Nissan Navara vs GWM UTE

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.

In a very competitive ute market, the GWM Cannon XSR represents plenty of bang for your buck, but it’s just not as refined as you’d hope. 

It should be better at this price-point, especially when it’ll be unfavourably cross-shopped with lower-spec variants in the Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Toyota HiLux line-ups.

It’s a nice enough vehicle on-road, and the XSR is an effective 4WD on the dirt without ever being truly exceptional – but that’s fine for those who want to save big bucks and still drive away in a well-equipped twin-locked off-road vehicle.

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.

The XSR is 5439mm long (with a 3230mm wheelbase), 1958mm wide, and 1918mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 1965kg.

It looks like the mongrel child of a HiLux, Ranger and D-Max – in a good way.

The wider-than-standard wheel track, as well as the snorkel, sports bar, substantial bash plates, tyres and even red brake calipers add to this ute’s presence.

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!

The XSR’s five-seat interior is a neat and roomy space but, in line with most utes at this price-point, if you scrutinise it in a critical way you soon discover that some parts feel a bit cheap and flimsy, such as some buttons, dials and switches.

Up front there are two USB ports, a wireless charging pad, a 12V plug and a capacious centre console.

A pair of cupholders can be concealed under a sliding cover and the storage bin is on the right side of big.

The driver gets a six-way power-adjustable seat; the front-seat passenger gets four-way power adjustment. Both seats are comfortable without being too plush.

Second-row passengers get a firm but comfortable seat and amenities include a USB port, a 220V plug, and a fold-down centre armrest.

The second-row seat base can be folded up and out of the way to make room for more gear if only two people are travelling.

Build quality is generally okay, part from the aforementioned flimsy-feeling buttons.

The XSR’s business end, the tub, has a durable-looking tub liner, tie-down points and a handy pop-out step hidden in the top of the tailgate.

But it's worth noting this ute’s tailgate can’t be locked.

The XSR has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $52,990 drive-away.

Standard features include a 9.0-inch multimedia touchscreen system (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a 7.0-inch digital driver info display, quilted leather seat trim, quilted leather door trim, 18-inch black alloy wheels, a sports bar, an assisted tailgate (with a pop-out step) and roof rails. 

It also has LED headlights with LED DRLs, side steps, powered mirrors, keyless entry, push-button start, power-adjustable and heated front seats, a leather steering wheel, single-zone climate control air conditioning, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, tinted rear glass, and a six-speaker audio system.

As well, the XSR gets a part-time 4WD system (with 2WD high-range, 4WD high-range and 4WD low-range), rather than full-time 4WD, which is on lower-spec GWM utes; a front differential lock (in addition to the existing rear diff lock) and Cooper Discoverer AT3 all-terrain tyres.

It also gets red brake calipers, an underbody bash plate, wheel arch flares, and a sunroof.

Elsewhere, it gets steel front and rear bumpers and a new black grille.

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.

The XSR has the Cannon’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that produces 120kW at 3600rpm and 400Nm from 1500rpm to 2500rpm. 

It has an eight-speed automatic transmission. 

As mentioned, the XSR has part-time 4WD – with 2WD high-range, 4WD high-range and 4WD low-range – rather than the full-time 4WD set-up that’s in standard Cannons.

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.

The Cannon XSR has a listed fuel consumption of 9.4L/100km on a combined cycle.

Actual fuel consumption on this test, from pump to pump, was 11.2L/100km but, as is the nature of my testing, I did a lot of low-range four-wheel driving.

The Cannon XSR has an 78-litre tank so, going by that fuel figure above, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 696km from a full tank.

Note: Drop 30km to 50km from any vehicle’s total calculated fuel-range figure for a better idea of that vehicle’s safe touring range – so, following that advice, the above driving range figure (696km) would become 666km after a 30km safe-distance buffer has been subtracted.

Also, remember that numerous other factors affect your fuel consumption and so impact your driving range, including how much extra weight you have onboard (passengers, camping gear, etc), whether your vehicle is fitted with any aftermarket equipment (bullbar, spare-wheel carrier, etc), whether you are towing (a camper-trailer, caravan, or boat, etc), your vehicle's tyre pressures, and the conditions.

The Cannon range has the maximum five-star ANCAP rating from testing in 2021, however the Cannon XSR is not covered by this rating. 

Standard safety gear on the XSR includes seven airbags, AEB (sans pedestrian detection) forward collision warning, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assistance, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, rear parking sensors, a 360-degree camera and tyre-pressure monitoring.

It does not get front parking sensors, lane-change assist or a door-open warning.

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.

The XSR is covered by a seven year/unlimited km warranty.

The first service is scheduled at the six-month/5000km mark (and costs $260), then every 12 months or 10,000km, with each service costing $360 a pop.