The Australian-developed Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior by Premcar has been named Best Ute Off-Road: Best Four-Cylinder in the inaugural CarExpert Ute Of The Year Awards, out-performing its competitors in a series of grueling, real-world testing scenarios.
Described as “Australia’s most comprehensive awards testing”, the CarExpert judges put seven vehicles to the test in the Best Ute Off Road: Best Four-Cylinder category, submitting each to challenging terrain, low-grip scenarios and safety simulations.
CarExpert says its judging criteria was carefully designed to put Australia’s most popular utes to the ultimate off-road test, and it included:
Traction testing
“Each vehicle had to utilise its traction controls on a 10% gradient that featured rollers embedded in the ground. It simulated a situation where half the drive wheels had no traction — a number of utes with poor traction controls failed this testing by rolling backwards down the hill and requiring driver intervention.”
Mogul testing
“Our offset mogul test put the four-wheel-drive system to the ultimate test by limiting traction on one front and one rear wheel, forcing the vehicle to apply traction controls to overcome the challenge.”
Low-range testing
“The final test was a difficult 45% gradient climb on loose rock. Each ute was put into its most aggressive low-range off-road setting to attempt the climb — a number of utes failed to climb the hill successfully. Success in this test required a well-tuned four-wheel-drive system and a suitable low-range system to climb with ease.”
The Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior by Premcar was awarded its victory at the conclusion of judging, having out-performed the six other vehicles in its category.
“Nissan has done a great job of adding off-road features to the Navara PRO-4X Warrior without compromising its core competencies as a work tool,” says CarExpert’s Paul Maric.
“During our 45% gradient loose rock climb test we had to lock both the front and rear differentials in the Ranger Raptor, while the Navara PRO-4X Warrior managed to complete the climb with only the rear differential locked.
“The judges felt the local engineering element also helped create a vehicle better suited to Australian conditions.”
The award is a welcome honour that recognises the Australian engineering and development work done in Nissan and Premcar’s Warrior program, which currently includes the Navara PRO-4X Warrior and Navara SL Warrior, and will soon also include the Nissan Patrol Warrior.
“We’re honoured to receive this award from the CarExpert team,” says Premcar’s Engineering Director, Bernard Quinn.
“It’s testament to the incredible work done by Nissan Australia and the Premcar team in creating a locally developed Navara that’s not only made for Australian conditions, but also made here in Australia.”
Contacts:
Bernard Quinn
Engineering Director and Partner
Premcar Pty Ltd
Email: bquinn@premcar.com
Mobile: 0417 529 794
Peter Fadeyev
Automotive Marketing & Public Relations
Sydney Haven Pty Ltd
Email: peter@peterfadeyev.com
Mobile: 0424 350 556
About Premcar:
About Premcar – Premcar Pty Ltd is a leading Australian vehicle engineering business that specialises in the automotive, defence and aerospace industries. For more than 25 years, global car-makers have made Premcar their go-to partner for the complete design, engineering and manufacture of niche-model new cars, full-scale new-vehicle development programs, and electric vehicle (EV) conversions and manufacturing. As the name behind more than 200,000 new cars and 55,000 new-vehicle engines, Premcar’s body of work is extensive and has delivered technical and sales success for major car brands from Europe, the USA, Japan, China and Australia. Visit premcar.com.
Follow Premcar on Instagram – @premcaraustralia
Follow Premcar on LinkedIn – @Premcar Pty Ltd
