Nissan has cleaved more than $10,000 off the price of entry to its trail-conquering Navara Warrior with the release of the SL Warrior – a stripped-back, bare-bones sibling to the feature-rich Pro-4X Warrior that was released late last year.
And while there are fewer luxuries onboard (if you could call a Navara of any kind luxurious), the suspension bits underneath the SL Warrior – developed by Melbourne-based engineering firm Premcar – are identical to the Pro-4X Warrior, meaning SL buyers will get all of the off-road prowess while spending almost 15 per cent less coin.
Like the Pro-4X Warrior, the new SL Warrior is only available in a dual-cab ute bodystyle, and retails at $58,000 before on-road costs when equipped with the standard six-speed manual gearbox. Speccing the optional seven-speed auto adds $2500 to the bill, bringing the retail price up to $60,500. Not a bad deal considering Ford’s upcoming Ranger Raptor is a $85,490 proposition and the Toyota Hilux Rugged X, which is similarly positioned to the Navara Warrior but doesn’t benefit from a bespoke suspension package, costs $70,750.
The feature set is, naturally, pared back somewhat. The Navara SL 4×4 base car that each SL Warrior is built off is a workhorse-grade ute that costs $46,600 when fresh off the boat from Thailand. Premcar then adds an extra $11,400 worth of value, but all of that is bolted on to the exterior or underneath – if you’re looking for some interior sparkle, well, the cloth seats, vinyl flooring and urethane steering wheel probably won’t be to your liking.
But what you do get is a completely revised suspension, with a wheel and tyre package to match, as well as all the protective body cladding you should need to keep your SL Warrior ticking when exploring gnarly off-road trails.
Bolt-on fender flares add considerable girth to the Navara’s bodywork and help accommodate an increase in track width from 1570mm to 1600mm, the ground clearance is jacked up 40mm to 260mm through a combination of taller springs and the extra diameter of the 275/70R17 Cooper Discoverer all-terrains, and the springs and dampers are completely unique to the Warrior, with settings designed to significantly boost off-road performance without hurting on-road handling.
Up the front, a steel bullbar and sheetmetal skidplates protect the front end, though a key point of difference to the Pro-4X Warrior is the provision of bullbar hoops on the SL. Halogen headlights are another external differentiator, as is the absence of side-steps and a tub-side Warrior sticker that’s unique to the SL variant.
A tub liner is standard, and the SL Warrior actually boasts one key metric that the more feature-rich Pro-4X brother can’t match: a higher maximum payload of 1035kg for the manual or 1026kg for the auto, a 74kg advantage over the Pro-4X Warrior and some additional headroom that keen overlanders would likely appreciate. Maximum tow capacity remains at 3500kg on a braked trailer.
Power and torque? As with the Pro-4X Warrior, the Navara SL Warrior forgoes any upgrades within the engine bay. The standard twin-turbo 2.3-litre diesel provides 140kW at 3750rpm and 450Nm of torque between 1500-2500rpm, and while fuel economy claims aren’t made, the chunky tyres and extra weight probably aren’t going to provide any improvement on the standard Navara SL’s 7.3L/100km factory claim.
With the Navara SL Warrior, Nissan is squarely targeting off-roading enthusiasts – especially those with qualms about putting bush pinstripes on the foreman-spec Pro-4X Warrior. With a lower price of entry, a more dirt-friendly interior and a higher payload, off-roaders should feel less guilty and more confident about taking the SL Warrior far off the beaten track, especially as it loses none of the critical mechanical capability of the Pro-4X Warrior. You should be able to leave those MaxTrax at home.
The fact that the SL Warrior is also protected by Nissan’s standard five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty should inspire confidence as well, given the warranty also extends to all of the parts installed by Premcar.
The Nissan Navara SL Warrior is now in production at Premcar’s Victorian facility, with an expected arrival in showrooms this August.
Keyword: 2023 Nissan Navara SL Warrior price and specs: Ford Ranger Raptor-taming off-road ute on a budget!