The Nissan Navara has “comehome”. It’s now a South African-built bakkie –tuned for our conditions and specified to suit the needs of local bakkie buyers. Is the facelifted model good enough tohelp Nissan secure a biggershare of theleisure double-cab segment? We briefly drove the newcomer in Cape Town this week.

What’s new on the Navara?

It’s fair to say that the arrival of the all-new Navara in 2017 didn’t go down nearly as well as Nissan had hoped. Compared with its predecessor, the imported3rd-generation (D23) model faced much tougher and diverse competition in the local marketand its debut was arguably overshadowedby the arrival of its ill-fated German cousin, the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, with which it sharesa platform.

Nissan admittedly attempted to make its leisure double-cabmore attractive to luxury-family-car buyers(whowould ostensibly use their bakkies to pursue outdoor activities on weekends)by fitting the Navara with a coil-sprung – rather than atraditional leaf-sprung– rear suspension. The thinking behind that wasto make the bakkiemore stable at speed and that it would deliver acomfortable ride quality when travelling overrougher road surfaces. Results were varied… and most buyers apparently preferred the packaging and specification of the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiluxandVolkswagen Amarok.

The new Navara’s revised face is bold and strong. Red isn’t its best colour, however.

Following a substantial investment inits Rosslyn production facility, Nissan is now assembling the facelifted version of the Navara on local soil.Moreover, the bakkie has undergone extensive local testing and tuning to suit Southern African conditions.Amonga plethora of updates, the Navara features a more distinctive(and bold) design– especially atthe front,new tyres, suspension improvements, reduced vibration and motion from the body, a recalibrated steering, a larger capacity single-turboengine, a deeper loadtub, plusthere’s more in the way of connectivity options and safety features.

New Nissan Navara engine

The new 2.5-litre turbodiesel is surprisingly quiet and seemsmore refined than the old 2.3-litre unit.

It seems that consumers’ appetite for stronger engines hasofficially spiltover from the car to the bakkie segment, where Ford, Toyota and especiallyVolkswagen have extractedrather lofty peak outputs from their pick-up motors. Suffice to say that if a brand wants to offer a bakkie at the high-end of the double-cab market, thatmodel is unlikely to getmuch of a look in if it cannot produce450 Nm!

To that end, the pre-facelift Navara’s 2.3-litre turbodiesel has been superseded by a new 2.5-litre single-turbo diesel unit that produces 140 kW and 450 Nm of torque in the LE and PRO (2X or 4X)spec derivatives… and the latter output is just enough for Nissan’s newcomer to stay in the hunt with the Hilux and Ranger.

Out on the road, the engine feltrefinedand pulledeagerly without sounding laboured at the upper end of its rev range. There was a little bit of lag at pull-away,but the Nissan’s motorcertainly doesn’tlack overtaking oomphand quickly got up to freeway speeds. The 7-speed automatic transmission seems to be quite adeptat selecting the right gear for the situation; itdidn’thang onto gears needlessly.

Fuel consumption for the new engine is claimed at 8.1 L/100 km, which seems entirely achievable, considering that we saw an indicated returnof 9.6 L/100 km after completing the launch route.

What’s the Navara like to drive?

The updated Navara could be the best-riding bakkie on mixed road surfaces.

The Nissan’s reworked suspension (aided by other tweaks to the bakkie’s structure) has undoubtedly resulted in an improved, more forgiving ride quality. While traversingsome of the Cape’s wet and pockmarked dirt roads, the Navara’s suspension soakedup the myriad bumps and dips with admirable composure. Whereas many ladder-frame-based vehiclesshudder over washboard rutted sections, the Navara feltwell-controlled. There is some firmness(you’ll knowwhen you drive over hard ridges),but the ride is particularly stable on dirt. Is this the market’sbest-riding bakkie on mixed road surfaces?

Meanwhile, the bakkie’s steering is particularly light and requires some familiarisation. Bakkies usually have light steering configurations (to ensure they’re easy to manoeuvre in slow, off-road situations), but the Navara’s feels even lighter – although quite direct for a bakkie. The following statement may sound ludicrous, but the Navara arguably has the most sportscar-like chassis in the bakkie market!

Once out on the freeway, the Navara was particularly quiet inside, which demonstrates that Nissan has succeeded in its goal ofreducing vibration and harshness in the right areas.

Are the insides up to standard?

More features and connectivity are now available, but the Navara’s cabinlacks luxury soft-touch points.

The Nissan’s interior design hasn’t had much of an update, but you do getmore connectivity options in the form of 4 USB ports and a 12V power outlet. Android Auto and Apple Carplay can be accessed via a cable connection and displayed through the centre infotainment touchscreen. It’s not as fancy a screen or system as, say, in the Ranger or the updated Hilux, but it does the job.

In terms of outright luxury, the Navara doesn’t compare well with the segment leaders. The cabin is neat, but finished in a variety of plastics, none of which are soft-touch. When youcompare the Nissan’s workmanlike interior with the leather-trimmedcabins of the Hilux,Ranger and GWMP-Series,it’s noticeably more utilitarian. That said, the leather seats are particularly comfortable and LE derivatives sporta leather-trimmedsteering wheel and transmission shifter.It would be nice, though, to have more soft-touch materials on the dashand door panels – that wouldliftthe level of luxury appreciably.

The top-spec LE and PROderivatives come equipped with numerous new safety features in the forms of forward-collision alert, automatic emergency braking, high-beam assist and rear cross-traffic alert. PRO versions also feature a 360-degree camera system, navigation and rear privacy glass.

What’s more, the Navara’s loadtub has increased in size and now holds a further 100 kg(up to 1 003 kg for the LE and PROdouble-cab 4×4 automatic). The 4×2 automaticscan hold 1 086 kg. Thetowing capacitiesequalthose of the Nissan’s rivals (750 kg unbraked and 3 500 kg braked).

Nissan Navara pricing and aftersales

Nissan’s new South African-built Navara is available from R311 000 (for the entry-level single-cab derivative) up to R740 000 for the top-spec Double Cab Pro 4×4. It is sold with a 6-year/150 000 km warranty and a 6-year/90 000 km service plan.For the full list of Navara pricing click here.

Summary

The Nissan load tubcan hold 100 kg, which takes the load capacity over 1-tonne.

The updated, locally-producedNissan Navara stands out as a bakkie that rides especially well and feels stable over all road surfaces. The new engine seemspunchyenough to compete with those of the competition and is frugal enough when driven fairly. The interior connectivity and safety options are certainly a step up, but the plasticky feel of the interior lets the package down slightly. If you’re looking for a bakkie that feels fancy inside then the Navara doesn’t quite meet expectations. It will, however, be great to see how it shapes up now against familiar rivals in an upcoming bakkie bonanza shootout.