Yahoo Autos The Nissan Navara Was The Overdue Frontier We Deserved A Decade Ago
Nissan gets dunked on for letting models like the Frontier languish for years. But, the truck saw a model update well before the release of the 2022 Frontier, which is mechanically much like an old Frontier with a new design. Outside of the U.S., the successor to the second-generation Frontier came in 2014 with the NP300 or Navara, which was deemed too small to succeed in the American market.
Production of the Nissan Navara has been ongoing since the mid-2010s outside of the U.S., in Latin America and Southeast Asia, where the little pickup has enjoyed moderate success. I say “little” because the pickup is within size thresholds that truck fans in the U.S. allegedly don’t want, so Nissan opted to keep selling the previous Frontier (D40) with design changes in the U.S.
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The Nissan Navara is available as a King and Crew cab, which corresponds to an extended or double cab, respectively. Of course, there are also single and chassis cab trucks for commercial buyers. The engine configurations of the most recent models include a gas-burning 2.5-liter inline four, as well as a 2.3-liter turbodiesel. A six-speed manual transmission is standard equipment, while a seven-speed auto was optional. And buyers can choose either 4WD or 2WD. The interior is a little too fifth-gen Nissan Altima for me, but it’s serviceable.
And so are the truck’s test crash results, contrary to the popular belief that small trucks sold abroad are unsafe. Hell, the Navara even served as the basis for a Mercedes-Benz pickup, which is so awesome we’ll leave it for another post.
Mostly, I dig the truck because it clung to its roots as a compact like the beloved Nissan Hardbody. The Navara would still be considered compact by U.S. standards, even as recently as 2020 when it got a facelift and leaned into the off-roading fad.
