MANILA, Philippines - With class-leading power from a fuel-efficient 2.5-liter engine, an ultra-stiff ladder frame chassis, and a 4WD system that’s as easy to use as turning on the A/C, the 4x4 Navara is a truck that’s easy to love. But take away the 4-wheel drive, turn down the boost on that engine, lower the ride height a bit, and you’ve got a 2-wheel drive truck meant for urban cowboys, small businesses, and weekend warriors who don’t really need the all-terrain capability of the range topping 4x4. Oh yes, you also shave several hundred thou’ from the price.
Over hill and over dale, the 4x2 goes about its business like an overachieving hunting dog. Actually, my own beagle loved the folding seatback, allowing her to shift from left to right side and peer out of the windows without soiling the seat for human occupants. The hard, caramel colored plastic of the door panels (with a smattering of fabric) were also ideal for long-term abuse, or at least the chore of cleaning up the dog drool.
Loaned as a support vehicle for a weekend bike race, it was a simple matter of fitting our portable bar-and-bike-mount in the bed. The Navara has a comparatively huge bed as our mount – which is an exact fit in the Isuzu D-MAX and Ford Ranger/Mazda BT-50 – still had an inch and half to spare, width-wise, against the walls, necessitating the use of some spacers. Length-wise, our 3 mounted road bikes had no problem seated inside the bed, tailgate up, with no handlebars jutting past it. Tie-down points along the walls allowed us to secure the equipment with bungee cords. We still had room for one more bike, but used the remaining space to fit a family-sized cooler and several wheel bags. By the end of the race, two teammates also managed to squeeze themselves in the bed for a ride back to town. As for the cabin, several more bags took up most of the backseat but one more passenger still had enough room to breathe.
While the 4x2’s engine doesn’t quite have the oomph of the 4x4, it is no slouch. It still makes the most power and torque in its class (144 HP, 35.6 kg-m) and is coupled to a choice of two excellent transmissions: 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic. Our test unit had the stick shift, and the (relatively) close-ratio gearbox means you will be shifting between 2nd and 5th gear frequently in exchange for car-like acceleration. The clutch has a light actuation and the shifter has a rubbery feel with a well-defined gate so it’s not as tiring as you might think. There’s a bit of turbo lag with the CRDi, the engine coming alive at 2,000rpm, but all the way to just below the redline it revs with a sound and fury that’s surprisingly gratifying in a diesel pickup truck. On open roads like the NLEX or SCTEX, you can pop the gear into 6th and just cruise along to max out the fuel economy. Oh yes, with an 80-liter fuel tank, you can theoretically go a long way and skip through several fuel price hikes before having to fill up again.
What about the 5-speed auto? It’s a tossup between the manual or the automatic. The manual is obviously more involving, but the automatic is by definition more convenient. Performance differences are imperceptible unless you put a stopwatch against both. The automatic shifts quickly and smoothly, and its 5 ratios (the 5th is an overdrive) give it a fleet-of-foot nature. Personally, I still like the low maintenance benefit of the 6-speed.
Adding to the driving fun are steering and suspension that make the Navara feel smaller than it really is. The steering uses a rack-and-pinion system (as opposed to the old school recirculating ball of most trucks), giving a precise feel and relatively sharp responses to help you place the Navara exactly where you want it on the road. There’s very little of the free play off center that can be unnerving at high speed.
The suspension, while still somewhat choppy, is livable on a day-to-day basis and isn’t so stiff as to cause the axle to hop on bumpy pavement. The 8-crossmember ladder frame chassis is exceptionally solid. While the ride will never feel as vibration-free as a monocoque, there’s simply a lot less shuddering going on with the body-on-frame design.
On a dirt road, it’s also possible to drive the truck rally-style. The body roll is modest, and generous applications of throttle plus some opposite lock will let you steer with the rear wheels, creating an impressive rooster tail of dirt in the process. Only the 4x4 variant is more fun, which benefits from a Limited Slip Differential.
One minor foible is the speedometer accuracy. Above 90 kph, it registers 8 to 12kph more than what my GPS system says is the actual speed (something I rarely experience with other cars). If you’re ever caught by the friendly traffic enforcement folks at the SCTEX, you can always say that you were not really going 185kph, you were in fact just loping along at around 170kph. Come to think of it, that’s still pretty fast for a truck...
Creature comforts in the 4x2 are mostly conventional, and the cabin theme must be “functional and friendly”. Most of the dashboard and trim panels are made of hard, non-glossy polyurethane; a practical choice as a truck of this kind will see lots of abuse from its owner. Even so, the caramel-and-creme color scheme and breathable, supportive seats mean it’s as comfortable and homey as your average SUV. Dials, buttons, and switches are a tad oversized to make them easier to manipulate for people wearing gloves, and a plethora of trays, cubbyholes, cupholders, and pockets mean that if you lose your baby’s pacifier, you will probably never find it. While the truck has all the expected modcons like foglamps, demister, and 6-CD stereo, you’ll want to upgrade the speakers as they lack enough midrange to be taken seriously. It also lacks an AUX jack, which may or may not be a big deal to you.
With a starting price of P1,090,000, the Navara is a lot of truck for the buck, and a workhorse that’s also fun to drive and play with when the weekend comes around.
The Good
• Gratifying drivetrain.
• Super-solid body.
• Fun-to-drive dynamics.
• Lots and lots of passenger and cargo space.
The Bad
• Overly optimistic speedometer.
• Average stereo quality.
• A truck this big needs back-up sensors.
The Verdict
• A lot of truck for the buck.