Let's compare these big boys of 2022: Patrol Land Cruiser, Expedition, and Suburban
SUVs come in all shapes and sizes. You can get a small SUV with loads of capabilities, or a larger one for those road trips from province to province. For some, however, large just isn’t big enough. There are customers who want a lot of metal between them and the outside world for maximum stretch-out space and comfort.
For that, we turn our attention to full-sized SUVs. They’re bold, they’re brash, and they fill up your rear-view mirrors. New to the fray is the refreshed 2022 Nissan Patrol, and it’s got some stiff competition ahead of it. Yes, it’s got a new look inside and out, but can its specs convince you to get it over its rivals?
It’s time for another round of spec check.
The Competition
You can’t mention the Patrol without its long-time competitor, the Toyota Land Cruiser. The two have been duking it out since the ’50s as Japan’s top supersized SUVs. With the Land Cruiser now on its latest generation, the rivalry is stronger than ever.
The other two hail from the US, and it’s a bit of an indirect comparison… or is it? We’re talking about jumbo 4x4s here so they’re worth a mention too. First up is the Ford Expedition EL (AKA: Expedition Max). Yes, it’s clearly longer than the two Japanese SUVs but that’s because it’s only available in one length in the Philippine market. We’d pit the standard-length model against the Patrol and Land Cruiser, but it’s not sold here.
The other one is the Chevrolet Suburban and we know what you’re thinking: why not the Tahoe? That’s mainly due to the fact that the local-spec Tahoe isn’t available with four-wheel drive here. If you want a full-sized Chevy SUV that can go off-road, the Suburban is your only option.
We also included the Expedition EL and Suburban because of the price. They’re close to the Patrol and Land Cruiser, but we’ll get to that later.
Stretch out that measuring tape
Be it in length, width, or height, the Chevrolet is the biggest of the group. The others simply don’t come close to its 5.7-meter length. At the opposite end of the tale, the Land Cruiser is the shortest, but it still measures in at a lengthy 5.1 meters.
On to the subject of width, they’re all about two meters wide and that’s not including their side mirrors yet. The widest was, of course, the Suburban, while the narrowest, if you can call any of these SUVs narrow, was the Land Cruiser. Still, at nearly 2 meters wide, finding parking space for it won’t exactly be the easiest task in the world.
Beasts under the hood
What’s amusing about these SUVs is that they all have different ways to propel themselves forward. The Patrol for instance comes with a mighty 32-valve 5.6-liter V8 with as much modern tech Nissan can put in it. The Suburban on the other hand is the opposite of the Nissan, utilizing an old-school overhead valve design with just 16 valves for the 5.3-liter V8 to work with. The difference in tech is clear as the Patrol makes 405 PS, the most potent of the group. Chevy’s ‘traditional’ engine, on the other hand, puts out 355 PS which poses a fairly large gap against the Patrol.
Moving to the Land Cruiser, it’s the only diesel of this bunch, but it’s a brute. Gone is the old 4.5-liter twin-turbo diesel V8. Instead, it now has a smaller 3.3-liter twin-turbo diesel V6. While it “only” makes 306 PS, it makes the most torque at 700 Nm. To put that into perspective, it makes more pull than the Patrol (at 560 Nm), the Suburban (at 516 Nm), and even the Expedition (at 637 Nm).
If you prefer a gasoline-powered V6, there’s the Ford Expedition with its 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost. Thanks to forced induction, the six-cylinder underneath its expansive hood put out a healthy 365 PS. It may be the smallest gasoline engine here, but it still comes with a whopping 637 Nm of pull.
High and mighty
One of the reasons SUVs have become so popular is because of ground clearance. Some would argue that the sensation of being perched high adds to the impression of safety these full-sized SUVs inherently possess. But are they really that high off the ground?
In the case of the Suburban, apparently not. It only has 201 mm of clearance, which is just about the same as a Honda BR-V. However, there is an explanation for that. It comes with a low front bumper bar that prevents it from climbing over smaller cars in an event of an accident. In reality, it has much more clearance than that, but just be wary of parking ‘toblerones’.
As for the rest of them, there’s little to worry about. All of them exceed 220 mm of ground clearance. The Land Cruiser comes with 235mm of ground clearance while the Expedition gets 246 mm. The vehicle that comes with the tallest ground clearance is the Patrol which boasts 275 mm.
Going for a swim?
If you’re brave (or crazy) enough to take any of these off-road, chances are, you’ll be crossing a stream or two. So how deep can you dunk these behemoths in a river? Pretty deep, in the case of the Patrol and Land Cruiser. Both claim a 700 mm wading capacity. It may seem low compared to smaller PPVs or pick-up trucks, but we think they’re being conservative about the numbers. We have taken the pre-facelift Patrol through a flood much deeper than 700mm, but we wouldn’t want to do that regularly.
What about the Americans? Oddly enough, Chevrolet and Ford didn’t put out any ratings for their SUVs. Just to be on the safe side, we don’t recommend crossing streams or flooded streets higher than their wheels hubs.
Load up
It probably won’t surprise you if the Suburban can carry the most. Being the biggest of the bunch, you expect that. The second goes to the Expedition, which isn’t much of a shock either as both have over 3,400 liters worth of cargo space if all seats are folded. Even with the third row up, both have a capacity of over 1,000 liters, 1,019 liters for the Expedition Max, and a whopping 1,113 liters for the Suburban. Fold the third row and it might shock you that the Expedition can load more than the Suburban at 2,254 liters and 2,173 liters, respectively.
As for the Patrol and Land Cruiser, the former has more space if all three rows are up at 467 liters while the latter has 461 liters. It’s the same story if the third-row seats are folded with the Nissan at 1,413 liters and the Toyota at 1,178 liters. Perhaps that difference is due to the Land Cruiser’s bulky side-stowed third-row. It’s only when all seats are folded where it swings towards the Toyota’s favor, but not by much.
Fill ’em up
Big SUVs need big fuel tanks and a lot of gas. With their powerful engines, these land yachts will need it to quench their thirst. Filling them up won’t be easy on the pocket either, as the smallest tank here is just at 80 liters.
The vehicle with the “smallest” tank here is the Expedition which gets 80 liters. Next up is the Expedition which comes with an 88-liter tank. If that’s not enough, the Suburban gets an even larger capacity that’s rated at 117-liters.
But if you really want an SUV that can go the distance, the Patrol’s 140-liter fuel tank will give you the (extended) range that you need.
How much?
If you value space above everything else, the Ford Expedition Max’s Php 4,479,000 price tag might present a good value proposition for you. As for the Suburban, Chevy’s big SUV will start at PHP 4,852,888 for the two-wheel-drive version. If you prefer it with a four-wheel drive, it will cost you Php 5,388,888.
As for the Nissan Patrol, it’s only available in one variant which retails for 4,548,000. Last but not least is the Land Cruiser 300 which now begins at PHP 5,210,000 with the VX. But if you really want your LC 300 fully decked out, the range-topping Land Cruiser ZX will set you back PHP 5,672,000.
Out of all the SUVs mentioned here, which of them would you pick? Will you pick an all-American Ford or Chevy, or will you stick with the Japanese 4×4 machines? Share your comments.
Keyword: Big SUV Spec Check: Land Cruiser 300, Patrol Royale, Expedition and Suburban