Gruffer exhaust growl could help make the toughest factory Patrol pricier than Toyota LandCruiser GR Sport
The Aussie-developed, factory-backed 2023 Nissan Patrol Warrior won’t get a more powerful engine and will be expensive when it launches next year, but it will bring a beefier V8 note thanks to side-exit exhaust outlets.
Like the ultra-successful Nissan Navara Warrior dual-cab 4×4 ute project, which was also a co-development between Nissan Australia and Melbourne-based engineering firm Premcar, the first Nissan Patrol Warrior will focus on chassis upgrades to deliver improved off-road capability.
Although its design has only been teased, we know the Patrol Warrior will get Mercedes-AMG G 63-inspired side exhaust outlets, which should give the big off-road SUV a bold battle cry to match its tougher look.
Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson confirmed that, like the Navara Warrior, the Patrol’s powertrain will remain standard (due to reliability, warranty and cost concerns), so its potent 5.6-litre petrol V8 will continue to deliver 298kW of power and 560Nm of torque.
Instead, Nissan and Premcar will again focus on increasing off-road competence with a lift kit that’s expected to improve ground clearance along with approach and departure angles.
“When we launched Navara Warrior, one of the questions I got and [Premcar boss] Bernie Quinn got was ‘why didn’t you do anything to the motor, the output of the engine?’
“There are only so many things that you can do to a factory-built vehicle, so it’s really putting a package together,” he told carsales, before stressing that final specs are yet to be decided.
“But there’s still testing to be done and also we’re still determining exactly what content goes into the package.
“We’re still working through what the final content of that product will be, but we’re sticking with the overall goal of increasing capability because that’s really been the objective of the Warrior program.
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be visual elements updated but a lot of the visual elements that we’ll update have a functional benefit as well, like with Navara Warrior.
“But the general goal has been increased capability. That’s still the ethos or the plan behind the program and when we land on exactly what all that final content is, we’ll be able to announce that and likely provide some images in advance of on-sale date.”
Paterson said Nissan and Premcar needed to balance design and capability upgrades against cost. Tweaking the Y62 Patrol engine would require significant engineering input and extensive durability and validation testing – and could push the price closer to $200,000.
“Owners are still doing things to Navara Warriors after the fact – aftermarket – but we’re trying to put a package together that appeals to the wider public for a whole bunch of different reasons, such as capability and price point also,” he said.
“There’s a there’s a price people pay. There’s a price point aspect and element to it as well,” said Paterson, implying that customers may not be keen to pay Porsche-dollars for a Nissan.
Like the latest Toyota LandCruiser – which downsized from V8 to V6 diesel power for the current 300 Series, leading to huge demand for the old 200 Series – Nissan’s next-generation Y63 Patrol is set to ditch its petrol V8 in favour of a twin-turbo V6 when it breaks in the US next year as the 2024 Nissan Armada.
The V8 Nissan Patrol already commands long waiting lists and the first Warrior version is likely to follow suit – standard powertrain or not – despite commanding what’s expected to be handsome price premium over the existing Patrol Ti-L flagship ($95,115 plus on-road costs).
Upgraded suspension, tyres, underbody protection and cosmetics could see the Patrol Warrior eclipse the price of its only direct rival, the Toyota LandCruiser GR Sport ($136,981 plus ORCs).
Nissan’s second homegrown Warrior model was only officially confirmed in late September and is already generating a huge amount of hype among the mud-plugging community.
“It’s clear there’s a lot of demand for that vehicle with factory backing, which is what you don’t necessarily get [when you fit aftermarket parts],” said Paterson.
“You’ve got a warranty that can be acted upon by the Nissan dealer or that can be serviced by the Nissan dealer and then you’ve got the financing availability.”
Nissan already offers an upgraded Nissan Patrol NISMO – bringing improved on-road performance – in other markets, yet the Aussie-developed Warrior off-road version is not only racking up pre-orders Down Under but raising eyebrows overseas including in the Middle East.
“We’ve got order banks. We’ve got people overseas saying this is an interesting project and how might we export this type of business model and unique localisation program to other markets?
“Navara Warrior has been successful. I think we’ve proven the business case and we’ve got great demand from it. It’s resonating with customers,” said Paterson.
The Nissan Australia boss was coy when quizzed whether we’ll see more products from the Nissan-Premcar alliance, perhaps including an X-TRAIL Warrior.
“We’re working quite well Premcar with the products that we have right now. We’ve been quite happy with the quality that they’ve been producing.
“We haven’t had any quality issues with any of the things we’ve done so we’ve got confidence with them that they’re a great partner and things are going well in the short-term.”
The burning question for those who have already pre-ordered a Patrol Warrior is exactly when can they expect their vehicle to be delivered?
“We’re still figuring out what that exact timing is,” said Paterson, before conveniently giving the Premcar team a six-month launch window that’s at least six months away by stating “second half 2023”.
Stay tuned for more details as we get them.
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Keyword: Nissan Patrol Warrior: Side-exit exhaust but no V8 upgrade