Nissan has finally confirmed the next-generation Patrol will ditch its V8 for a twin-turbocharged petrol V6 engine, marking the current Patrol as the last Nissan vehicle to feature a V8.
Speaking to media at the Tokyo motor show, Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s senior vice president of global product strategy and product planning, said customers will appreciate the new Patrol‘s drivetrain and won’t miss the V8.
“I’m also of that generation… I used to like the V8 and I still do,” he said in reference to the current car. “But the V6 twin-turbo… you will not lament the V8,” Espinosa said.
Mr Espinosa confirmed diesel was out of the question for Patrol given the high sales mix for the Middle East.
In terms of benchmarking, he went on to explain that the Nissan team had worked to ensure all metrics for the vehicle were headed in the right direction.
“I think we built on the strengths of what we have, off-road performance, we’ll keep it, of course the interior quality and attention to detail and probably we’re we’re stretching technology. This is one of the things that of course, on the current Patrol is old,” Mr Espinosa said.
“It is what it is. It’s relatively old, you know we don’t have the best infotainment system. And this is where you’re gonna see a big, big key change to technology.”
“Building on the strengths and catching up aggressively. Overall performance driving dynamics, you will see also big, big improvement. And that dynamic performance is very well executed on-road, driving high speed, response, the chassis dynamics, the steering speed has also been greatly improved,” he said.
Based on previous reports out of the USA, the twin-turbocharged V6 petrol engine is expected to make around 314kW of power – 16kW up on the current model. Turbocharging is expected to offer peakier performance, and reduce fuel consumption.
It’s unclear when Nissan will reveal the next generation Patrol, but with vehicles currently testing in the Middle East and being spied looking production ready, its reveal won’t be too far off.
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