Locally developed Navara SL Warrior arrives

NISSAN Australia has today unveiled the newest member of its locally developed Warrior ute range, the Navara SL Warrior by Premcar.

Priced from $58,000 plus on-road costs with a six-speed manual transmission or $60,500 when optioned with the seven-speed automatic – or $11,400 more than the derivative variant – the Navara SL Warrior is based on the SL four-wheel drive dual-cab and offers what Nissan Australia says is “new adventure-ready equipment, increased off-road ability and suspension tuned in Australia for Australian conditions”.

Developed with Nissan’s local engineering partner Premcar, Nissan Australia says the Navara SL Warrior has benefitted from the same exhaustive testing, tuning and localisation program as the PRO-4X Warrior.

The importer says the Warrior program aims to broaden Navara’s capability, rather than simply shifting it to off-road applications, which is why “every change or addition made to the SL Warrior has been tuned and tested in all driving scenarios to ensure capability doesn’t come at the expense of on-road comfort.”

Equipment additions above those offered in the Navara SL (see below) include a winch-compatible bullbar with integrated LED lightbar, a Navara-branded underbody bash plate, 40mm suspension lift (taking ground clearance to 260mm), a 100kg GVM upgrade, 3500kg tow pack, fender flares, a tub liner, and all-weather floor mats.

The Navara SL Warrior rides on what Nissan Australia says is comprehensively retuned suspension with revised front and rear-end damping for better compliance, sound insulation and reduced float when towing or carrying a load. The model is fitted with 17-inch wheels shod with 275/70 series Cooper Discoverer AT3 tyres.

The changes improve the offroad geometry of the Navara SL to offer an approach angle of 36 degrees (+ 4 degrees) and “near-identical” departure angle from 19.8 to 19.0 degrees with the tow bar fitted.

Standard (factory) equipment for the Navara SL includes a 2.3-litre four-cylinder twin-turbocharged diesel engine which develops 140kW at 3750rpm and 450Nm between 1500-2500rpm, six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic transmissions, seven airbags, a reversing camera, and driver assistance technologies including Intelligent Forward Collision Warning, Intelligent Emergency Braking and Intelligent Driver Alert.

The model is further equipped with a 7.0-inch Advanced Drive-Assist Cluster Display and an 8.0-inch infotainment array with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, Bluetooth connectivity, six-speaker sound, and USB A and USB C outlets.

Nissan Australia backs the Navara SL Warrior with the same five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty offered elsewhere in the Nissan range, the warranty covering “all Nissan and Premcar parts”.

“We’re thrilled with the response to the Premcar Warrior program to date, and we want as many people to experience these made-for-Australia products as possible,” said Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson.

“With the new Navara SL Warrior by Premcar, a new and more accessible entry point to the Warrior family has been developed, but one that’s no less comfortable on the road, and no less capable off it.

“The SL Warrior will add to Australian Navara sales, rather than subtract from it, with Nissan Australia securing additional units to meet demand. It is further proof of how highly the Warrior program is regarded.”

The SL Warrior will give Nissan another entrant in the highly competitive Pick-Up/Cab Chassis 4X4 segment where its Navara is already a strong contender. Year-to-date (YTD) sales (to the end of June 2022) show Nissan has sold 5911 examples of the Navara placing the model in seventh place for sales.  

Toyota’s HiLux currently tops the Pick-Up/Cab Chassis 4X4 segment with YTD sales of 23,852 units, leading the Ford Ranger (18,285), Mitsubishi Triton (15,028), Isuzu D-Max (10,356), Mazda BT-50 (6324) and Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series (5936). The top 10 is rounded out by the GWM Ute (2741), Ram 1500 (2197) and Volkswagen Amarok (2116).

The Navara SL Warrior is expected to arrive in Nissan showrooms across Australia in August 2022.

2022 Nissan Navara 4x2 pricing*:

2022 Nissan Navara 4x4 pricing*:

*Pricing excludes on-road costs.