First, the bad news.
The Nissan Terra, a seven-seater sports utility vehicle (SUV) which shares the same ladder frame as the Navara, is not going to be launched in Malaysia.
I'm going to give you a moment to let that settle in and get over it.
Now, this is the first time, I have joined an international drive event which took place in my home country of Malaysia.
All-in-all, 78 journalists from South-East Asia, with a majority of them from Thailand, embarked over a 2,000km journey across Malaysia in three stages.
For this huge undertaking, the journalists and journeys were broken up into three groups.
The vehicles were driven into Malaysia via Hat Yai to the Sadao border crossing and entered Malaysia at Kedah.
The vehicles and Thai media would drive back to their homeland using the same route that it had entered earlier.
CarSifu joined the third and final leg of the 'Go Anywhere' drive which kicked-off in Kuantan, Pahang going north to Kuala Terengganu and then into Kelantan and we made our way west to Penang via the old east-west highway.
This involved traveling almost 700km.
The journey involved driving through modern highways, coastal roads, and mountain roads as we crossed the Titiwangsa mountain range into Perak and reached our destination in Penang.
We had the opportunity to drive the 4X4 vehicles chosen for this drive which consisted of the X-Trail, Navara and Terra and into more challenging off-road terrain in Chendering, Terengganu.
This off-road excursion showed just how robust the Nissan vehicles are as we took it through mud and rocky terrain including river crossings. For this part of the journey I was driving the third-generation facelifted X-Trail SUV which features a 4WD 2.5-litre engine which produces 171PS and 233Nm of torque.
On this terrain, it is no match for the Navara and Terra but nevertheless, it can handle its own when off-roading.
One has to go slower and be a little more careful because its ground clearance is only 210mm.
It has the Hill Descent Control feature which brakes automatically when you are going down a steep incline which is useful. Looks-wise, it is sportier with its roof-rails and it has added safety features such as Intelligent Forward Collision Warning and mitigation with the Intelligent Emergency Braking.
Meanwhile, the Navara 4X4 has the biggest engine in this group with the 2.5-litre in-line 4-cylinder turbodiesel producing 190hp and 450Nm of torque mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission.
Interestingly enough, the seven-seater Terra has a slightly smaller 2.3-litre turbodiesel engine but produces the same output as the Navara.
As both the Terra and Navara have ladder-frame chassis, they feel the same behind the wheel.
The difference between these two models is their functionality.
One is a utilitarian pick-up while the other is more towards a people mover.
Both the Terra and Navara however are versatile in all terrains.
While climbing up the windy roads making our way to the Royal Belum Forest Reserve where we stopped for lunch at the Belum Rainforest Resort, I was commanding the Terra and was impressed with its handling, power and comfort.
After lunch, I changed to the Navara and drove it all the way to Penang.
This pick-up truck, even without carrying any load in the rear, oozes confidence as it proved to be balanced and was just as fun driving on the mountain roads and highways.
Driving through Penang city traffic in the Navara was hassle-free and some Penang drivers are not intimidated with a pick-up and will cut you off regardless.
In the end, this group of 4X4 Nissan models from our neighbouring country has been built and specified for comfort, safety, convenience and the capability to literally, 'Go Anywhere'.
