Nissan’s facelifted Y62 Patrol touches down

NISSAN Australia has released the facelifted version of its Y62 Patrol into showrooms, with the upper-large SUV ushering in more advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS), revised suspension and tweaked styling – but there are two catches.

Firstly, while the Patrol remains available in two variants, the Ti now kicks off proceedings at $75,990 plus on-road costs – $3110 more than before – while the flagship Ti-L is now $2110 dearer, at $91,990.

Secondly, local examples miss out on the new dual-touchscreen infotainment system that is offered with the Y62 facelift in other markets due to its unavailability out of the Japanese factory that Nissan Australia sources the Patrol from.

Critically, this set-up supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while the 8.0-inch touchscreen’s infotainment system that carries over locally goes without the popular smartphone mirroring technology.

Buyers still get a longer list of standard equipment, though, including key active safety features like forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, and rear cross-traffic alert across the range.

A less sophisticated version of AEB was standard on the pre-facelift Ti-L.

The new ADAS trio joins the Patrol’s existing suite comprised of lane departure warning, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control.

The Ti also now features an auto-dimming rearview mirror, while the Ti-L’s item also has live video functionality, enabling the driver to switch between traditional reflective and new-age ‘see-through’ views.

Both variants get auto-folding side mirrors and benefit from suspension changes that the Japanese brand says provide “a more comfortable ride”. Specifically, the shock absorbers now provide more dampening at a higher piston speed zone.

The Patrol’s three-zone climate control has also been improved, with superior air flow promised throughout the cabin, but particularly in the rear.

Similarly, the Ti-L’s heated and cooled front seats get larger heating maps within the pews for warmer bottoms and backs.

Three new paintwork options are available (Moonlight White, Galaxy Gold and Hermosa Blue).

As reported, the Y62 Patrol has new front- and rear-end designs that are upright, angular and complete with enhanced LED lighting. Redesigned 18-inch alloy wheels also feature.

Standard equipment in the eight-seat Ti includes a front sports bumper, satellite navigation, a six-speaker sound system, eight-way power-adjustable front seats, leather-accented upholstery and tyre pressure monitoring.

The seven-seat Ti-L adds a front premium bumper, roof rails, a power-operated sunroof and tailgate, a 13-speaker Bose sound system, a second-row entertainment system and a cooled central storage bin.

As before, the Patrol is exclusively motivated by a 5.6-litre naturally aspirated V8 petrol engine that produces 298kW of power at 5800rpm and 560Nm of torque at 4000rpm. It is mated to a seven-speed torque-converter automatic transmission.

Claimed fuel consumption on the combined-cycle test is 14.4 litres per 100 kilometres.

As a genuine four-wheel-drive, the Patrol features a low-range transfer case, a rear Helical limited-slip differential, an electronic rear differential lock, hill-descent control and hill-start assist.

“The new-look Nissan Patrol is a head-turner with its refreshed design already driving buyer enquiries,” said Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester.

“We are excited to have the new Nissan Patrol on sale, it has made significant gains in its segment owing to its comfort, design, towing and driveability both on and off-road. Everyone who drives this spacious large SUV enjoys it.

“We have seen a marked improvement in Patrol sales through our strong dealer sales performance, and we expect to see Patrol sales continue to rise.”

Patrol sales have boomed this year, with 1552 examples sold to the end of October – a 45.7 per cent increase over the 1065 deliveries made during the same period in 2018.

That said, the Patrol is still playing second fiddle to Toyota’s LandCruiser 200 Series (11,906 units, +3.0%) – the only other member of the sub-$100,000 upper-large-SUV segment.

2019 Nissan Patrol pricing*

*Excludes on-road costs