Nissan Navara D23 Pro-4X (2021-2026)

Aggressive off-road upgrades...minus a power bump – This is Nissan’s most off-road focused ute. It’s made by a Japanese company, in Thailand, and has been upgraded in Australia - all while wearing American tyres. The new Navara is an impressive machine, thanks to its better on-road manners and multi-link suspension set-up in the rear. You can buy a more off-road focused PRO-4X model from Nissan, however there’s one more model above that which makes that Navara look a little inadequate.

This is the Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior, which is tuned and upgraded here in Australia by Premcar.

If you’re looking for plush materials, they’re not really found on the inside of the Navara. There are plenty of hard, scratchy plastics that run throughout the entire cabin; only the leather seats and stitched floor mats provide that extra premium touch to this interior.

Hard plastics result in some rattling and squeaks as the chassis of the Navara shakes along rough sections of road or dirt.

The exterior build quality however, is - simply put - tough. These added components lift the exterior build quality to another level. A tough looking and feeling hoop-less bull-bar, bash plate and wide off-road tires are all justifying their price in build quality alone.

This exact PRO-4X Warrior will set you back $69,990 before on-road costs, and if you want a manual, you’ll pay a little less. It’s a fair price to pay against competitors like the Jeep Gladiator and Ford Ranger Raptor.

Although, the most frustrating part of this ute is the lack of a power bump, which would make it more competitive with its close rivals.

Premcar’s partnership with Nissan means that all of these upgrades are tied in with the 5 year/unlimited kilometre warranty of the Navara.

As for servicing, for the automatic version of this ute, you can expect to pay $3,769 for 5 services over 5 years or 120,000km of driving (whichever comes first). Total cost of servicing during this period is $3,623.

Sound isolation from the outside world was surprisingly great. Despite wearing heavy-duty Cooper off-road tyres, minimal tire roar and wind noise entered the cabin.

It’s not library quiet in here, but you’re not going to be exhausted by the noise that does bleed into the Navara.

The generic speaker system was probably the part of the sound experience that needed an upgrade the most. It met my mark for a base expectation, however I would have loved a little more punch or clarity to get a little more from the music that I was playing through these speakers.

Braking was a definite weak point for the heavy Warrior.

There’s a set of front disc brakes and a set of drum brakes on the rear. Suffice to say, they’re not big enough to provide absolute confidence under heavy braking.

The softer brake setup allows for smooth trail braking through bends, to produce a smooth transfer from acceleration to slowing down. Albeit, you don’t feel a whole lot of confidence that this ute can stop ‘on a dime’.

Using the same 2.3L twin-turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine found across the Navara line up, I can’t help but feel that Premcar really wanted to tune this motor.

In fact, they did. However, boardroom meetings saw the Warrior being refused a power bump in the name of affordability. I’d argue people would have been fine paying a few extra grand for a noticeable performance enhancement, but that’s just me.

That means you have the same 140kW at 3750rpm and 450Nm at 1500-2500rpm, resulting in a measly 60.9kW per tonne.

A recorded casual 0-100km/h time saw us hit 100km in at a mediocre 13 seconds. It’s noticeably slower between 80-110km/h, but those turbos work hard to push this ute to the finish line.

This 7-speed automatic transmission makes for a comfortable daily driver option in the Navara. It’s smooth, it’s certain in the gears it holds, and never fumbles a shift.

Premcar could have carried over the set-up they tuned for the N-Trek Warrior from the previous generation Navara, and most of us wouldn’t have noticed.

Yet, Premcar went ahead and did a complete rework on the suspension for this generation of Warrior. There’s been a reduction in rebound to avoid ‘wafting’ over undulations in the road, a 30mm increase in track width and a 40mm increase in height.

What results from this upgrade is a truck that actually is a lot of fun to take through sweeping corners. In true trophy truck race car fashion, in really sharp corners, you can read that weight transfer through to the outer-rear tyre, as the inner-front proceeds to lighten up.

Off-road, the suspension set-up was a treat to conquer ruts, puddles and long sections of rough fire trails. Although, it occasionally felt a little too stiff over some deeper holes in the road; deflating those all-terrain tyres a little should help combat that a bit.

Over nearly 2000 kilometres of driving, I averaged around 10L per 100km over a series of long country roads and some urban environments.

Inside, there’s a 7-inch infotainment screen, and a smaller LCD screen found in the driver’s instruments. There are plenty of hard buttons, which might mean a sigh of relief for some buyers.

I wish the interior matched the sharp, boxy looks of the exterior. Rather, it feels a little like the last generation Nissan here. I would appreciate a little more tech, and some amenities like heated seats to come back to the top-trim Navara.

Tray space remains the same for the Warrior, as it does for the rest of the Navara line up. Gross vehicle mass carrying capacity has increased by 100kg to compensate for the additional weight added by the accessories splashed on the exterior of this ute, as well as that full-sized spare wheel.

There’s an easter egg type accessory here, as keen-eyed viewers will notice the custom-built tow hitch receiver to prevent that 40mm lift from having any impact on hitching a trailer compared to a normal Navara.

Comfort-wise, I found this ute to deliver an effortless ride over 10 hours of back-to-back driving. I’ve heard some complaints about the comfort of these front seats, but despite those claims, I didn’t have any major issues with them. My lower back survived the road trip, that’s for sure.

Looking for a serious off-road capable ute, without having to spend time finding, fitting and fabricating aftermarket parts to it? The Navara PRO-4X Warrior is for you.

It provides performance both off and on the road, retains the regular Navara’s practicality, and looks in every way like a Baja-ready trophy truck.

If those things appeal to you, it’s a certain ‘Buy It’ option - especially if you’re looking for a modern day, Australian-tuned ute.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

Not happy with the electricals – I purchased a Navara pro 4 X in 2022. I had few electrical.issues even though the tank was full. I could see low fuel.warning on dashboard. Once I was bogged on a flat service due to wet weather vehicle was not able to pull out eventhough I activated 4x4 and diff lock. I experienced vehicle would not start randomly takes longer ignition and hand to turn it off. Very good with the towing. But not happy with the electricals.

The Navara truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.- Why this is the best Navara so far – I am not one of those guys that walks into a dealership not knowing anything about the vehicle i am about to test drive, normally there is a lot of online research, looking at recalls, issues and professional road test, professional opinions and the tire kickers. I also have to add this is my third Nissan Navara (2019 Kingcab Manual STX, 2020 Ntrex Auto) and now the 2022 Pro-4X Warrior- Manual i also need to add that its a 2022 (Series 2) model and the manuals are hard to find. How to know if you have the updated/new version, heated front seats, rear seat map pockets and electric seat controls for the driver, series one or 2021 version does not have these options.

Getting a new car tip- The Nissan website when you want to take the next step in test driving and purchasing a vehicle directs you to your nearest dealer to your postcode. The dealers nearest to your postcode so you will be directed to company AHG or DVG or an independent, the trading stock between dealerships does not happen so they give you an estimated delivery time based on their stock and their allocation. As a customer looking for a new vehicle this can make an influence on your decision making on what make to buy due to the lead-time. A customer only gets the full picture of stock level of a vehicle by shopping around different dealers and for most they believe they are buying from Nissan Australia and not a company. Unfortunately as all of the dealerships are privately owned they don't see helping Nissan. They want the profit for their dealership and essentially money in their own pockets rather than another dealer/salesperson. In my case i was originally told 5-6 months waiting time, i found a vehicle available in 3 weeks delivery so it pays to shop around.

Inside the car- Leather accented features and upholstery that may contain synthetic material, it looks like leather and behaves like leather but who really knows and maybe I should ask a vegan. The seats are comfortable and well supporting and front seats are heated and the work great in the winter, i always feel i can’t get them low enough. I have two hates in the new 2022 Navara, the cup holders under the air vents have now gone and you have to live with the cup holders in the center console and that is where the second issue lies. Where do you put your phone, there is only one "Android Auto" plug and that is in front of the gear selector, the shelf nearest to socket is too small and slippery for a phone, so you end up with your phone in the cup holder. Ideally i would like my phone in the glove box or the storage box at the rear of the center console, the storage box has a charging USB, USB-c and a 12v power supply but no "Android Auto" plug. My fix was a $19 fix from Jaycar extending the front "Android Auto" plug around the back of gear selectors fascia’s into the glove box, now i have 2 cup holders i can use. The sound system is good not on a Bose level but good, i love the new DAB integration as well as the standard AM, FM and streaming options. I have all my music on my phone for long drives so i use Android auto with the "Rocket Player App" as it does listing by file. The satellite navigation is smooth and easy to use and so is the voice calling, the screen is not huge but doesn't really bother me its more than adequate. I just love the new Speedo/Taco set up nice integration of information from the cars safety devises, sound system and warning messages, gone are the 4 warnings that you are low on fuel, you now just get one warning. I find the steering wheel a bit busy with buttons but i am getting used to them. The steering wheel has only up and down adjustments but i was able to find a comfortable driving position. The new safety gadgets are great, mirrors have blind spot monitoring (new) and bleeps and flashes at you if you indicate while there is a vehicle in your blind spot. You also have high beam assist (New), automatic wipers (New) Lane Departure Warning (New) Intelligent Lane Intervention (new) gently pulls you away from the white line and emergency breaking (new), not tried yet. The manual still comes with cruise control yes the buttons are on the steering wheel as well. So why the manual, my Navara STX in 2019 was a manual and I prefer and enjoy driving manuals, also there is slightly better fuel economy, I just takes a week and you don’t even notice your changing gears. Aerodynamics, it shaped like a brick very beautiful and muscular looking but still brick like and when you pull out from behind a truck you can feel the Ute slow and more throttle is needed. The weight is more than the standard Navara (1924kg) the Pro Warrior is 2146kg so compared to the standard it does feel like it needs more throttle to pull off and the brakes need more foot pressure to slow the beast down, but 2 weeks in I am accustomed to it slight quirks and now just feels normal. The suspension is raised 40mm from the standard STX and my wife still manages to climb in but harder from the driver’s side no grab handle so the steering wheel is quite handy. Handling on the road is better than my last Navara 2020 N Trex, I was expecting it to wallow when hard cornering and yet it far more stable and I can now push a little harder. I haven’t taken the car off road yet but there are plenty of online reviews that give the Warrior 5 star reviews for its ability. So would I buy one again after driving for 2 weeks? Hell yes its far more fun to drive than my old Navara and it feels far more luxurious. I normally drive about 45,000 kms per year for my work and spend a lot of time behind the wheel, I have tried other brands of Utes and for someone who enjoys driving and comfort is important to them, they just don’t stack up.

The bits I love- I love the styling inside and the built in steel Bull bar and led light. Love the new driving aids and folding mirrors, the Ute’s gone from a work horse to something more refined. It drives well and no slouch off the mark sounds a bit more gruntier than my last one.

The bits I hate – where’s my cup holders gone? Needs an "Android Auto" plug either in the glove box or the box at the rear of the center consol.

Computer failure issues – Purchased a brand new Nissan Navara Pro in November 2021 to tow a camper trailer. I had a company car so only drove the car on weekends. We took it off road the first week of January and was getting malfunction warning lights coming on and the usb function kept disappearing so you could not play music through the USB at all every-time this happened. I got some time off work so booked the car into Nissan in Midvale and said it’s the only car I have so I will have to wait for it. I sat there for nilly 5 hours only to be told they didn’t know how to fix it and it was a complete camera failure and that they would need to write to Nissan to see if they would even repair it under warranty! I said it has a 5 year warranty. He said we noticed a small chip in the wind screen from a rock and this could have caused it, I said I don’t think so as I only got the stone chip friday and the failures have been like this for months but I could not get the time off work. I said so you are trying to tell me if anyone get a small stone chip in their windscreen the whole computer camera systems will fail? It was only when I said I will be writing to the ACCC that his attitude was more passive than to begin with. I felt like he was trying to get out of fixing this issue all together. I said why haven’t you fixed the USB issue he said oh that a seperate issue all together and we can look at that another time.

This is unprofessional and unbelievable that anyone should be treated this way. I still have not heard back from Nissan. I would strongly warn anyone in buying the Nissan Navara if you are going to have failures like this. I said to the man so where is the computer camera system? He said in the rear view mirror on the window. If Nissan are going to continue to give me poor service and mess me about with fixing this car I will be more than happy to do a more in depth review, YouTube chancel etc to get the word out there, so stay tuned! Purchased a brand new Nissan Navara Pro in November 2021 to tow a camper trailer. I had a company car so only drove the car on weekends. We took it off road the first week of January and was getting malfunction warning lights coming on and the usb function kept disappearing so you could not play music through the USB at all every-time this happened. I got some time off work so booked the car into Nissan in Midvale and said it’s the only car I have so I will have to wait for it. I sat there for nilly 5 hours only to be told they didn’t know how to fix it and it was a complete camera failure and that they would need to write to Nissan to see if they would even repair it under warranty! I said it has a 5 year warranty. He said we noticed a small chip in the wind screen from a rock and this could have caused it, I said I don’t think so as I only got the stone chip friday and the failures have been like this for months but I could not get the time off work. I said so you are trying to tell me if anyone get a small stone chip in their windscreen the whole computer camera systems will fail? It was only when I said I will be writing to the ACCC that his attitude was more passive than to begin with. I felt like he was trying to get out of fixing this issue all together. I said why haven’t you fixed the USB issue he said oh that a seperate issue all together and we can look at that another time.

This is unprofessional and unbelievable that anyone should be treated this way. I still have not heard back from Nissan. I would strongly warn anyone in buying the Nissan Navara if you are going to have failures like this. I said to the man so where is the computer camera system? He said in the rear view mirror on the window. If Nissan are going to continue to give me poor service and mess me about with fixing this car I will be more than happy to do a more in depth review, YouTube chancel etc to get the word out there, so stay tuned!