Nissan Navara Pick Up Truck Road Test

Produced by Peter Grunert

Pluses: Huge load space, good passenger space, sharp styling, accomplished on and off-road. The real deal.

Minuses: Insurance ratings are a little steeper than some rivals'. Upmarket kit can equate to upmarket prices.

Pick Up Trucks Direct Rating: No arguing - the Nissan Navara pickup is right at the top of its game. With sophisticated equipment and engineering, this one sets the standard.

Pulling Power

Snapping at the heels of the Mitsubishi L200 pickup truck like an angry Jack Russell, the Nissan Navara pickup has swiftly established itself as the second best-selling pickup truck in the UK. Actually, that analogy is a little off the mark - this is a bull mastiff of a vehicle, a big brute with the largest load bay in its class and ample passenger space.

It's got the power to match. Under the bonnet is a 2.5-litre common-rail turbo diesel thumping out 172bhp and 297lb ft of torque, giving you choice of acceleration to see off many conventional cars, or strong towing abilities.

A six-speed manual gearbox makes an effective job of constantly keeping the engine in its power band and comes recommended, although a slick-shifting five-speed auto transmission is an extra-cost option worth considering on Nissan Navara Tekna double-cab pickup models.

Toughing It Out

While comparisons can frequently be drawn between modern, increasingly sophisticated pickups and more luxury-focused SUVs, the Nissan Navara pickup truck has a trump card up its sleeve - it actually is based on an SUV. That's Nissan's Land Rover Discovery rivalling Pathfinder, built alongside the Nissan Navara at a plant in Barcelona and donating its ladder frame chassis and double wishbone front suspension. Only the rear suspension diversifies, the Nissan Navara pickup gets the solid axle and leaf springs it requires to cope with the payloads that it may be asked to carry.

All models come with four-wheel drive as standard, with a 50:50 front to rear split. Swapping between your choice of rear-wheel drive, high-ratio four wheel drive or low-ratio four-wheel drive is a simple matter of turning a rotary dial built into the dashboard. A standard limited-slip differential is also thrown in, improving traction off-road.

The Nissan Navara pickup truck performs well back on-road too, with accurate steering and a relatively supple ride quality that proves its SUV genetic make-up.

The Wide Open Spaces

Two body styles are on offer here. Hell bent on maximising cargo space is the king cab variant, with short back-hinged rear doors giving access to a pair of seats suitable for kids, amputees or a pair of mates squeezing in for a short journey. The upside is a load length of 1,861mm and a particularly square-sided cargo area, giving space for 4ftx8ft sheets of plywood or a couple of motocross bikes.

Alternatively the Nissan Navara double-cab pickup offers good room for three full-sized rear passengers to stretch out, plus a still competitive load length of 1,511mm. There's also a minimum of 1,130mm on offer width-wise between the wheel housings.

In no area does this pick up drop the ball. Maximum payloads range from 1,073kg for the basic king cab through to 1,123kg for the equivalent double-cab, with maximum braked towing weight at 2,700kg or 2,600kg for each.

In For The Long Run

It's a subjective thing, but many regard the Nissan Navara pickup to be the sharpest looking pick up truck on offer right now. The chiselled styling lends this pick up a distinctive, contemporary character, helped by the chunky 17-inch wheels fitted to all but the entry-level 'Standard' spec models.

Look to the top Nissan Navara Tekna model and you'll find upmarket features never before seen amongst pickups. Rain-sensing wipers, Bluetooth phone connection for hands-free phoning and soft leather trim of a quality usually reserved for luxury cars, are just some of the features found on the Nissan Navara Tekna pickup truck.

Not that the Nissan Navara pickup has lost touch with its roots. There's a three year, 60,000-mile warranty, and lengthy 18,000-mile gaps between servicing mean that it will need few breaks from work, or play.