The Nissan Navara SL Warrior is just that … a warrior, like Orora ‘Samurai’ Satoshi, Japan’s heaviest-ever sumo wrestler weighing 292 kg and standing 1.90 kg or 6ft 3 in. in his bare feet.
Retired but active, Orora, 40, is a Nissan fan driving the legendary Skyline GT-R, backed by Sumo Power, a British car tuning outfit that specialises in Japanese imports.
The four-door, five-seat SL dual cab pickup is 1825 mm high and 5260 mm in length and could comfortably carry four sumo wrestlers who could happily handle the rough and tumble life of a Nissan ute.
The SL Warrior is powered by a 4×4 diesel twin-turbo engine with 140 kW of power (at 3750 rpm) and 450 Nm of torque (at 1500 rpm) by way of a seven-speed automatic.
Nissan claims the SL uses 7.9L/100k m of diesel in the combined city-highway cycle while putting out 208g of CO2.
At $60,500, SL’ss beefed up suspension, wider bodywork, all-terrain tires and underbody armour are part of the deal.
Based on the Pro-4X, a high-grade version roughly equivalent to Ford’s Ranger Wildtrak, the Warrior is loaded with features, if not heaps of modern luxuries such as heated leather seats. It makes do with cloth seats, plain halogen headlights and driver controls finished in moulded plastic, sans leather.
Tech such as sat nav, digital radio and 360-deg.camera is missing compared with the Pro-4X Warrior, as is safety gear such as blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and lane departure warning systems.
The SL will expand Nissan’s locally developed ute range, with the new model joining the Navara Pro-4X Warrior by Premcar in the made-for-Australia Warrior family.
Premcar has added more than a claimed $11,000 worth of extras to the SL including a black bash plate (with Navara branding) at the front, an off-road coated bull bar with hoops and integrated LED light bar, fender flares, suspension lift, Warrior wheels, all-terrain Cooper tyres, a tubliner and a towbar.
Melbourne-based Premcar specialises in the automotive, defence and aerospace industries. Final assembly of the Warrior editions is completed at a production facility operated by Premcar after donor vehicles are shipped from the Thailand factory in standard SL or Pro-4X guise. Although Nissan factory-backed models, they are not listed on the Nissan Australia website.
Priced from $58,000 plus on-road costs with a six-speed manual transmission or $60,500 with a seven-speed automatic, the Navara SL Warrior represents an affordable way to go off-roading.
The SL is based on the popular SL 4WD dual cab unlockiung a new entry point to the Warrior family for Australian ute buyers.
There are four colours – black, silver, grey and pearl white. Black paint is standard, while for the other metallic colours add $650.
Like its Pro-4X Warrior big brother, the SL has undergone extensive local testing, tuning and validation to deliver a ute perfectly suited to Australian roads and conditions.
“We know how popular the Warrior program has been in Australia,” says Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson.
“With a comprehensive list of equipment as well as its tough, aggressive look, the Navara SL Warrior will not only expand the program’s appeal, but also its accessibility,” he said.
