By Sala Masindane

Last year Nissan’s Navara double-cab range received quite an extensive update. Earlier this year, Nissan revealed the updated Single-cab Navara which is designed to meet the commercial needs of some South African consumers. We recently spent time with the locally built and refreshed Nissan Navara Single Cab 4×4 workhorse which replaced the popular NP300.

All work, no play

The exterior design of the updated Navara Single-cab maintains a similar look to the rest of the updated Navara range. Being a workhorse this model derivative misses out on the fancy LED headlights and taillights, as well as a fancy set of alloy wheels seen on the double-cab. Inside, it also sadly misses out on a modern touch like an infotainment touch display with smartphone compatibility for navigation. Instead, it makes use of a no-frills radio with CD and Bluetooth capability. It makes up for those inherent shortcomings with a comfortable cabin and ample interior space which is exactly what’s needed considering the many hours spent on the roads by a majority of buyers in this segment.

Living with a workhorse

Under the hood of our test bakkie was a 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine developing 140 kW and 450 Nm. The engine is paired to a 6-speed manual transmission and the workhorse comes with a payload capacity of up to 1,119kg, as well as a central locking diff. The Navara Single-cab’s ride quality is refined and handles daily urban commutes with ease. There’s a bit of discomfort when tackling gravel roads but nothing jarring. In these trying times where fuel prices are ever-increasing, consumers will be grateful to know that the workhorse is quite frugal as it returned a commendable fuel consumption of 8.6l/100km against the claimed 8.1l/100km.

Final words

Overall, the Nissan Navara Single-cab executes tasks competently and will no doubt see Nissan climbing up the sales ladder. Pricing however isn’t its strong suit as our test Navara Single Cab 2.5 DDTi SE 4×4 MT’s pricing is at a steep R530,500. The Single-cab range however starts at R379,500.