The Nissan Navara was launched today and is now available for sale at all Nissan dealers. The Navara does not replace the Frontier but is positioned as a new offering above the Frontier priced at RM103721.90 for the sole 2.5 liter automatic model in Peninsular Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak prices are both RM104800.00. Nissan has been offering both models in alot of countries now with the old Frontier renamed as the D22 or the NP300 but sold in limited quantities.

Look after the jump to find out more about the new Nissan Navara.

Its just as well that Nissan positioned the Navara one class above the Frontier because even in terms of size the Navara is one size larger than the other pickup trucks in the country which are classified as compact pick-ups.

The Navara has is a full 100mm longer than the longest compact pick-up truck which is the Toyota Hilux and its wheelbase of 3200mm is also a full 115mm longer than the longest wheelbase which is also the Hilux. If you think that the current pickup offerings are rather large and hard to park this will be even harder!

The Navara is also the most powerful with its 2.5 liter Nissan engine producing 174 PS at 4000rpm and 403Nm of torque at 2000rpm. It is mated to a 5-speed transmission with a single overdrive and an LSD. 4 non-overdrive gears means closer ratios compared to a 4-speed auto with 3 non-overdrive gears this can keep the Navara in its powerband more often which should result in some very decent progress.

403Nm is alot of torque about the same as the BMW 335i and the new M3 so expect lots of fun with the strong shove that kicks in at a peak of 2000rpm. The turbo promises to be lag-less thanks to a VGT turbocharger which can vary its vane angles to have the turbine geometry always at its optimum (read this for a full explanation of what VGT is).

The truck uses a body on frame chassis a rack and pinion steering wheel and a double wishbone suspension at the front and a solid axle with leaf springs at the rear. The interior is done in dark beige for the dash and light beige for the seats and looks like the one in the Latio. There are two cupholders at the front (positioned between the front seats) and two more for the rear that come out of the center armbox on the floor.

Other niceties include a leather interior low range gearbox electronic switch which can switch from 2H to 4H and 4L electronically an in-dash 6-CD player Xenon headlamps for the front which Nissan says is JPJ approved so their officers wont be able to give you a hard time and an electro-chromatic rear view mirror on the interior with a built-in compass similiar to the one in the BMW X3. This auto-dims whenever it detects a glaring light and also displays a compass in the form of a small LED display in the top right of the mirror. The Xenon headlamps have their tilt adjustable from within the cabin in 4 steps.

Safety features include dual SRS airbags and ABS brakes. Some may be concerned by reports of the Navara failing an Euro NCAP crash test with horrible results (one strikethrough star) earlier this year but Nissan has quickly fixed that with an update to the airbag software. Nissan says that the issue only affects a batch of Navaras that were produced between May 07 and December 07. There is no issue with Navaras produced before that since the 2005 launch and after the fix.

The affected vehicles were also recalled for the fix. After being retested with the new airbag control unit software the Navara now scores 3 stars for adult occupant protection and 4 stars for child occupant protection.

The Navara comes with a 3 year or 100000km warranty in Malaysia.

Click for enlarged specifications table