Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior review: macho, much?

It looks like a Chippendale with his shirt off carrying a log on each shoulder. But does the Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior actually perform?

Grrrr: it’s like a blokey facelift

I recently wasted an entire hour of my life wrestling on the floor with a sofa bed designed by a complete bastard, during which I became so red-faced, sweaty and enraged by my inability to get a single bolt into a hole allegedly made for it that my family had to flee the house for fear I might actually explode.

This seemingly simple job would have taken a real man less than two minutes. But not me. I deeply despise the words “some assembly required”, having on one occasion, while prone, dropped a screw down my throat. I am not allowed to own, or touch, power tools, and if it wasn’t for facial hair and my ability to open jars, I think it would be fair to question whether I am a bloke at all.

Which is why it strikes me as strange that I like the look of the Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior, a ute/pick-up truck that has been given a blokey version of a facelift – making it look tougher rather than prettier. I understand why I swoon over a Porsche 911; it is sensuous in shape and sexy in appeal and it speaks to my inner teenager. The Warrior, on the other hand, looks like a Chippendale with his shirt off carrying a log on each shoulder, so I wasn’t immediately sure what it was doing for me.

From the front

Then I climbed up and into it and realised that, from the driver’s seat, this imposing beast made me feel more capable, more hirsute in the chest area and just generally more manly (I’m not sure how it would make a woman feel; every single one of the two dozen motoring journalists at the Nissan launch was male, so I couldn’t ask).

Of course, liking the look of the Warrior – with its angry red chin (it’s called a “bash plate”, which is just fun to say), whopping off-road tyres and widened track stance – doesn’t mean I want to use one in the way its makers (a Victorian-based company called Premcar, which was allowed to fettle this Navara PRO-4X for tough Australian conditions) intended.

At the launch outside Coffs Harbour, we were forced to spend a long day attempting to avoid knocking down trees and hurting ourselves in a sodden forest where the ground appeared to be made of raspberry jam with dirt in it. Yes, it is incredible that a vehicle weighing umpteen tonnes can scramble up a mountain that would defeat a goat, even with a knock-kneed nerd at the wheel, but is it fun? For the first 30 minutes, maybe, but for the next seven hours, not so much.

... and from the back

In the past, I have decried systems like Hill Descent Control, which allows you to take your feet off the pedals and let the car creep down cloying clay slopes, somehow finding traction, while you simply control the steering. But there had been so much rain that even the steering was hard work, because sometimes you could push the wheel full lock in one direction and still keep sliding the other way, making your vehicle look like a very drunk person attempting to traverse a gutter.Usually fear is accompanied by a pleasing frisson of excitement but I was experiencing a combination of boredom and terror. To be fair, I have felt this before, when listening to certain politicians.

Four-wheel-drive enthusiasts are the sort of people who like to see nature up close, and then flatten it. They will enjoy the Warrior; it is staggeringly capable, and even a numpty can do ridiculous things in it with ease. Apparently those tough-looking tyres (Cooper Discoverer All Terrain AT3s) are a big help, as are Premcar’s underbody protection plate, the increased ground clearance (260mm, up from 220mm), revised suspension and a “larger, taller jounce bumper”, which sounds vital.

Subtle it ain’t

We spent 95 per cent of our time off-road, but I can tell you that, on sealed surfaces, the cabin is very comfortable, the ride is ute-like and the 2.3-litre twin-turbo diesel offers plenty of torque, at 450Nm, and cruising power of 140kW. Tweaks to the springs and dampers also mean there’s nowhere near the body roll you might expect when taking corners at highway speeds.

I can also confirm that when you finally climb out and your Warrior is caked in mud right up to the windows, it somehow looks even better. And more manly.

The PRO-4X Warrior, the flagship of the Nissan Navara range, is also, at a starting price of $67,490, a staggering amount of vehicle for the money. Even just breaking it down to a price per kilo, it seems like you’re getting a lot of stuff. And really, what price can you put on a vehicle that makes you feel more muscular, and more likely to be able to build your own furniture, or change a tyre, just by sitting in it?

Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed automatic, four-wheel drive

PRICE: $67,490

STARS: Four out of five