infomation on STX 450

[hunter]

Hi all Iam looking to buy the new stx 450 (140kw) automatic at the end of the year or early next year so Iam starting to do some research on them. Iam chasing info on the auto's and any engine troubles, fuel eco, ride etc.., so anyone that has one what are the pro's & con's? I can get one for about $48000 drive away (ABN) + $ extra's or maybe a bit cheaper end of year sale. I would like to buy the new V6 but it will be out of my price range maybe the V6 will drive price down on the the 450? also debating whether to go through union shopper or not.
Extra's
Tinted windows
Soft torno cover
Towbar
Polyair bags? (for towing 2t offroad pop top)
Tub liner or spray on liner?
Dual batteries?
Paint protection pack?
Hav'nt deciderd on the colour yet as I want something that dose'nt show up dust, scracthes or is to hot, I like the altitude blue, tuscan & white colours, I live in central QLD so i think the black would be to hot? So if anyone give me info on any of the above as well (paint,extra's,etc..) would be much appreiated.
Cheers hunter

 

[Old.Tony]

Welcome to the forum!

The 140KW D40 would be a nice car. No DPF even in the auto, they removed that.

Not sure I'd go the soft tonneau cover. Easy to knife 'em open as has happened to one of our members before.

I definitely would think twice about those air bags. These light trucks (not just the Nissans, either - Mazda & Mitsubishi and probably more) have broken their chassis when heavily loaded and using air bags - not enough area to distribute the impacts across the chassis. Consider heavier springs or what I'm doing - Ironman Helper Springs, about $125, 10 minutes to fit when you need 'em.

With a 2T trailer you're probably going to want to use load levelers. The Nissan hitch won't support them, as it only mounts with vertical bolts, not horizontal. As soon as you put any stress on the leveler it will bend the chassis at the rear. Get the Hayman Reese hitch.

Everyone who's put a spray-on liner has said how good it is. Do it from new and your tub should last a long time - it scratches easily in there, I've got a hard plastic liner in mine and really should pop it back out and see how bad things are, I should have gone the spray on myself but didn't.

Your second battery is a good idea, it'd have to go in the tub unless you get a gel and make a mount for it under the tub - there's not a lot of room in the engine bay. Whether you use an isolator (Redarc, Projecta) or an inverter-charger is up to you - the isolator will give you about 20-25% of the battery's capacity to use and the inverter-charger will give you 50%. The inverter-charger setup is more expensive.

Paint protection - many say it's not worth it, get a good wax and look after it yourself. I can't say I disagree with that. Tinting - we had ours done, with the highest UV-reduction stuff we could put on. One of the better investments.

Colours - most of the guys with black cars say they're absolutely wonderful until there's some dirt or fine scratches. Black looks really, really good but will highlight the scratches. Metallic colours are more expensive and harder to cover up marks. White is the coolest colour, shows dirt up but hides scratches. In the end, this one comes down to what you want and what's available.

Hope that helps. When your new baby arrives, put some pics up in the garage!

We'll be passing through that area this Christmas, coming down the Matilda Highway. Going to see first-hand how hot it gets!

 

[Bosshog]

I would have to agree with Tony and especially regarding the spray-on liner. Wish I had done that. Instead I have a plastic liner and I am too scared to lift it and look. As for metalic paint (of which I have) it looked great for the first 5 mins after I picked the ute up. My paint work is completely stuffed from 4WDing as the 'bush pin strips' show up so much more with metalic paint. Get white - its boring I know, but it is also cooler in summer and doesn't show dirt or scratches as easily.

 

[UncySpam]

I doubt the price of the 450 will drop will the 550 comes out.

Agree with Tony on everything except... Dual batteries - you can get a mounting kit to mount one under the drivers seat on the chassis rails. Get an AGM down there and you should be right unless you dunk it for very long periods. That obviates the requirement to use up space in your tray.


Oh, and according to some stuff I've read, no colour is hotter than another. I always figured that darker colours would be hotter myself, but apparently its just not true.

 

[Aussie Frontier]

I wanted the spray in liner in mine but I got a price of something like $850 where I scored a tub liner for under $300 so went that way.
I know my Black paint gets freakin hot freakin quick.
Seeing we are both in the same unlucky town where the fun police rule supreme we could put the trucks together and check the temps .

 

[hunter]

Thanks guys looks like it will be a spray on liner can you get it in same colour as car ? I was going the soft torno because my son has a motorbike and when we go anywhere towing the van he can't take the bike in saying that are the hard covers easy to remove? I will look into the helper springs, I have the air bags on my patrol wagon and they work great with the van but if they could cause problems on the navara I'll give them a miss, Iam not real keen on the load levelers. Any idea what the fuel economy is like both towing and not, and has it got plenty of power & torque ? as it looks good on paper.
Cheers hunter

 

[Old.Tony]

Load levelers should not be considered a "optional if I feel like it". They serve an extremely important purpose. Putting extra weight on the ball actually takes that weight OFF the front wheels. By not using load levelers, you're reducing your steering and braking capacity while towing.

I almost got a chance to drive one of the 140Kw Navaras but looks like that won't happen, so I can only tell you about mine. I'm happy as Larry with it. We just did a trip to Armidale with the van, getting 18LPHK or so towing, and mid 10s getting around without the van.

You have to drive the diesel differently to a petrol - while it can be fun trying to drag other vehicles off at the lights, this consumes buckets of fuel. Gentle take-offs keeping the rpm between 2,000 and 2,500 and the thing is smooth and doesn't guzzle - you're right smack in the max torque range, so you're using the engine efficiently.

Is it still plenty? Compared to a Monaro, or an unladen Western Star, no it's lacking a fair bit. As a ute that can go nicely off-road, tow well and drive really smoothly, it's really, really hard to beat.

 

[MintR33]

Thanks guys looks like it will be a spray on liner can you get it in same colour as car ? I was going the soft torno because my son has a motorbike and when we go anywhere towing the van he can't take the bike in saying that are the hard covers easy to remove? I will look into the helper springs, I have the air bags on my patrol wagon and they work great with the van but if they could cause problems on the navara I'll give them a miss, Iam not real keen on the load levelers. Any idea what the fuel economy is like both towing and not, and has it got plenty of power & torque ? as it looks good on paper.
Cheers hunter

I've got a 140kw Navara and the fuel economy so far is sitting on 9.6L / 100km doing mostly city driving. I've only done 1200km so far but I can tell you it's been down to 9.4l doing some highway driving.

I expect it will come down as the motor continues to run in...

I think the power is more than adequate, though I cant give you an idication yet what its like towing. As an indication I've found I can hold 6th gear and overtake with plenty of pickup and no need to drop down a gear... and taking off from a standing start to have plenty of pickup with barely and turbo lag as well... Hope that helps?

By the way, I have the factory Nissan soft tonneau cover for the same reasons... I also have a mate who had the hard cover and he found that it eventually wore the paint away on the tub when travelling on country roads so that was another point that sold me on the soft cover.

 

[hunter]

Thanks fellows, another Q? is the tub deep enough to house a 40lt engel fridge with either hard cover or soft torno closed. I got a price on the rhino lining today $850. I hope to be able buy at the end of the year or might wait and buy a 2011 model in January if all go's to plan
hunter

 

[Bosshog]

Thanks fellows, another Q? is the tub deep enough to house a 40lt engel fridge with either hard cover or soft torno closed. I got a price on the rhino lining today $850. I hope to be able buy at the end of the year or might wait and buy a 2011 model in January if all go's to plan
hunter

45L Engel sits just proud of the top of the tub and pushes up into the soft tonneau cover but it still clips down without any probs.