I SEE a red door and I want it painted black. Not quite, but Nissan has painted everything it possibly can black on the new 2020 Nissan Navara N-TREK, adding some orange highlights along the way for good measure.
It’s a stylish look, especially when coupled with some fashionable seat inserts and stitching for the ute that’s based on the ST-X dual cab. The N-TREK edition hits the road at $50,990 drive away in manual and $52,990 as an auto.
Available in Cosmic Black, Slate Grey or White Diamond, and featuring bright LED headlights and running lights, it’s a striking 4×4 package that looks the goods, on and off road.
The very comfortable sporty leather interior features an electric adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats, and there are orange highlights everywhere. The dash and doors could do with some love though, they feel plastic and lack colour.
It’s a well designed interior though, and all controls are easy to reach. The leather steering wheel is comfortable too, and you can access the advanced drive-assist display with one touch here too. It’s only height adjustable though.
The exterior door mirrors are heated and have integrated LED indicators. As a current owner of an older Navara, the move from rear leaf to coil springs ensures the ride has continued to improve.
So good is the change, that the N-TREK feels like a car to drive around town, and the turning circle has improved by one metre over the old version. The tyres are a compromise between quiet highway driving and some light off road use.
If you wanted to get off road you will need more aggressive tyres. The 18-inch black alloys look okay, but really do little to fill the enormous guard volume enhanced by the bolt on flares.
The rear seat is adequate enough and is lifted for access to the jack and other tools. But you won’t score any cup holders back there, but there are bottle holders in the doors.
One of the best bits of the 2020 Nissan Navara N-TREK is the new 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The screen fills the whole area, the controls are intuitive, and it’s super easy to use.
It adds DAB+ digital radio, AUX/USB/iPod connectivity and a very useful 360-degree camera with audio output. The connectivity is very good, along with the map and active vehicle information. The N-TREK has key-less entry with push button start too.
The 2.3-litre twin turbo diesel engine delivers 140kW of power and 450Nm of torque to drive the almost 2-tonne Nissan, working through a 7-speed automatic gearbox. The engine is surprisingly noisy at start up and under full load on the highway.
Built on a ladder frame chassis, the 2020 Nissan Navara N-TREK has a claimed tow capacity of 3500kg. It is worth doing some research on weights and towing before buying the new 2700kg caravan and set off for the round Australia trip though.
For the record, the N-TREK comes in at 2910kg (GVM) and the limits and calculations on Gross Combined Mass (GCM) mean it tops out at 5910kg. That makes true towing capacity somewhere around 3000kg.
The 80 litre fuel tank will get you about 500km if you can achieve the published 7.0-litres/100km. We returned a combined consumption of 8.9-litres/100km.
The tray has a durable tub liner and movable lock down anchors for you bike or camping equipment. A handy power supply for your fridge is also included, along with a full size alloy spare wheel.
The small electric rear sliding window gives access to the rear and some additional ventilation to rear passengers, when needed. Safety features include ABS, EBD, traction control, a limited slip diff and active braking, and dynamic vehicle control.
The 2020 Nissan Navara N-TREK comes with a 5-star ANCAP safety rating and a 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty.
Our test vehicle was provided by Nissan Australia. To find out more about the 2020 Nissan Navara N-TREK, contact your local Nissan dealer.
