Mondays can be daunting but not if you approach them with the @nissan Patrol beast we have on test. It’s immensely powerful with its V8, spacious and luxurious, packed with technology and very capable off-road. It will easily take you from Jozi to Mombasa without breaking a sweat. The driver aids like blind spot monitoring, lane keep, emergency braking and adaptive cruise control make the driving experience easy and enjoyable. Creature comforts like heated and electronically adjustable seats, navigation and DVD screen entertainment add to the party. The V8 is on the thirsty side in city driving although consumption gradually goes down in highway driving. The cabin is luxurious but can look more modern. Overall, this beast ticks most of our boxes for a machine that will not be defeated by much, especially a Monday. Let’s go conquer. #mondaymotivation #mancrushmonday #mcm #nissanpatrol #nissan #patrol #suv #4×4 #allterrain #city #country #urban #rural #travel #adventure

A post shared by The Car People (@khulekani_on_wheels) on Jun 17, 2018 at 10:02pm PDT

Each and every car comes with its advantages and disadvantages and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I got handed the keys to the Nissan Patrol. It’s new in South Africa but has been around for a while in other markets. It’s actually gone closer in design to its luxurious stable mate, the Infiniti Q80. Some like this and some don’t. I didn’t want to prejudge the car before I had experienced it.

Perhaps let’s start on the exterior looks. It’s gone narrow and taller than the previous shape. There’s certainly more chrome on the exterior making the car look exclusive. The large grille dominates the front and is complemented by large LED lights. The side profile is assuming but not boring. The long body line from the front, the hint of chrome and large windows keep you interested. The back is slightly curved and tidy. Nothing is overdone.

The interior can be discussed in three themes: age, luxury and space. Age: as mentioned above, the car has taken a while to come to us and does appear boring. The graphics on the screen are not what you’d expect of a premium product like the Patrol. Luxury: the wooden finishes and generous leather on the seats and door give off an instant feel of luxury. You will also enjoy the heated seats (it’s really cold in Jo’burg during winter) and electronically adjustable seats (although my hands kept on moving the seats when reaching for items in the door bin). Space: the Patrol is massive and you notice this a lot when you are inside. All rows of seats have decent legroom. Yep, you can fit adults at the back.

The technology is worth its own mention. The Nissan safety technological advancements are all packed into this car. The ones we used almost daily are blind spot monitor, lane keep (no, it doesn’t get irritating because of the Patrol’s size) and adaptive cruise control. The latter works like a charm in the Patrol and it makes light of navigating peak hour traffic. It’s also of great benefit when doing long distances.

Now onto the massive 5.6 V8 (298 kW/560 Nm) engine. It’s immensely powerful and power comes at you immediately thanks to the car’s lack of a turbo. It can get tricky when reversing (you actually need to be careful) but great when you are taking off. The car doesn’t labour. The Patrol tends to stick to the road and offer precise steering. You point it in a particular direction and it obliges. It also keeps things very neat in corners. You don’t feel the body developing a mind of its own. The ride quality is great, it’s comfortable both from a driving and passenger perspective. The Patrol is old school luxury that just grows on you each day. It shrinks as you get used to it and you never notice that you are driving a large car. We’ll definitely be putting a motivation to the kind folks at Nissan to lend it to us. We’ll also ask them for a petrol card. That V8 is thirsty.

The Nissan Patrol range is priced from R1,339,900.