Nissan Navara ST Black Edition 2019 off-road review

Is there anything to differentiate the Black Edition inside? Actually, no - there’s bugger all difference between this and the regular ST apart from a mobile phone holster. 

Because it’s based on the ST, you still get carpet on the floor and cloth on the seats, but it’s a bit more hard-wearing and work-focused than the higher grades. For the most part, the cabin feels pretty good for the sort of money being asked.

I’ve always been a bit of a fan of the Navara’s cabin because it doesn’t necessarily feel like a tradie ute in here - but it is starting to age a bit.

The media system is pretty out of date when you compare it with what else is on offer in the ute segment, so you can forget about Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The best you’ll do here is Bluetooth streaming and USB, but at least there’s built-in sat nav.

I’ve always been a bit of a fan of the Navara’s cabin because it doesn’t necessarily feel like a tradie ute in here.

Along with the phone holder there are decent storage spots, including a pair of cup holders between the seats and two up on the dash, plus all four doors have decent bottle holders. 

Unlike some affordable competitors, the Navara gets a digital speedometer range-wide (added as part of Series III), and there’s a multifunction trip computer that offers a lot of info including fuel use, navigation prompts and direction of travel (good when you go bush like we did).

The rear seat of the Navara isn’t bad but doesn’t offer anything outstanding for the class. There is adequate knee, toe and head room, and like most of these dual-cab utes, you can fit three across if you need.

And as part of the Series III update, the Navara scored ISOFIX child seat anchors, too, which is good news for parents. The back-seat base can be folded up to allow for a decent storage area if you don’t want to put stuff on the seat.

The Navara ST (plus SL and ST-X models) comes with a 2.3-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine with competitive specifications.

It’s not short of horsepower, with 140kW of power (at 3750rpm) and 450Nm of torque (from 1500-2500rpm). Those figures are identical if you choose the six-speed manual gearbox or the seven-speed automatic transmission.

What about payload capacity? The Series III model still runs coil-spring rear suspension, but it has been tweaked with dual-rate springs to offer better stability and comfort. In ST spec the payload is pretty decent at 974kg for the manual and 968kg for the auto, which is pretty good, but not class-leading. All dual-cab Navara models have a gross combination mass (GCM) of 5910kg.

And unlike some rivals, like Toyota HiLux and Mitsubishi Triton, the Navara has segment-standard towing capacity for both manual and auto models; its unbraked towing capacity is 750kg, while braked towing capacity is rated at 3500kg. 

Fuel consumption is rated at 7.0 litres per 100 kilometres for the automatic versions of the Navara dual-cab with the 2.3-litre twin-turbo engine, but we couldn’t quite match that during our drive.

Instead, we saw 9.2L/100km indicated on the dashboard - a little better than my recent trip in the ST-X, but unfortunately we couldn’t do an at-the-pump figure. 

Fuel tank capacity is 80 litres, so you could predict a theoretical mileage range of 870km from full to dry. 

I recently drove the ST-X model from Adelaide to Alice Springs, where I saw plenty of miles of open gravel roads. This group trip was a little more focused on slower-going off-roading, with some testing terrain outside Margaret River for the Black Edition - and it fared quite well.

The General Grabber AT rubber proved grippy over steep, rocky sections of ascent and descent, and we had no problems with grip on sand or muddy surfaces, either. However, the lack of a hill descent control system is annoying - you get it on the ST-X, but not here. That said, the rear differential lock offered on all 4x4 Navara models is a welcome addition - some rivals, like the Colorado, don’t have that on any grade.

I recently drove the ST-X model from Adelaide to Alice Springs, where I saw plenty of miles of open gravel roads.

We had no call to engage low range (4L) on our test, as there was no super tricky stuff encountered. The switch-on-the-fly system was quick going between two-wheel drive high range (2H) and four high (4H), and we did that a lot over the few days of driving - switching from blacktop to scrabbly gravel, and even mucking about on a stretch of WA’s pristine sand.

The plan was for us to drive about 30km on sand, but we had to abort and perform a u-turn after 8km due to severe erosion (a storm the night prior had washed away what was a track the day before we arrived - a recce by Nissan’s safety team went off without a hitch before we arrived, but we weren’t so lucky).

We had no call to engage low range (4L) on our test, as there was no super tricky stuff encountered.

I found the Navara pretty easy to drive on the thick, loose sand we encountered, with the tyre pressures set to 20psi - and that’s coming from someone who isn’t the biggest fan of this discipline. The only point I’d make is that the transmission tends to want to upshift a little too soon at times (the opposite of the issue I had with it in normal, day-to-day driving), so I found myself reverting it to manual mode to take better control of the timing of the gear changes.

The engine didn’t disappoint, no matter the terrain, with good torque available in the mid-range.

I found the Navara pretty easy to drive on the thick, loose sand we encountered.

We also spent a lot of time on hard-packed sand, which was peppered with sharp-edged rock not far under the surface. While it was bouncy at times when we were trying to make good time (in other words, moving a bit too fast for the terrain), it managed lower-speed crawls quite nicely, and the coil-sprung rear axle presented some impressive articulation over seriously offset gradients.

Navara ST dual-cab models have quite aggressive angles: the approach angle is 33.1 degrees, while the departure angle (without towbar) is 28.1, and the rampover angle is good, too, at 24.5. 

Navara ST dual-cab an approach angle of 33.1 degrees, while the departure angle is 28.1.

The ground clearance of the regular ST (which comes with side steps) is 226mm. The Black Edition test vehicles’ side steps copped a hiding on our test route, with deep drop-offs cracking the plastic covering on several, and bigger rock hits even caused some more serious dents.  Determined off-roaders may want to consider replacing them with more hardcore steel steps or rock rails. 

While the tubliner is excellent at stopping your paint from being damaged, some things may slip and slide on it. Also, the soft tonneau cover is far from sealed, and if you want to keep things clean, I’d suggest you store them in the cabin if you can, or invest in a hard top or canopy. 

Nissan is lagging behind with a three-year/100,000km warranty - better warranty plans exist, with Ford, Holden, Isuzu and Mitsubishi all offering a standard five-year/unlimited km warranty.

At least the service intervals are lengthy - maintenance is due every 12 months or 20,000km, so long adventure drives are easily justified. Some rivals, like the Toyota HiLux, need servicing every six months/10,000km. 

Nissan’s capped price servicing plan covers six years/120,000km, whichever occurs first - but the service costs are high. For a diesel automatic Navara, the service costs are: $547; $571; $714; $571; $547; $738.

There’s a three-year roadside assistance program included at purchase.