Nissan Australia building case for new V8-powered Navara dual-cab ute

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Nissan could use the V8 engine from the Patrol in a future version of the Navara to create a performance halo ute.
Laura Berry
Senior Journalist
6 Jul 2020
3 min read

A Navara GT-R? Navara Nismo? Navara V8? Nissan Australia’s boss wants a high-performance Navara to hunt down the Ford Ranger Raptor.

Speaking to CarsGuide, Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester said he’s continually putting the pressure on his global head office for more powerful engines for the Navara ute.

“We’re going to constantly put up our hands for any alternative engines that provide more torque and more horsepower, because that is a hallmark of what Australian consumers are looking for in their utes," he said.

Read More: Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior 2020 sets its sights on Ford Ranger Raptor

“While we don’t feel like we’ve compromised in any way with the current Navara, as much the next petrol head, I’d love to see some of the other engine offerings that we’ve got, make it into a Navara and see what happens."

Currently the most powerful engine offered in the Navara line-up is a 140kW/450Nm 2.3-litre twin-turbo diesel four cylinder. Ford’s Ranger Raptor also has a diesel unit but it’s a 2.0-litre twin-turbo four making 157kW/500Nm, while Volkswagen’s Amarok is the most potent ute on the market and can be had with a 3.0-litre diesel V6 with 190kW/580Nm on tap.

“The company will continue to work on this and sees the performance of utes – and utes in Australia in particular – as being integral to the planning of the next generations, and so we’ll continue to poke and prod and encourage," Mr Lester said.

So, does this mean Nissan Australia is pushing for the all-wheel-drive Nissan GT-R’s 419kW/632Nm 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 drivetrain for the new-generation Navara due here in 2021? A Navara GT-R perhaps?

“You’d be remiss not to make that suggestion, that’s for sure, but you know there are plenty of other engine offers that could work,” Mr Lester said.

Read More: Nissan wants Navara NISMO V8 to lure Commodore and Falcon ute owners: New dual-cab would offer on-road performance over off-road capability

Take a look through Nissan’s line-up and it’s hard not to be tempted by the idea of the 5.6-litre V8 petrol from the Patrol with its output of 298kW and 560Nm finding a home in the Navara.

Think that sounds too far fetched? Well it was only up until recently that Ford came close to introducing its 5.0-litre V8 Coyote engine from its Mustang to the Ranger Raptor before hitting the brakes on that project.

Before such a thing could ever happen, however, Mr Lester said he needs to prove to Nissan’s global head office that the Navara is popular enough in Australia to justify the high-performance upgrade.

Read More: Ford Ranger Raptor V8 now "unlikely" to happen: Bad news for high-performance ute fans with fire-breathing dual-cab looking shaky

Currently, the Toyota HiLux is the king of the 4x4 utes sales chart with the Ranger hot on its heels. Navara trails behind the Mitsubishi Triton, Holden Colorado and Isuzu D-Max.

Mr Lester said interest in the Navara is being reignited through special editions such as the N-Trek Warrior, which brings a tougher look to the ute along with locally re-tuned off-road suspension.

“For a market to have a strong voice at the table, they have got to be very proactive and they’ve got to make sure that they’re doing the best possible job for the model and the market, and quite frankly that was one of the reasons for getting the Warrior concept off the ground.”

Laura Berry
Senior Journalist
Laura Berry is a best-selling Australian author and journalist who has been reviewing cars for almost 20 years.  Much more of a Hot Wheels girl than a Matchbox one, she grew up in a family that would spend every Friday night sitting on a hill at the Speedway watching Sprintcars slide in the mud. The best part of this was being given money to buy stickers. She loved stickers… which then turned into a love of tattoos. Out of boredom, she learnt to drive at 14 on her parents’ bush property in what can only be described as a heavily modified Toyota LandCruiser.   At the age of 17 she was told she couldn’t have a V8 Holden ute by her mother, which led to Laura and her father laying in the driveway for three months building a six-cylinder ute with more horsepower than a V8.   Since then she’s only ever owned V8s, with a Ford Falcon XW and a Holden Monaro CV8 part of her collection over the years.  Laura has authored two books and worked as a journalist writing about science, cars, music, TV, cars, art, food, cars, finance, architecture, theatre, cars, film and cars. But, mainly cars.   A wife and parent, her current daily driver is a chopped 1951 Ford Tudor with a V8.
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