Tough, safe and comfortable Navara

Published 4:00pm 14 April 2021

Demand is already high for the new MY21 Nissan Navara ST-X and PRO-4X models, with added safety features, bigger payload and greater towing capacity appealing to buyers.

Village Motors’ Nissan Specialist Jeanette Morgan can understand why. She drove the ST-X off-road during intensive training and said it “handled beautifully” in the mud, even with road tyres on.

“It was quieter on the road, the seats are more comfortable – it’s beautiful to drive,” Jeanette says.

The vehicles arrived at the end of February and there are plenty of buyers waiting for the top-of-the- range PRO-4X model to arrive, hopefully this week.

“It’s had a lot of upgrades to the previous MY20 Navara – a lot more safety has been incorporated into the vehicle with intelligent blind spot warning and blind spot intervention, lane departure warning with intelligent intervention, rear-cross traffic alert, emergency braking with forward collision,” she says.

Emergency braking detects vehicles in front, so if a vehicle pulls out in front of you, or you are approaching a vehicle and you don’t see it, it will warn you.

“If you don’t react, it will brake and bring the vehicle to a complete stop. It aims to minimise accidents,” she says.

The intelligent blind sport warning and intervention system detects vehicles coming into your blind spot and if you are indicating to change lanes and a car comes into your blind spot it will warn you and will intervene to stop you changing lanes if necessary.

“It’s the same with the lane departure, if you veer out of your lane, and it detects that, it will warn you. If there is no reaction, it will intervene to keep you in your lane,” she says.

“The rear-cross traffic alert detects vehicles as you’re reversing out (20m either side), so if you’re parked between two trucks it makes it a lot easier because it shows you on the screen.

“And if you have been driving for too long, it will tell you that you need a break.”

The new model also has 360 cameras, which monitor what is around you when you are in full-load, off-road.

Packed with extras

Features added to make the cab quieter include an acoustic windscreen and double-layered glass on the driver and passenger sides.

In addition to looking and sounding great, it also has a deeper tub – up from 474mm to 519mm – and the payload has increased from 968kg to 1024kg.

This in turn helps with towing capacity, which is 3500kg, with 350kg downball weight.

“The ST-X comes standard with ¾ of the tow bar, so most of the tow bar is already on the vehicle,” Jeanette says.

The new model also has improved wheels, LED lights and stainless steel sports bar.

Jeanette says the PRO-4X model had all of these features, leather seats and striking black accents to make it stand out from the crowd.

Buyers of both models are tradespeople, younger males wanting it for off-road and retirees buying them to tow their caravans as well.

“They like the look, the upgrades to safety features, and the comfort – the seating has changed. There’s even a cup holder in the back and the middle armrest comes down,” she says.