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Nissan Navara Performance Model Is Now Under Consideration

Preceded by the Hardbody, the Frontier is Nissan’s weapon of choice in the small and subsequent mid-size segments since 1997. In its third generation since 2014, the Navara is more relevant than ever, selling better than ever before and acting as the building block for the Renault Alaskan and Mercedes-Benz’s X-Class.
Nissan Navara 10 photos
Photo: Nissan
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Four years after its introduction, Nissan is now busy with the development of a mid-cycle refresh. And with it, the Australian division of the Japanese automaker is advocating for an off-road sports truck along the same lines as the 2019 Ford Ranger Raptor.

Speaking to Motoring, Renault-Nissan global light commercial vehicle head honcho Ashwani Gupta gave a glimmer of hope to expecting customers. “If you would have asked me this question yesterday [about a Raptor rival], I would have said this is not on our priority list.” The reply comes as a result of lobbying from Nissan Australia’s managing director Stephen Lester and his team.

“This is an opportunity we would like to study,” added Gupta, which opens the door to the most extreme iteration of the Navara thus far. With the one-tonne pickup market driven by the Australian market first and foremost, Lester’s request has plenty of chances to be heard and approved by the truckmaker’s higher-ups.

Gupta went on to explain that it’s fairly easy to upgrade the Navara to rival the likes of the Ranger Raptor and Colorado ZR2, but the biggest question left unanswered is the drivetrain. More to the point, Nissan is getting its head around which engine to choose for this project, with Mercedes-Benz’s OM 642 V6 being a contender.

Even though the OM 642 debuted in 2005 and the three-pointed star is transitioning to inline-six engines, the 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel has been upgraded through the years to cut the mustard as needed. In the case of the X350d, the V6 is matched to a seven-speed automatic transmission that sens 258 PS (255 horsepower) and 550 Nm (406 pound-feet) of torque to all wheels, which is a little more than the Ranger’s EcoBlue and Colorado's Duramax.

“As a true car guy my imagination is limitless with what I would like to see, but it’s up to individuals like Ashwani and up to create business cases that make that vision really possible,”
commented Lester.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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