By Sala Masindane(@salaontop)

The large premium SUV segment is on the rise in South Africa with the likes of Land Cruiser 200, Lexus LX 570 and Range Rover HSE Sport, dominating the streets. These all good cars but let’s be honest, how many people are likely to take their Range Rover or Lexus off-roading as capable as they are? This is where the Nissan Patrol aims to come in, that is, offer best of both worlds in terms of luxurious comfort on the one hand and guilt free off-roading on the other hand. Recently were fortunate to attend the launch of the sixth-generation.

Unlike the previous generations, “the new-to-SA” Nissan Patrol will only be offered in the 5,6-litre naturally aspirated V8 petrol engine which will pushes out 298 kW and 560 Nm of torque. The body of the new Patrol is bullish and aggressive with a front bold V-Motion grille and xenon headlights. Other notable updates include body colour front and back bumpers, side step rails, chrome door handles, and front and rear parking sensors. The updates do borrow a bit from its sibling, the Infiniti QX80, but there is still a lot of Patrol in there and the loyalists should not be put off by the new look.

The cabin of the Patrol is spacious and comfortable. The former is affirmed by the fact that it is a 7-seater that can house all its occupants comfortably as the third row is adult friendly. The 2nd and 3rd row seats can fold flat to create more spare for extra luggage. As you would expect playing in these leagues, the list of standard features is impressive and includes climate-controlled front seats, heated steering wheel, nine cup holders, four bottle holders and sunroof. On the entertainment side, standard features include 13 Bose speakers, a subwoofer, Nissan’s 3D Navigation System and a multi-screen DVD entertainment system with second-row screens for the children or those adventures to Namibia. Headphones and remote control for the second-row screens are also included.

With the Patrol being the flagship of Nissan in terms of technology and safety, Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility (NIM) comes standard. These are some of the NIM features:

• Intelligent Blind Sport Intervention: for alerting the driver to the presence of vehicles in blind spots diagonally behind the car;
• Intelligent Lane Intervention: for alerting the driver when it detects that the car is straying from its lane;
• Intelligent Emergency Braking: this features uses radar technology to keep an eye on the speed and proximity to the vehicle in front of the car and will alert the driver before engaging the brakes;
• Intelligent Forward Collision Warning: helps alert drivers of an impending collision with a slower moving or stationary car; and
• Intelligent Around View Monitor: a support technology with 5 cameras around the car that assists drivers to park more easily by providing a better understanding of the vehicle’s surroundings.

The launch route took us across Gauteng and the North West where we experienced the off-roading capabilities of the Patrol at the De Wildt 4×4 Game Park in Brits. The Patrol completed all the obstacle courses with ease. Nissan claims a fuel consumption of 14,4 litres and we managed figures of around 17,8 litres/100km which may have been due to the stop and start nature of the trip. The Patrol retails from R1,299,000.

The Patrol pricing includes Nissan’s Assured 6-year/150,000km warranty, a 3-year/90,000km service.