Nissan Patrol earmarked for the Warrior Treatment
After Nissan’s reasonably good success with the Navara N-Trek Warrior, which we reviewed here, it seems that the Nissan Patrol is being tagged for the Warrior treatment. There have been whispers and rumours running around off-road media circles for a while now, and it appears that those whispers are about to become more than just whispers. It seems Premcar is ramping up to cover more vehicles, and the Patrol is set to receive the premium upgrades.
Premcar is the team behind the Navara N-Trek Warrior, and a joint effort from the engineering teams at Prodrive and Tickford. Reports indicate that Premcar has expanded its workshop facilities and is ready to take on the modifications of the brand new facelift 2020 Nissan Patrol. Being Nissan’s only other real off-roader, it’s no surprise that it’s looking likely to get the ‘Warrior’ treatment, especially as Premcar has stepped away from its engine performance heritage, and is now more focused on the off-road equipment side of things.
That said, we absolutely will not rule out the possibility of a ‘performance’ upgrade or two thrown in with the Nissan Patrol Warrior treatment. The 5.6-litre V8 petrol-powered engine that makes 298kW of power and 560Nm of torque off the showroom floor is absolutely screaming for a factory fitted intake and exhaust tweak, something which Tickford had down to a fine art back in the day (anyone remember the EL series Ford Falcon and its Tickford tweaks?). Unfortunately, there has been no talk of performance mods, so this is absolute speculation, however being a petrol-only model, and the roots that Premcar has in engine tuning, we reckon they’d be mad to not at least poke their heads down that hole to see if it could lead to something beautiful. Doubly so as Australians as a whole have been screaming for an ‘upgraded engine’ package on just about every 4X4 vehicle that comes to market; we might finally see one.
From here it’s a matter of wait and see, but regardless of the chance of performance upgrades… or not… there’s no doubt a Patrol N-Trek Warrior would score some impressive body and styling upgrades, and potentially some revised suspension aimed at further enhancing off-road capability. We’ll keep you posted.
