What's the news?
The new Nissan NP300 Navara pick-up was officially launched in Ireland this week at the Ploughing Championships, with fresh exterior styling, car-like interior touches, more technology than before and a new drivetrain.
Exterior
The new Navara comes in Double and King Cab guises and is offered in four grades, XE, SV, SVE and LE. Dominating the front of the Double Cab Navara is Nissan's signature V-motion chrome grille that extends around new boomerang shaped LED headlamps. The chrome theme is continued into the frames around the fog lamps fitted in the front bumper, the side steps, roof rails and on the door mirrors. The new Navara comes with 16-inch steel wheels as standard (18-inch alloys from SVE up) that sit under flared wheel arches. Other design cues are taken from the Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail. At the rear there's a 'sports bar' with integrated brake lights and a spoiler for improved aerodynamics, as well as a handy step that swivels out from under the bed. It will be offered in eight colours including the Savannah Yellow of the car in the photos.
Dimensionally, the new Navara is not too different from the previous model, although the wheelbase has been shortened by 50mm to 3,150mm, which results in a better turning circle, while the overall length has grown by 34mm to 5,330mm giving the Navara the longest bed in class (according to Nissan) at 1,578mm for the Double Cab and 1,788mm for the King Cab. The wade depth has also been increased from 450mm to 600mm.
Payload ratings are now in excess of one tonne and towing capacity is up to 3,500kg.
Interior
Taking even more inspiration from its crossover stable, Nissan has added the same NASA-technology, spinal-support seats found in the Qashqai and X-Trail, as well as increasing the angle of the passenger seats for greater comfort. There is dual-zone climate control up front and dual air vents in the rear. The dashboard has been redesigned to give a more sculpted appearance and create more space and on some models features a new seven-inch satnav system not yet seen on Nissan's passenger cars.
As standard, all Navaras come with Hill-Start Assist, Hill Descent Control (On four-wheel drive vehicles), cruise control and speed limiter (on Double Cab), Bluetooth with USB and aux-input, automatic headlamps, electric front windows and mirrors and seven airbags.
Mechanicals
Two major changes here as out goes the leaf spring system on the Double Cab and in comes an all-new five-link rear suspension design to help improve ride comfort and handling. This new system also saves 20kg over the previous leaf spring layout. The King Cab retains the leaf spring set-up, but its new design is now 7kg lighter and gives an improvement in rear wheel approach angle.
The Navara comes with one engine option, a 2.3-litre dCi diesel unit, which is claimed to be 24 per cent more efficient than the previous offering and it is available with two power outputs, 160- and 190hp. The top of the range engine features twin turbocharging. Maximum torque is 403- and 450Nm respectively, produced from as low as 1,500rpm.
The new Navara is offered with two- and four-wheel drive transmissions with a standard six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed automatic.
Anything else?
All new Navaras come with Nissan's five-year or 160,000km manufacturer warranty, which is fully transferable to subsequent owners.
The Navara Double Cab goes on sale from January 2016 with the King Cab arriving later in the year. Irish prices are not yet confirmed but are expected to be priced close to the rivalling Toyota Hilux at around €31,950.