Nissan Navara 2026 review - Australian preview drive

Let’s not sugar-coat this.

The D27 Navara, unveiled last week and “targeting” a first-quarter 2026 release, is more Mitsubishi MV Triton than we had expected or wanted, especially as it carries Nissan Australia’s hope for reversing a long-term sales decline.

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This includes the body, ladder-frame chassis, interior, tub, powertrain, drivetrain and suspension hardware. Pure Mitsubishi. Even the numbers are the same.

The Triton’s 2.4-litre (4N16) four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel engine has slightly higher outputs than Nissan’s previous 2.3-litre equivalent, at 150kW of power at 3500rpm and 470Nm of torque from 1500rpm, while a six-speed torque-converter automatic replaces the old seven-speed auto.

On the mid-grade ST-X and PRO-4X flagship (the only grades confirmed for now), the so-called 'Super 4WD' system includes Mitsubishi’s on-the fly (up to 100km/h) full-time high-range mode with an open centre differential, Torsen limited slip differential and seven terrain modes – 'Normal', 'Eco', 'Gravel', 'Snow', 'Mud', 'Sand' and 'Rock'.

The D27’s combined fuel consumption figure is 7.7 litres per 100km, for a carbon dioxide pollution rating of 203 grams/km, also mirroring the Mitsubishi.

A double wishbone front suspension arrangement exists up front, to complement a leaf-spring arrangement out back, meaning the previous Navara’s coil-spring rear end is gone, while this is the first Nissan ute with electric power steering.

It’s also the one with least choice.

For now, the D27 is a Dual Cab and 4x4 auto-only proposition, meaning the old Single Cab, King Cab, cab-chassis tray bodies and manual gearboxes will be absent at launch.

You can understand purists’ cynicism here. The Mitsubishi tie-up breaks a 70-year run of in-house ute development for Nissan, spanning over eight generations since 1955, four of which wore the Navara badge, starting with the D21 of 1986.

The Triton connection makes more sense when you consider that the D27 is only slated for Australia and New Zealand, for the time being anyway. Targets? Higher-grade versions of the top-selling Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Toyota HiLux.

Nissan’s global ute will likely be the Frontier, unveiled at this year’s Shanghai motor show and based on partner Dongfeng’s Z9. That is the direct competitor to the BYD Shark 6 Pro plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that Europe especially requires, though petrol and diesel versions have just been announced in China.

Meanwhile, America has a reskinned 2005-era D40 Navara, known as the D41 Frontier, and that’s powered by the company’s evocative VQ petrol V6. Australia may love diesel utes but most major mature pick-up markets do not.

As part of the corporate 'Alliance' that also includes Renault, hitching on to the Triton train was Nissan’s only choice.

Now, with the elephant in the room acknowledged, what is 'Oceania’s' Navara like?

As touched on earlier, the D27 is a beneficiary of some Australianisation work not available on the Mitsubishi, by Warrior partner Premcar in Melbourne, which means it can potentially ride and handle better than the Triton, as well as most other utes in Australia.

This centres mostly around a switch to Monroe Tenneco twin tube dampers that are said to provide more-controlled suspension to benefit ride-comfort and handling flow.

Premcar says no other hardware changes from the Mitsubishi chassis were required, as the MV Triton basis is sound enough.

Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to drive the new Navara on-road to find out how well the Premcar suspension tune works, but we did venture off-road in an ST-X.

Nissan designer Ken Lee’s intricate/fussy grille design does lessen the Triton look to some degree, and the unique alloys are pretty. But, despite restyled LED tail-lights and Navara lettering on the tailgate, the form and feel is pure Mitsubishi. What appears to be a shared colour palette does not help.

The similarities are even stronger inside, as nothing other than a badge embossed on the steering wheel hub, seats and floor mats denote this as a Navara. Even the 9.0-inch touchscreen and instrument displays are from the Diamond Brand.

This is not necessarily a bad thing per se, because the Triton’s cabin is noteworthy for its room, seat support, build quality, practicality and ease of operation. Owners of the outgoing D23 Navara will find the D27 a massive step forward in design and overall functionality.

On the other hand, the sheer space, style and ambience of the Kia Tasman’s class-leading interior is missing, as is the modish screen-heavy minimalism of most Chinese utes and SUVs, making the Navara already seem a bit dated.

We note the lack of a tub step but welcome the assisted tailgate and sufficiently-large load space, and are promised “an extensive range of Nissan Genuine Accessories” that are part of the Navara’s general warranty (five-years/unlimited kilometres or 10 years/300,000km if serviced at a Nissan dealer – up from Mitsubishi’s 200,000km marker), though there was nothing on display at the preview off-road drive to assess.

Which brings us back to the suspension and drive. Time to see if nearly 12-months’ worth of Australian rural and country road testing, over nearly 20,000km, have paid dividends.

The Navara’s diesel is commendably muted at idle, and provides smooth yet fairly rapid acceleration in the few times we needed a run up a hill. The steering seems nicely weighted and well-judged for the off-road course in terms of reaction and response, raising our expectations for when we eventually take this on to public roads.

But the most remarkable observation is how isolated and absorbent the Navara’s suspension felt over that particular 4x4 course. Impressive stuff.

It’s impossible to say without driving them back-to-back that the Triton would definitely be harder and joltier, but our varied experiences in the latter have left us disappointed, given the chassis’ ground-up newness only two years ago. Arch-rival Ranger’s is basically 15 years old and a HiLux’s dates back 20 years-plus.

We felt none of that jittery harshness in the D27, suggesting Premcar’s expertise has transformed the Nissan version’s ride comfort and refinement. No Navara has ever felt quite so civilised over such terrain.

Encouraging. We’re hoping for similar strides in comfort and dynamic control on Australian roads. Without sugar coating anything, it’s a sweeter outcome than we expected.