Nissan seemingly confirms Patrol Warrior, here Q4?

AFTER more than 18 months of rumours, speculation and hinting, Nissan Australia may have just inadvertently confirmed the Patrol as the next model in line to receive the Warrior off-road treatment and that it could be here by year’s end.

The Patrol has long been regarded as the prime candidate for the next Warrior makeover courtesy of Premcar, with Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester adding fuel to the fire on multiple occasions and detailing what he’d like to see in such a vehicle.

Now however, Nissan Australia local product development and enhancement senior manager Matt Baily has all but confirmed the Patrol as the next Warrior, appearing to let the cat out of the bag at the unveiling of the new Navara Pro-4X Warrior.

Speaking with Australian media during a Q&A session, Mr Baily was refusing to give up specifics as to the next off-road flagship but eventually let slip the Patrol was next in line with a broader expansion possible after that.

“There definitely is another Warrior program that we’re on … but I really can’t give any more today otherwise there’d be no point seeing you again, so, looking forward to giving you more information over the coming months,” he said.

“And potentially, you know, the Warrior treatment could be applied to other models as well, so it doesn’t necessarily just stop at Patrol.”

Exactly what form the Patrol Warrior takes is anyone’s guess for now but going on previous comments made by Mr Lester, it would be safe to expect some degree of power bump from the 5.6-litre V8 as well as a raft of off-road-oriented platform upgrades.

Speaking to GoAuto at the launch of the updated Patrol in February last year, the Mr Lester referenced what had been done to the big off-roader in other markets, i.e. Desert Edition and Nismo version, and how that could be developed further.

“I would actually stop asking, ‘Well, is the Nismo engine option (for Patrol) available?’ (and instead ask) ‘What else is there, how much further can we go?” he said at the time.

“I can’t speculate on all the things that could be done but certainly there is a lot of opportunity with it. And that’s why we see the future for Patrol so optimistically.”

For reference, the Nismo-tickled Patrol develops 315kW/560Nm compared to the standard 298kW/560Nm with the matching torque figure being available over a wider rev range.

A patrol Warrior will also give Nissan a handy weapon against the incoming 300 Series LandCruiser, especially the GR Sport version that is tipped to be the most capable version off-road with its unique bumpers, smaller-diameter wheels and meatier tyres.

For the time being then all we can really do is wait and see, although Mr Baily’s reference to “the coming months” could point to a third quarter-reveal and subsequent fourth-quarter launch of the Patrol Warrior, incidentally the same period earmarked by Toyota for the launch of the 300 Series.