Nissan Navara vs Foton Tunland

What's the difference?

The Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior is a purpose-built adventure vehicle and it’s ready for action as is.

It drives nicely on-road – making those long necessary road-trip days on bitumen less of a chore – and is impressively capable off-road.

Buyers benefit when companies such as Premcar complete top-quality conversion work on vehicles with their design, development and testing undertaken in Australia and all of that work and the fitment of accessories are then covered by a comprehensive warranty.

There will always be 4WD enthusiasts who prefer to cherry-pick their own aftermarket accessories for their off-roader – because researching and hunting is a lot of fun. But there will also be just as much demand for the convenience of adventure-ready 4WDs that are capable of being driven straight out of a car dealership and into the Simpson Desert.

And the Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior is one of those vehicles.

The 2018 Tunland is a big improvement on any Chinese ute we’ve driven. Foton has done a commendable job in selecting known brand components and bringing them together into one cohesive package that delivers robust performance. Although it doesn’t quite equal the sum of its parts (mostly owing to poor safety features and some technical quirks), it’s still a lot of 4x4 dual cab ute for not a lot of money, and it's worthy of a test drive.

This is the coolest and toughest Navara on the mainstream market.

The Warrior is 1895mm high, 1920mm wide, 5350mm long (with a 3150mm-long wheelbase) and has a listed kerb weight of 2298kg.

It is taller than a standard Navara, with 40mm more ground clearance than its Pro-4X stablemate and the wheel track has been extended by 30mm (from 1570mm to 1600mm) giving it an aggressive posture.

The bullbar, eye-catching red steel bash plates, wheel arch flares, chunky Cooper Discoverer All Terrain AT3s and black stainless-steel double tube sports bar with sail panel all add to that tough appearance.

This is a big ute with an imposing presence, much like the Ford Ranger with which it shares similar dimensions (if not looks). Compared to the Ranger Wildtrak, the Tunland is 115mm shorter in wheelbase and 45mm shorter in overall length, but 20mm wider and 22mm taller. Ground clearance of 210mm is 27mm less and its kerb weight undercuts the Wildtrak by 250kg.

The Tunland uses traditional body-on-frame construction with a steel ladder-frame chassis, coil-spring twin-wishbone front suspension, leaf-spring live rear axle, four-wheel ventilated disc brakes and hydraulic power-assisted rack and pinion steering. 

Chrome body highlights include the grille, driving lights, side mirrors, door handle inserts and body badges. The dashboard and interior trim feature strongly textured grey surfaces with a tasteful mix of piano black, chrome, satin chrome and carbon fibre-look highlights. 

There’s good comfort for driver and front passenger, with a height-adjustable steering wheel and multi-adjustable driver’s seat with adequate under-thigh support that doesn’t feel too short like a Triton. The driving position is a big improvement on other Chinese utes we’ve tested, and is on par with many of the major players. The rear bench seat’s low cushion height results in raised upper thigh angles and knees, but also aids in providing unusually generous headroom, even for tall adults sitting in the higher centre position. 

Inside the cabin, the new updated dash – with an easy-to-use 8.0-inch multimedia screen, which has wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – is the focal point.

The cabin is a well designed space, a neat combination of nice materials and good build quality. But even with leather accents, ‘Warrior’ branding and other nice touches, the cabin feels a bit old and a little smaller and squeezed for space inside than some rivals.

The driver's seat is eight-way power-adjustable, but the front passenger seat is four-way manually adjustable – and that’s disappointing in a circa-$71,000 vehicle.

There are plenty of storage spaces, cupholders, bottle holders and receptacles in which to place your everyday carry gear.

There’s a USB-A charge point in the console tray, and a USB-A and a USB-C in the centre console proper, as well as a 12V outlet in the console tray and one in the centre console.

The seats are quite comfortable and though some people might whinge about them being undersized I reckon they’re okay.

The rear seat, while comfortable enough, is really the realm of two adults only or three children. It’d be a bit squeezy for three adults.

There is a fold-down armrest with cupholders, as well as bottle holders in the doors, map pockets on the seat-backs, directional air vents but only one USB-A charging point on the back of the centre console.

Get ready for the teenage arguments over that!

Figures used here are provided by Foton Motor Australia Ltd and differ slightly from those shown in sales brochures. With a claimed kerb weight of 2000kg and 2925kg GVM, the Tunland is rated to carry a decent payload of up to 925kg.

It’s also rated to tow up to 3000kg of braked trailer, and with its 5925kg GCM, can tow that weight without having to reduce its peak payload, which gets a big tick from us.

Load tub dimensions of 1520mm length, 1580mm width and 440mm height provide more than a cubic metre of enclosed load volume. There’s also 1140mm between the wheel arches (not wide enough for a standard Aussie pallet) plus four sturdy tie-down points for securing loads.

Cabin storage options includes a bottle holder and pocket in each front door, a shallow tray inset in the centre dash pad, an overhead sunglasses holder and single glovebox. The centre console has an open cubby up front, two cup holders in the centre and a small lidded box at the back which doubles as a well-placed armrest.

Rear doors also have bottle holders and storage pockets, plus there are flexible storage pockets on the rear of each front seat and a fold out dual cup holder on the rear of the centre console. The rear bench seat’s base cushion also swings up through 90 degrees to reveal two hidden storage areas beneath for the wheel-changing tools and other smallish items.

The Foton Tunland is made in two model grades – the H-series (High End) and S-series (Super Value). The S-series (which is not sold here) is a low-cost, steel-wheeled version with components sourced from Chinese suppliers. The H-series is the premium model sold in Australia, so don’t let the red S badge on the tailgate confuse you as it did us at first. The S badge stands for Sport (not Super Value) and is only affixed to H-series vehicles.

The Tunland range comprises 4x2 manual ($26,990), 4x4 manual ($29,990), 4x4 auto ($33,990) and, thanks to its leather seats, 4x4 auto Luxury ($35,490). The 4x4 manual Luxury has recently had a big price reduction from $30,990 to $27,990, reflecting Australia’s growing preference for automatic transmissions.

Our test vehicle is the 4x4 auto, which for a snip under $34,000, brings numerous useful and desirable features including 17-inch alloys and beefy 265/65R17 road-biased tyres with matching spare, power/heated door mirrors, daytime running lights, side steps, auto headlights, rear-view camera and rear parking sensors, leather-trimmed steering wheel with audio/cruise control buttons, power windows, four-speaker sound system with multiple connectivity, eight-way (manual) adjustable driver’s seat and more. Plus there’s an extensive range of accessories.

The Pro-4X has the Navara line-up’s 2.3-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo-diesel engine, which produces 140kW at 3750rpm and 450Nm at 1500-2500rpm.

That's okay because that engine and auto work really well together, yielding more of a subdued, quietly effective partnership than an exciting one.

This ute has a part-time four-wheel drive system with high- and low-range 4WD, and a rear diff lock.

One of the Tunland’s strong points is its Euro 5-compliant 2.8-litre four-cylinder Cummins ISF turbo-diesel, which Foton claims is the first ute in the world to be powered by this engine. It delivers 130kW at 3600rpm and 365Nm across a pretty flexible 1600-3200rpm torque band.

The smooth-shifting six-speed German automatic behind it is from another premium OEM supplier in Friedrichshafen AG, better known as ZF. Its gearing and shift protocols are well matched to the engine’s characteristics, offering a choice of full-auto mode or sequential manual shifting. Console buttons also provide a choice of Economy, Sport or Snow driving modes.

American OEM giant Borg Warner supplies the part-time, dual-range 4x4 transfer case, while another  major US supplier - Dana - has its stamp on the front drive-shafts and live rear axle assembly, featuring a 3.9:1 final drive and limited-slip differential. There’s no locking rear diff option available.

Fuel consumption is listed as 8.1L/100km on a combined cycle. 

Fuel consumption on this test was 9.9L/100km. That’s fine considering we included a lot of high- and low-range 4WDing during this test’s hours-long off-road section.

The Warrior has an 80-litre fuel tank, so, going by those fuel-consumption figures I’d expect an effective touring range of about 778km, but remember that figure includes a built-in 30km safe-distance buffer.

That's a fair travelling distance for a contemporary dual-cab ute, but keep in mind that your fuel-consumption will be higher than that because you'll be carrying a lot more gear than we had onboard during our test.

That included vehicle-recovery equipment, a portable air compressor, tool bag, puncture-repair kit, a tyre deflator as well as food and water.

Foton’s official combined figure is 8.7L/100km but our ‘real world’ road test figures based on fuel bowser and trip meter readings came in at 12.2 (after 503km) and 12.1 (after 297km). Based on those figures, you could expect a driving range of around 620km from its 76-litre tank. However, after only 500km the fuel gauge needle was nudging the red zone and the low-fuel warning light came on, so we weren’t game to find out if there was another 100km-plus of driving available from the theoretical fuel remaining. 

Its three-star (out of five) ANCAP safety rating is poor, with single airbags for driver and front passenger only. 

Bosch electronic stability control includes brake-force distribution and hill-start assist, but there's no trailer sway control or AEB. The rear seat offers three head restraints and lap-sash belts. There are also ISOFIX attachments on the two outer seating positions, but no top tethers. Foton says it has identified differences in ISOFIX fittings between China and Australia, which it is now addressing for future export models. 

The Navara range is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and capped price servicing. That’s adequate in terms of years, not the best, but the unlimited km factor is in its favour.

Service intervals are set for 12 months or 20,000km. Capped price servicing is available for up to six years, with prices ranging from $574 for the first service through to $916 for the sixth service. The annual average is $703.50. Not particularly cheap.

Expect a three year/100,000km warranty and service intervals of six months/10,000km whichever occurs first. Roadside assistance is also available.