone automatic climate control.

10:36 You've also got heated seats for the first row.

10:39 The seat for the driver is electrically adjustable.

10:42 And I thought I'd point out the seat design as well.

10:44 I think this is really cool.

10:44 I haven't seen this before in other dual cab utes.

10:47 It's like a ribbed section for the back of the seat.

10:50 It hugs you in nicely.

10:52 Now, in terms of comfort in the steering wheel, the steering wheel, yeah,

10:55 it sits nicely in the hands, but there's no reach adjustment.

10:58 So I find, I don't know, sometimes I'd love it to be just a little bit higher

11:02 and a little bit closer to me.

11:04 There's only sort of tilt adjustment, and I find that really frustrating with utes

11:07 like this and the Ford Ranger.

11:09 It'd just be good to be able to pull the wheel out if you needed to.

11:11 And then in terms of the controls, these are all easier to reach while you're driving as well.

11:15 Back seat time. Before I hop in and give you an idea of the dimensions and stuff,

11:19 let's look at storage.

11:19 So you can lift the base of this up and it reveals a storage area under here for the jack.

11:25 Then there's another one on this side, which you can kind of fit just a couple of little bits

11:28 and pieces into. You have ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats

11:32 and then top to the hoops on the three seats along here.

11:36 The only drama is it's kind of difficult to use.

11:39 If I lift that, it's sort of hard to lift and then it just fires out of there.

11:45 It's sort of, yeah, not a great design. But anyway, I will hop in.

11:49 Let's have a look at that. Okay, it is fairly tight back here.

11:53 So my driver's seat is pretty much all the way back.

11:56 That's sort of my standard driving position.

11:58 You can see my knees are almost entirely wedged up to the seat there.

12:01 It's not a great deal of toe room either. Headroom is reasonable.

12:04 And then in terms of creature comforts, you have a center armrest here with two cup holders.

12:09 See the bottle fits into there. No teeth though, so that's going to move around a little bit.

12:12 And then you have storage inside the door if you need it.

12:15 It's worth keeping in mind that the backrest doesn't come down.

12:17 It's fixed in position. So don't try reefing that out because it won't move.

12:21 You get the same treatment to the seats back here. Back of the seats, you have mat pockets.

12:24 You also get air vents and then an additional USB-A outlet in the back for charging.

12:30 So what is the new Nissan Navara like to drive?

12:35 Very much like the old one because it's a carryover engine and gearbox.

12:38 That means you're getting a 2.3 litre twin turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine.

12:43 Makes 140 kilowatts of power and 450 Newton meters of torque.

12:48 And it's mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission.

12:51 Now the thing that kind of frustrates me here,

12:54 I guess is that they've launched this and had a chance to really have a proper go at it

12:58 with an engine that at least matches others in this segment or beats it.

13:02 But instead they've just come out with the same engine.

13:05 And it's kind of strange when the rest of the segment is now at sort of around that 500 Newton meter mark.

13:10 They're still sitting here at 450. So odd decision.

13:13 Look, it's not the world's worst engine either.

13:15 So that's a good thing when you give it a bit of a punch because it's twin turbocharged.

13:20 You've always got a turbocharger somewhere there in that rev band to pick up the slack

13:25 and it gets up and moves quite nicely.

13:27 The gearbox is fairly quick to respond as well.

13:29 So it's not too lazy and that means that it's always sort of ready to move when you need it to.

13:34 Okay, let's talk fuel economy.

13:35 So Nissan claims a combined average of 7.9 litres per 100 k's.

13:40 Let's see how we're traveling. 9.9 is our average.

13:45 Look, it is a little bit off that claim,

13:47 but it is better than a lot of dual cab utes that we've tested in this segment.

13:51 So while it is down on power and torque compared to something like a Ford Ranger or a Toyota Hilux,

13:55 I guess it makes up for it there with the fuel economy.

13:57 Let's talk drive mode. So you've got a few of them to pick from.

14:00 There's a little switch here that takes you between tow, sport, standard and off-road.

14:05 So sport mode is pretty straightforward.

14:08 It sharpens up throttle response and makes it far more eager to drop down gears.

14:12 It gives it that impression that it's quicker than it actually is.

14:15 You've got your standard mode just for regular driving.

14:17 Off-road, we'll give that a shot in just a second. And tow mode, that's a good question.

14:21 I should have probably checked what that is, but I'm not entirely sure.

14:24 Let's pop it into tow mode. I'm just curious to see what it does here.

14:29 Okay, so tow mode is interesting. Instead of kicking down gears,

14:33 it's actually holding them for longer,

14:35 which means you're not going to be in a situation where it's constantly hunting.

14:39 It's actually really impressive. I haven't seen any other utes with a tow mode.

14:43 Now, Nissan doesn't give us a official 0 to 100 time.

14:47 So we thought we'd put it up against a stopwatch to see how it goes.

15:02 Now, let's talk about ride. One of the big differences between Navara

15:05 and other dual-cab utes is that this isn't leaf sprung.

15:09 This uses coil springs. And unlike the leaf sprung utes,

15:12 coil springs are generally built more for comfort and less for load carrying.

15:16 In the Navara, on the other hand, they're actually built for both,

15:19 and they've done quite a good job at making sure that it feels comfortable

15:22 both in and around the city and also out in the country.

15:25 It does get a little bit confused on cobblestones

15:28 and these consecutive bumpy sections out in the country,

15:31 but in and around the city, you could attack speed humps without any dramas

15:34 and it all feels nice and compliant.

15:36 So the ride is one of the big upshots in this ute compared to others that are leaf sprung.

15:41 Let's talk road noise. It's actually pretty good in here.

15:44 There isn't a great deal of tyre noise coming into the cabin

15:47 and I can't hear much wind noise either.

15:49 So given that it is a nice and compliant ride

15:52 and you're not getting much noise in the cabin, it's a pretty pleasant place to be seated.

15:56 Let's talk handling. See what it's like through our corner here.

16:01 It's not too bad. You don't have an electrically assisted steering rack,

16:04 so it's all hydraulic, but there's actually an okay amount of feel through that

16:08 and a bit of weight as well, which they try and dial into things like the Ford Ranger

16:12 with the E-Pass system, but it's not too bad in terms of handling.

16:15 What about visibility? Big old dual cab ute. Can you see out of it?

16:19 Luckily, you can actually see like right down the end of the bonnet there.

16:22 You've got that blind spot monitor built in to the wing mirror

16:25 and visibility out the rear isn't great.

16:27 You've got the headrests in the way, but you do have this cool little window switch.

16:32 It allows you to get some fresh air into the cabin. I really like that feature.

16:35 Okay, let's talk off-road specs. We're going to do a little bit of very light off-roading here.

16:39 Now in terms of the equipment that comes standard with the car,

16:42 you've got a ground clearance of 224 millimeters, an approach angle of 32.7 degrees.

16:47 That's the angle of the face you can approach before you hit anything at the front of the car

16:51 and then a departure angle of 20.3 degrees, which is the same but in reverse

16:55 and finally you have 600 millimeters of waiting depth.

16:57 Now in terms of four-wheel drive controls, this is a full-time two-wheel drive.

17:01 You can also flick it over to four-wheel drive high range and four-wheel drive low range.

17:04 You've got a rear diff lock that only works in low range

17:07 and you also have a hill descent control.

17:09 Now if none of that makes any sense to you, click up here to watch a video we shot on four-wheel drive controls explained

17:15 and also why you shouldn't be using four high and four low when you're on a sealed surface.

17:20 Okay, so what we'll do, we'll flick it into four high, which is high range four-wheel drive.

17:26 Now with the logs here, they're all dry, so it's going to walk up this fairly easily.

17:29 What this does is it shows us how good the traction controls are.

17:32 Actually, we've got this off-road driving mode and I can immediately feel that it has dulled the throttle there.

17:37 So that when I lay into it, it doesn't give us big old surges as we try and climb.

17:42 It's actually good because in a lot of four-wheel drives when you are driving like this,

17:48 if you get surges of torque, it can send you going too far too fast,

17:52 whereas this is nice and gradual and it just keeps the throttle sensitivity all the way down.

17:56 So I quite like that mode.

17:57 Now the other cool thing here is when you go into off-road mode, it enables this around view camera.

18:02 So that gives you the front camera to see where the front of the car is going

18:05 and then a camera over the left-hand wheel, so you know if you're going to drop into any ruts.

18:09 So that's a really handy feature and it's especially handy here on camera.

18:13 This never looks as bad as it actually is, but there's quite steep ruts in here.

18:17 They're very deep and there's a section that basically always nudges the front of the car.

18:23 So I'm about to collect that rock just there that will hit the underbody.

18:27 There it is, a little crunch.

18:29 This is handy because I can now see exactly where to plot my path so that we don't run into too many dramas.

18:35 As we descend this, I can feel my tyre compressing and then we get that wheel lifting in the air there.

18:41 We've got a hill descent control as well.

18:43 Let's give that a crack, see how that works.

18:46 So that's now engaged.

18:47 I can set a little light there.

18:48 I'm just going to let go of the brake.

18:50 It's not too bad.

18:51 It's probably going a little quick for my liking, but it's got it anyway.

18:57 So the Nissan Navara, the facelift, the new model, what do we think about it?

19:03 Look, the Navara was never a bad ute.

19:06 It always just did what it said on the box and it was good at carrying.

19:09 It was fairly comfortable.

19:10 They fixed the ride after, I think, four iterations of it.

19:13 They finally got there.

19:14 They got rid of the steering wheel.

19:15 It's kind of the dual-cab ute it should have been like five years ago.

19:19 So now that they've ironed out all the kinks, it is good, but it's not amazing.

19:24 And I think they've launched a ute into a really competitive segment and there are such

19:29 accomplished players in there at the moment that this is going to feel old very quickly.

19:33 We're getting the new Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok probably next year,

19:37 and they're really going to set this back, I suspect, in terms of how old it feels.

19:41 So look, they are doing driveway pricing now.

19:43 So I think they've sharpened the pencil a little bit in terms of the offering.

19:46 Finally has smartphone mirroring and all that kind of stuff on a bigger screen now,

19:49 which is good, but it's just not amazing.

19:51 And I just wish it was a little better than it is so that it can compete in the segment properly.

19:56 But anyway, let me know what your thoughts are in the comments section below.

19:59 Am I being too harsh or does that about sum up where the Navara is at the moment?

20:03 Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

20:05 If you did enjoy this video, make sure you share it, hit the like button,

20:08 and don't forget to subscribe to our channel so you can catch the rest of our videos as they go live.

20:13 But until next time, drive safely.

Category

Transcript

Recommended