2015 Nissan Navara NP300 Review: RX, ST, ST-X; On-Road Manners Of An SUV
What's hot: Smart car-like interior accommodation and trim, strong diesel, frugal efficiency, coil-sprung multi-link rear.
What's not: Soft front-end, no reach adjustment on steering wheel
X-FACTOR: In the up-spec cars, unless you looked behind, you would not pick you were in a commercial ute - such is the interior quality and feel.
Price (4WD models): $39,990 - $54,490
Engine/trans: 2.3 litre turbo diesel | 6spd man, 7spd automatic
Power/torque: 140kW/450Nm (twin-turbo ST, ST-X), 120kW/403Nm (single turbo RX)
Fuel consumption:
claimed (manual) 6.6 l/100km | tested 9.0 l/100km
claimed (auto) 7.0 l/100km | tested 8.3 l/100km
OVERVIEW
It is sometimes in the marginal moments, in the sudden unexpected 'test', that the true mettle of a car emerges.
For the new 'D23' NP300 Navara, all-new really though the bones of the chassis are mostly unchanged, that moment was found with all wheels in the air. And found then again in the way all wheels managed the landing.
Up until that point, our views were firming on the merits of the new Navara's coil-sprung multi-link rear suspension, but had not quite fixed.
Coils under the tub are not usually found in a 'fourby' ute; other key contenders in this segment utilise a leaf-sprung rear.
But that conventional leaf arrangement works best with a load in the tub; it's designed first for hard graft and ride comfort second.
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