STR Navara Diesel

No personal experience but some say the chassis twists a lot during rough stuff, so much so that the tub gets pulled out of shape long enough for the hard top torneau to spring open. Couple of mates who have them are fairly dissatisfied with off road performance but have no previous experience in this class of vehicle(ie dual cab ute).... Every one of them loves the thing for towing though... Guess it comes down to what you're used to and want you will use it for.

I know there is a new Navara coming out this year write up in 4X4 last month? May be worth the wait to either see new model or get a run out on the current model

G'day,

I looked at the ST-R when I bought the Rodeo. I was really impressed with it and we nearly bought one. We didn't want a diesel though and wanted an automatic, which was unavailable. Price (or should I say value) was excellent.

Good things:
Good clearance
Good value
good off road according to reviews. The position of stuff underneath is excellent and it had better clearance than the Rodeo and Hilux.
Diesel engine is from Pathfinder and well respected
I drove the Diesel and it was fast, smooth and very quiet.
They look good and are pretty well apponted inside
You'll get one for around 10k less than the new Hilux.
Service costs
Great factory bull bar

Not so Good:
footwell space in the front
safety options (No ABS)
Manual hubs (I think from memory)
That F%^$# hard tonneau. Don't get one. If you want security, look seriously at a canopy. So many problems with the HT, like the fact that if your esky is just that little bit too tall, you can't close the lid. Same as a boot really. Plus, what a waste of a ute to put a hard lid on it.

That was about it for me. I chose the Rodeo as I thought it was a bit better finish that the Navara, plus I wanted an Auto Petrol and the Rodeo was good in that config.

IMO, if you like it now, you'll love it when you buy it. I have friends that have one and they love it.

As said above though, remember it's a ute and they don't have to conform to the same standards as passenger cars.

Cheers,

Smocky.

Hi Woodiebro,

I have had my Navara STR for just on 2 years know, and this is how I view the vehicle:

1. Excellent fuel economy at approx 11km per litre
2. Engine has very good pulling capacity and is vey happy towing a 2 tonne trailer.
3. Gear ratio's in low range are excellent for bush four wheel driving.
4. Needs a 2 inch lift kit to really go on the rough stuff
5. I do not have a canopy, but it would be good to have one with fridge setup in rear.
6. Very comfortable to drive (I am 6'2")
7. Absolutely no rear legroom, so if you have kids over 7-8 years old, then forget it.

Hope this helps

TonyG

I have a diesel navara. I have been off road with mine and othewr navara's. When i got it I figured it would be quite incapable off road because it's a ute therefore compromised. I have put it against several cars off road and i will tell you if it was better or worse.

Land cruiser ute - worse
Prado TD - worse
Grand cherokee - way way better
newish Surf - better
New hilux - same
Jackeroo - same to better
old surf - same
discovery - worse

so i recon it rocks off road, have not noticed any twisting of chassis, and outperfomrs many others onroad, dont know why the navara is a very old subframe but it must be good, they continue to use it and it is as good as any i recon.

saw the new navara 2 weeks ago - smaller headlights - squarer and don't look quite so funny. best of all there is a left foot rest. same engine - where do you put the 2nd battery? everyting else seems good. like you i am looking at the dual cabs - kids now gone so the fridge and stuff in the back seat and the other stuff way out the back. after driving them all i've now decided - it looks like a troopy - not quite a dual cab but might just be that little bit better. rgds

woodiebro

I have had my STR for 3 years and have tried hard to kill it but it just keeps going
(6 fraser trips,2 moreton trips,3 north straddie trips,2 trips to corner country and a fair bit of towing. Cant help about the twisting but if you hit something fast and hard something has to bend. All in all I am very happy with it, it does what I brought it for.

regards ross