Nissan NP300 Pick-Up Car Review

Facts At A Glance MANUFACTURER: Nissan MODEL: NP300 pick-up BHP: 133 PAYLOAD CAPACITY: 1,135 GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT: 1,680kg – 1,700kg LENGTH: 2,235mm WIDTH: 1,465mm HEIGHT: 430mm August 8th 2008

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Our Rating: 5.3 / 10

What the Nissan NP300 lacks in style and comfort, it more than makes up for in practicality. Matt Low reports

The Nissan NP300 is a good old-fashioned, solidly built pick-up that is more at home on the challenging terrain of a building site than it is on the Chelsea school run. Whereas some pick-ups have been going the way of the SUV in recent times and becoming trendy tax havens for company drivers, the NP300 reverts back to a no-frills style that is aimed at benefiting building site foremen rather than city slickers.

For some reason, pick-up trucks have started to become trendy. Company car drivers have begun ditching their expensive SUVs and, attracted by the personal tax advantages, started buying up pick-ups in numbers. To cater for this, pick-up manufacturers began flooding the market with high-end models that are big on cab comfort and gadgetry but not really suited to the building site environment that pick-ups were originally intended for. But now this all seems to be swinging back the other way. Thanks in no small part to the economic downturn, manufacturers are beginning to create more basic models for a smaller fee. And it is in to this arena that Nissan introduced the no-frills NP300 pick-up. Based on Nissan’s old Pick-Up model, the NP300 represents an affordable pickup option that should ensure you’ll be seeing one on a building site near you in the near future.

The NP300 comes with one type of engine and that is a four-cylinder, 16-valve, common-rail 2.5-litre diesel. This unit reaches its maximum power of 133bhp at 3,600rpm and peak torque of 304Nm kicks in at 2,000rpm. A five-speed manual gearbox comes as standard. The front suspension employs a double wishbone set-up while a rigid rear axle and leaf springs help support the rear end when carrying a load and ensures a reasonably bump-free ride. Power-assisted steering leads to a wall to wall turning circle of 12.2 metres and a kerb to kerb turning circle of 11.2 metres. The power-assisted steering does not seem particularly responsive on the roads and handling can be vague. Under normal road use the NP300 utilises rear-wheel drive but if you have the 4x4 option, a lever near the gear stick can be used to engage the all-wheel drive for when the going gets tough.

The single cabin NP300 features a fairly uncomfortable three-man bench that has to be slid forward and backward in its entirety for the driver to get nearer the pedals. The bench cannot be adjusted for rake and the middle seat has inadequate legroom even for a hobbit. However the steering column height can be altered to suit the driver. Although the NP300 holds its own when up to motorway speeds, this 2.5-litre diesel powerplant is really more suited to biting into tough terrain at low speeds and this is where it comes into its own.

The NP300 should not cost a fortune to run and fuel consumption is pretty much par for the course with CO2 emissions at 241g/km. It averages around 30mpg on the combined cycle and should not cost the world to insure either. Nissan provides a three-year, 18-000-mile warranty along with three-year paint and six-year anti-corrosion guarantees, meaning you can get on with your work without worrying about endless appointments at the garage. The rear load area is capacious, well-designed and should make life on the building site a whole lot easier, especially if you fork out the extra money for the Double Cab or King Cab models which provide better fastening equipment in the loading bay. Where the NP300 may frustrate you however is on the road. Its engine is more suited to rugged ground than tarmac highways and the handling can be irritating.

The maximum payload the Nissan NP300 can carry is a respectable 1,135kg and it can tow anything weighing up to an impressive 3,000kg with the brake on, 750kg with the brake off. Inside the cabin it’s a seriously no-frills approach with limited storage space in the doors and dashboard. Some of the interior trim also looks a little cheap but what do you expect from a pick-up for this price? The NP300 is not about style and comfort. If you’re looking to haul large loads across rough terrain without caring what you look like, it’s built for the task. If you’re really looking for positives, you could say th