Nissan Navara vs Mahindra Pik-Up

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.

Its sub-$40K pricing undercuts the cheapest Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux 4x4 equivalents by $10-15K and it’s backed by a decent warranty and 60-strong dealer network (mostly regional). It’s also largely absent from the federal government’s vehicle-recall listings, which suggests solid build quality.

However, it’s also short on safety, has relatively high servicing costs and numerous design quirks. Fact is, such low pricing comes with compromises, so, if you can learn to live with those, this sturdy and willing auto-equipped workhorse could represent good value for those shopping on a budget.

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 PikUp has a 3040mm wheelbase and 5175mm length, 1820mm width and 1915mm height.

So, compared to a Ford Ranger XL equivalent, it’s 230mm shorter in wheelbase, 195mm shorter overall and 98mm narrower, so it’s relatively compact for a dual cab ute.

Built on a traditional ladder-frame chassis, its twin-wishbone front suspension uses torsion bars instead of the more common coil springs, while under the tail is a leaf-spring live rear axle. Brakes are front discs and rear drums.

With 210mm of ground clearance, its steep 34-degree approach angle is excellent but its 15-degree departure angle is less than half that figure, so it's prone to tail-dragging in the rough stuff.

And its bafflingly large 13.4-metre turning circle (kerb-to-kerb) demands numerous three-point turns.

The interior appears to have a good standard of finish and provides a visually-pleasing mix of black and grey surfaces with satin chrome highlights throughout. Driver controls are easy to see and operate and the front bucket seats are comfortable.

The rear bench seat is quite firm with good lumbar support, but it’s a squeeze for three adults given its relatively narrow width.

Even so, there’s adequate kneeroom and heaps of headroom even for tall adults, which is no doubt appreciated by hat-wearing farmers and tradies.

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!

With its 2115kg kerb weight and 3150kg GVM, the S11 PikUp offers a 1035kg payload rating so it’s a genuine one-tonner.

It’s also rated to tow up to 2500kg of braked trailer but given Mahindra doesn't publish a GCM rating (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) we don’t know if it can retain its maximum payload while towing that weight.

Strangely, the load tub does not have any internal load-anchorage points. The only option for securing ropes or straps are external hooks, which are located along both upper sides of the tub and across the tailgate.

However, these would be ineffective in securing loads that are lower than the tub sides.

Front cabin storage is limited, as there are only narrow bins and no bottle holders in the front doors and you won’t find any cup/bottle holders or storage for small items in the dash, either. However, there is a single glove box and an overhead glasses holder.

The centre console has an open storage tray at the front and single cup and bottle holders in the centre, which are fine for one occupant but not two.

In contrast to the front doors, there are no bins in the base of each rear door, but they do get a large-bottle holder and what looks like a phone holder at mid-height.

There are also pockets on each front seat backrest, but the fold-down centre armrest does not have any cup/bottle holders.

The rear bench seat’s base cushion is fixed, so it can’t swing up and be stored vertically (like many dual cabs) if more internal cargo space is required.

However, it does at least provide some open storage space underneath for soft items like jackets etc.

Our S11 PikUp test vehicle is available only with a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine and new Aisin-sourced six-speed automatic, for a list price of $38,500, drive-away.

Our example is also equipped with a Mahindra genuine accessory winch-compatible steel bull-bar which adds $3500 (fitted).

The S11 comes standard with 16-inch alloy wheels and 245/75 R16 tyres with a matching spare.

There’s also LED daytime running lights and dusk-sensing halogen headlights with static bending (which automatically illuminates inside kerbs when cornering at night), front fog lights, rain-sensing wipers, side-steps, rear sports bar, load tub-liner, automatic rear diff-lock, reversing camera and more.

There’s fabric-trimmed seating for up to five occupants, with the front bucket seats equipped with unusual but welcome fold-down inboard armrests.

There’s also a USB port, two 12-volt outlets, centre console air-vents for rear passengers and a multimedia system controlled by a 7.0-inch touchscreen with multiple connectivity options, including links for Apple and Android devices.

Mahindra also offers a genuine accessories range, from towbars, nudge bars and bullbars to engine snorkels, wheel options and lots more.

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 latest version of the S11’s 'mHAWK' 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel meets tough Euro 6b emissions standards using AdBlue.

Armed with an intercooler and common-rail fuel injection, it produces a modest 103kW at 3750rpm. Its 320Nm, available across a 1300rpm-wide torque band between 1500-2800rpm, highlights good flexibility particularly under load.

It’s coupled with an equally refined Aisin-sourced six-speed torque converter automatic transmission, driving the rear wheels and offering the choice of sequential manual-shifting.

There’s also a Borg Warner part-time dual-range 4x4 transfer case and an Eaton automatic rear diff-lock.

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.

Mahindra claims an official combined average of 9.3L/100km. At the conclusion of our 265km test, which was conducted without a load and in mostly city and suburban driving, our ‘real world’ figure based on fuel bowser and trip meter readings came in at 9.4 which is lineball.

So, it should deliver an excellent driving range of around 850km from its 80-litre tank.

ANCAP only awarded it three out of five stars - and that was back in 2012. There are dual front airbags for driver and passenger, electronic stability control and ABS plus a reversing camera and LED daytime running lights.

There are also ISOFIX child seat anchorages and top tethers on the two outer rear seating positions.

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.

Warranty is five years/150,000km. 12 months roadside assist is renewable with each scheduled service at Mahindra dealers.

Service intervals are 12 months/15,000km whichever occurs first.

Capped-price servicing for the first four years or 55,000km totals $2296, or a pricey average of $574 per service.