2021 Nissan Patrol/Armada review: Should you buy a Landcruiser instead?

CarExpert

The big Nissan Patrol/Armada has just had a big update for 2021! The Patrol/Armada remains powered by a petrol naturally aspirated V8 engine, but it represents a huge price saving over the more expensive diesel and petrol Toyota Landcruiser equivalents. Paul Maric gets behind the wheel of the latest update to see if it's worth considering if you need a big off-roader or tow vehicle.  Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior: 00:58 Interior: 02:50 Infotainment: 04:40 Safety Tech: 05:50 Practicality: 07:23 On-road: 12:18 Off-road: 16:21 Verdict: 18:51  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #review #nissan #patrol #armada

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. So it used to be the Toyota Land Cruiser was the SUV you needed if you were doing the trip across Australia.

00:06 There was really no other choice.

00:08 But then this came along, the Nissan Patrol, and a lot of people thought it probably wasn't going to work because it's a petrol,

00:15 it's a V8, it's going to use a lot of fuel, let's just get a Land Cruiser.

00:18 But the problem is the price. This right here is the Nissan Patrol TIL. It's the top specification.

00:24 It's recently received a facelift, and I'll go through that in a bit more detail shortly.

00:29 It's priced from just under $93,000, and it really only has one main competitor,

00:34 which is the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series, which is about to be updated with the 300 Series.

00:39 Today we're going to do a detailed review of the Nissan Patrol.

00:42 If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review, you can use the time codes up on the screen,

00:47 or if you're on YouTube, just scroll down and use the chapters below.

00:50 And if you haven't done so already, I'd love it if you could subscribe and also press the bell icon,

00:54 so you can find out every single time we drive a big old beast.

00:58 Okay, let's talk exterior. You have six colours to choose from.

01:01 An Orbit Gun Metallic is an extra $650.

01:05 I've got to say, this is probably going to be controversial, but I love the design of this.

01:08 Have a look at what they've done here. They've completely blinged it out.

01:11 And look, it's not as blingy as the Nismo version of this, which was quite popular in the UAE,

01:16 but they have gone to town on chrome. You've got this brushed chrome off to the side.

01:21 A big old Nissan emblem there. It really has matured nicely, but it looks more elegant and stylish now.

01:27 So you feel better about spending this kind of coin.

01:30 I actually had someone give me the thumbs up the other day.

01:32 Something I've never had in a Patrol before.

01:34 So let's have a look at these headlights.

01:35 They have a really cool LED daytime running light strip in there that doubles as an indicator.

01:41 And then you have an LED headlight as well.

01:44 This is a really great setup and it looks really good at nighttime.

01:47 Jump around to the side. You've got 18-inch alloy wheels with all-terrain tyres.

01:52 It's a big old tread profile there as well. So this is going to be really good for off-roading.

01:56 A lot of people don't actually go off-roading in these.

01:59 They use them for towing because they have a big hardy V8 engine under the bonnet.

02:03 You can tell because it says V8, but it will be good for off-roading as well.

02:06 And we'll go into a bit more detail on that later on.

02:09 Also, it's cool. You can see the side of the engine block there.

02:12 You've got indicator built into the wing mirror. 360 camera lens tucked in under here.

02:17 Side steps for getting in and out.

02:19 You've got roof rails, privacy glass, and then come around to the rear.

02:23 You can see where they've taken some of the design cues from.

02:26 The Infiniti version of this car never really did well in Australia because it was expensive,

02:30 but I'm glad that they have taken some of this and slapped it onto here because, again,

02:34 just like the front, it really improves the styling.

02:37 Now let me know in the comments section below, do I need to get my eyes checked

02:40 or do you reckon the Patrol looks good as well?

02:42 And also let me know, do you think that you would buy this over a LandCruiser?

02:45 I'm going to ask you again at the end of the video after we've gone through all the features,

02:48 but keen to get your thoughts.

02:50 So we're inside the Patrol now. Let's kick off with the key.

02:54 This is what it looks like. Pretty standard Nissan key.

02:56 You've got the logo up the top. Lock, unlock, boot, and then the panic alarm,

03:00 and then on the back it is blank.

03:02 It's a proximity sensing key, so you just leave that in your pocket.

03:05 Grab the door handle. There's a little button on it, and then you have a push button start inside the car.

03:09 What about styling?

03:11 Look, Nissan is currently going through like a styling revolution,

03:16 so they're really changing up the game.

03:18 The Juke was one of the first ones to do that.

03:20 We have the new X-Trail coming.

03:21 There's a whole bunch of good products coming,

03:22 but this is still kind of in the dark ages of styling.

03:26 This feels like a 90s vehicle, and unfortunately with the update of the Patrol,

03:30 we don't get the new flashy looking interior that they do overseas.

03:33 So it comes with a big screen down the bottom and an updated infotainment system with smartphone mirroring.

03:37 So it is a little disappointing that we still have this with this old school wood grain,

03:41 but for all intents and purposes, this actually is quite functional,

03:44 and in terms of the styling, look, it's not offensive.

03:47 It just looks dated, that's all.

03:48 Now, what about the materials?

03:49 So they have gone to a bit of effort here to, yes, make this feel rugged.

03:53 Some of this stuff's a little scratchier, but it also feels high-end and premium.

03:57 You can see that exposed stitching there.

03:59 The wood grain kind of makes it look a little high-end as well,

04:02 and just like the 90s, the more buttons you can fit on here, the more expensive the car feels.

04:07 So they have done that.

04:08 In terms of touch points, this is all really nice and soft, and then over here on the door, this is super soft.

04:13 I love this bunched leather look down here, but how soft is it all?

04:16 We've got our durometer.

04:18 We've tested the surfaces across this car.

04:20 If you want to see how this compares to other cars that we've tested,

04:22 scroll down and have a look in the description below.

04:25 Now, what about build quality?

04:26 So I'll do my standard Lovebox Flex test.

04:30 It looks pretty reasonable.

04:31 Everything feels fairly well put together,

04:34 and we'll stand the test of time if you do plan on driving across Australia

04:38 or across the country that you're watching this from.

04:40 Okay, moving on to infotainment.

04:41 As I mentioned earlier, we don't get the new updated infotainment system,

04:44 so if you want to see a detailed review of this 8-inch unit, you can click up here.

04:48 Otherwise, today, I'll just take you through a brief overview.

04:51 So 8-inch display.

04:53 You can see it's a touchscreen as well, and then also controlled here by this button cluster.

04:58 It's not the fastest system in the world.

05:00 It does pair with a voice recognition system that works okay,

05:03 but again, it's not amazing, and sometimes you need to repeat commands

05:06 because it doesn't understand what you're saying.

05:08 You have inbuilt apps in here, but again, it's a limited range of apps,

05:12 and you can only choose from what Nissan tells you you can have,

05:15 and there is no smartphone mirroring, so you don't have the option to connect your smartphone

05:19 and have it displayed on the screen there.

05:21 If you do jump over to audio, you have AM/FM.

05:24 There's no DAB radio, but you can stream from Bluetooth or via connected devices.

05:29 So it is a pretty basic setup.

05:31 It does the job, but it would have been nice to see the new infotainment system here

05:35 with smartphone mirroring, which would have taken a lot of the focus off the actual system itself.

05:39 So in terms of audio, you have a 13-speaker Bose-branded sound system.

05:43 You can stream audio through Bluetooth.

05:45 You've also got two USB ports down here, plus some extras in the back,

05:48 and then two 12-volt outlets as well.

05:50 Moving on to safety, you have autonomous emergency braking, radar, cruise control,

05:54 a lane departure warning, but it sort of has an assistive function.

05:58 So just in case you didn't know, if you have a hydraulically-assisted steering rack like this car,

06:02 the car can't control the steering or the movement of it,

06:04 so some cars that have a lane departure assistant have EPAS systems,

06:09 where the car can actually control the steering and prevent it from leaving a lane.

06:12 What this does, on the other hand, is uses the brake system,

06:15 so it's able to brake one wheel, which then surges the car back into the lane.

06:19 It can be a little bit unsettling, especially if you don't recognize it coming,

06:23 but there is a button that switches it off virtually immediately if you don't like the feel of it,

06:27 which I like because some of those systems can be a little intrusive at times.

06:30 You also have blind spot monitoring, and check this feature out as well.

06:34 So this looks like a standard rear-view mirror, and it can be just used as a standard one,

06:38 but flick this switch, and you get a camera.

06:40 So the camera is at the back of the vehicle, so it can look a little bit close to things,

06:45 but once you get used to it, it works well at night,

06:47 and gives you just a completely different perspective on the cars behind you.

06:51 Now, what about reversing?

06:52 Well, you have front and rear parking sensors and a 360-degree camera.

06:57 Let's see what that looks like.

06:59 Look, it's not great.

07:00 So this is the same issue that other Nissan vehicles have.

07:03 It's really low quality.

07:05 You can see it even looks pixelated. At night time, it becomes even worse,

07:08 and it really becomes hard to see.

07:10 You can change the views, though, and this view here is handy,

07:13 especially if you're off-roading, you're able to see exactly where your tire is about to drop into,

07:17 plus you have these guidelines, along with an ability to switch between the views,

07:21 so you can just have a rear camera view.

07:23 Okay, moving on to practicality, and we'll start with storage.

07:26 Your phone, it can live in any number of places.

07:29 You've got a slot down here, you can put it in the drink holders if you want.

07:33 There's plenty of room here.

07:34 What about bottles?

07:35 So, easy fits.

07:38 You can even fit them in this.

07:39 You've got, like, a little piccolo holder, plus coin trays.

07:42 You've got bottle storage in the doors with room for knick-knacks.

07:46 You then have this. This is the coolest feature ever.

07:49 A fridge, so you can stick your bottle in here,

07:52 stick the cooler box on, and it will air-condition everything and keep it crispy cool.

07:57 And then we have a glove box down here, another generously-sized one.

08:01 You can put your bottle in there.

08:02 And then, finally, you have a sunglasses holder up the top.

08:06 What about comfort?

08:07 Well, you have tri-zone climate control, two zones for the front,

08:10 and then an additional zone for the second and third rows.

08:13 Steering wheel moves in and out using this guy here.

08:17 You have heated and cooled seats for the front row here.

08:20 Electric seat adjustment for the driver and front passenger, with memory here as well.

08:24 Now, in terms of how this actually feels, this seat is fantastic.

08:28 It is so soft and just cuddly.

08:31 It just holds you in really nicely, and you can just see yourself doing stacks of miles.

08:35 Steering wheel sits nicely in the hand, and the buttons are really easy to reach as well.

08:39 Also, you get a sunroof, plus the ability to get protection for your eyes.

08:45 So, as you'd expect, there is a fair bit of legroom back here,

08:47 even with this seat pretty much all the way back.

08:50 I have loads of knee room.

08:51 Toe room is good, but if you go under the seat, it's quite compromised.

08:55 That seat sits quite low.

08:57 And then, in terms of headroom, I have stacks there to play with as well.

09:00 Now, what about your features back here?

09:02 So, you've got these entertainment screens that come standard with the car.

09:05 You can control the volume and plug headphones in down here.

09:08 What about bottle storage?

09:09 You have a center armrest with two cup holders built in.

09:13 You've also got storage inside the doors for your bottle.

09:16 Now, this is the cool thing.

09:17 So, you have your fridge up the front, but what's the purpose of it if you need to annoy mom and dad

09:22 every time you need to get a drink out of there?

09:23 So, they've integrated a button here that cracks the fridge open,

09:26 so you can stick a cold one straight in there or pull one out.

09:30 And then, away you go.

09:31 You've also got map pockets back here, and this is where you adjust your third zone of climate.

09:36 Two USB ports, and if we go all the way down here, you have extra plugs for the entertainment system

09:40 in the form of USB and HDMI, plus a 12-volt outlet.

09:44 You've also got ISOFIX for the two outboard seats,

09:47 top tether for each seat in the second row, and one seat in the third row.

09:51 Right-o, let's have a look at the third row.

09:53 So, obviously, a vehicle this size, you should be able to fit adults in the third row.

09:58 So, to access the third row, this has a smart system for entry.

10:02 So, you can either pull a lever down here or at the top of the seat,

10:05 and then it falls and tumbles forward, so even an adult can climb in.

10:08 Now, in terms of getting that seat up, you just push this up, that clicks into position,

10:12 we lift that, and let's see how we go.

10:15 So, fairly easy for an adult to climb in.

10:18 Like I said, it isn't actually too bad, so this is slightly digging into my lower back there,

10:25 but I'm interested to see how much room I've got here.

10:27 Two cup holders on both sides, I've got air vents here, plus a grab handle.

10:31 Let's drop this down.

10:33 So, keep in mind, the second row doesn't slide forwards and backwards,

10:36 so we're probably going to be a little limited here in terms of room.

10:40 Yeah, okay, it can't actually sit any forward of that either.

10:43 So, yeah, this is a really tight space.

10:46 I haven't got much toe room, but it's more the knee room that's a problem.

10:49 So, you're not going to be fitting adults in here, unfortunately,

10:53 which is a real shame, because this is a mammoth SUV.

10:56 I would have thought there'd be plenty of room back here for adults.

10:58 Let's talk cargo space.

11:00 So, three-row SUV, that generally means there's not going to be a great deal of room.

11:04 Power tailgate, by the way.

11:06 Okay, here we go.

11:08 So, behind the third row, you have just over 450 litres of cargo space.

11:12 So, it is a commendable space.

11:13 I'll show you what it looks like with the bags in, in just a second.

11:16 Under here, you've got a little bit of extra storage,

11:18 plus this is where your tow bar can go when it's not here,

11:22 because I don't know if you've ever run into one of these,

11:25 it bloody hurts your shin.

11:26 Off to the side, you've got a 12-volt outlet.

11:28 You've got tie-down hooks all the way through this boot section.

11:32 Let's see how it goes with our bags in here.

11:35 Look at that, no dramas at all.

11:38 So, that is a really usable space.

11:40 Makes you wonder why they didn't give the third row a little bit of extra room for adults then.

11:44 Anyway.

11:45 Okay, so, removing this, straightforward story,

11:47 you drop the headrest first, pull the handle, and that folds down.

11:50 It's not totally flat, but it is flat enough.

11:53 That reveals just over 1,400 litres of cargo space.

11:57 And then, finally, if you do run around to the sides of those seats,

12:01 I'll show you what that looks like when it is flat,

12:04 you get just over 2,600 litres of space.

12:09 It is slightly compromised though, because it falls off here,

12:11 but it does mean that you can load long items sideways if you need to,

12:15 and it is an incredibly versatile space for a big SUV.

12:18 So, we've just hit the road in the Mighty Patrol.

12:22 Now, before I mentioned with the LandCruiser, that's diesel only,

12:25 this, on the other hand, is petrol only.

12:27 So, you get a fairly monstrous 5.6-litre naturally aspirated V8,

12:32 298 kilowatts of power, and 560 newton-metres of torque.

12:38 It's mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission.

12:41 And I'm going to tell you right now, this engine is so smooth.

12:44 It is so incredibly smooth.

12:46 So, if you go sink the boot in,

12:49 it makes an absolute racket, puts a big smile on your face,

12:53 and everything is so nice and linear.

12:55 There's no turbocharger or supercharger to ruin things.

12:58 Everything just happens nice and quickly, and it is a very brisk car.

13:02 In terms of the gearbox itself, it actually switches through gears really quickly,

13:06 and because the engine has such a broad torque band,

13:08 it's always ready to rumble, so you're never waiting for the gearbox to do anything.

13:12 You can manually control it.

13:14 There's no paddle shifters on the steering wheel,

13:15 but you can flick it across to the side and then go up and down through the gears as you like.

13:20 And there are no drive modes per se for on-road driving,

13:23 but there are for off-road, which I'll explain later on.

13:25 Okay, what about 0-100?

13:27 I'm keen to see how long it takes this mighty beast to get from standstill to 100 k's an hour.

13:33 Okay, let's talk fuel economy.

13:44 This is probably the thing that's going to concern most people that are looking to buy one of these.

13:48 Naturally aspirated V8, weight of around 2700 kilograms,

13:52 so it is fairly heavy, and that's before you put anything inside it or start towing.

13:56 And a 3.5 tonne towing capacity, by the way.

13:58 So, how bad is it?

14:00 Well, the official figure is 14.4 litres per 100 kilometres.

14:04 We're currently averaging, let's have a look here,

14:07 13.5 litres per 100 kilometres.

14:11 So, the reason I'm laughing at the moment is because that's less than the official.

14:15 And I find that really bizarre because we've been filming all day today,

14:18 we've done, you know, the 0-100 run,

14:20 we've been doing a little bit of off-roading, and it's under the official average.

14:24 So, if you're doing a lot of driving in and around the city, this will consume a fair bit.

14:27 But, if you are out on the highway and not putting a lot of load on the engine,

14:31 this is actually a really reasonable fuel economy.

14:34 And it's getting very close to what you'll experience in a diesel V8 Land Cruiser.

14:38 Let's talk about ride. So, you have front and rear independent suspension,

14:42 you have self-levelling as well.

14:44 But the ride is really nice and smooth.

14:46 So, despite the fact that you are driving on all-terrain tyres

14:50 in a fairly big and heavy vehicle like this,

14:52 the ride is fantastic.

14:54 So, it's soaking up these bumps beautifully.

14:56 And if you ever do have to leave the road to make room for another car,

14:59 and you're on this gravel verge, everything feels under control.

15:02 You never feel like this is becoming too big to handle.

15:04 And that actually translates as well to visibility.

15:07 I can clearly see out the front there, I feel like I'm sitting nice and high.

15:10 The wing mirrors are massive, and I've got good visibility out the back

15:13 through either the camera or through the traditional mirror.

15:16 And yes, this is going to be much bigger than a standard SUV to drive around,

15:20 but it's not entirely intimidating.

15:23 Let's talk road noise. Again, I refer to the all-terrain tyres.

15:26 Not a great deal of road noise is actually coming into the cabin.

15:29 So, it is fairly quiet and subdued.

15:31 So, if you are doing a long-distance drive,

15:33 you're not really going to hear much of that road noise, even on coarse-chip surfaces.

15:37 Okay, so what about handling?

15:39 This is a fairly gargantuan vehicle.

15:42 But we'll tip it into our corner here.

15:45 Give it a little punch.

15:47 Ah, look.

15:49 It's no Golf GTI, but it stays fairly composed.

15:52 So, you know, if you do find a mountain pass,

15:54 it's not going to remove that smile from your face.

15:57 Now, in terms of steering feel, yes, it is a hydraulically-assisted steering rack,

16:00 but it doesn't feel overly heavy.

16:02 Even during low-speed manoeuvres, it's quite easy to manage

16:05 and quite easy to park with that reverse-view camera and all the parking sensors.

16:09 Now, what about turning circle?

16:11 So, given it is all-wheel drive and fairly big, 12.5 metres,

16:16 so you probably will have to do three-point turns every now and then.

16:21 Okay, let's talk four-wheel driving.

16:23 Yes, this thing is going to be purchased by families.

16:26 They'll be doing towing and all that kind of thing.

16:28 But four-wheel driving will be a weekend-away type occasion,

16:31 and you want to know whether this works.

16:33 And I can tell you right now, it has a stack of four-wheel drive equipment.

16:36 So, let's start with the numbers.

16:37 272 millimetres of ground clearance.

16:40 That is huge.

16:41 That's almost as much as a Ford Ranger Raptor.

16:43 So, that is a lot of clearance before you hit anything under the car.

16:46 In terms of the approach angle, it's 28 degrees.

16:48 That is the angle of the face you can approach before you scuff or hit anything at the front of the car.

16:52 Departure angle is 26.2 degrees.

16:54 Same story, but at the rear of the vehicle.

16:56 And in terms of four-wheel drive controls, it's a full-time four-wheel drive normally.

17:00 Then you can go to 4 High, which locks it into four-wheel drive high range.

17:04 Then you can also go to 4 Low, which requires you to stop completely, put the car into neutral,

17:08 and then engage that transfer case that puts it into low range.

17:11 You also have several other modes here, including snow, sand, on-road driving, rock crawling,

17:16 and they all adjust the stability control and the way the car's going to handle those situations.

17:20 So, as we go up Log Mountain and come back down, we've got a rocky face.

17:24 So, we're going to see how that goes on rock mode.

17:26 And then finally, you have a rear differential lock, along with a limited slip differential.

17:31 So, let's give this a crack. I think this is going to walk up here fairly easily.

17:34 So, I'm going to engage 4 High.

17:36 You can see it come up on the screen just there.

17:39 Okay, so we are approaching the face.

17:42 That throttle is a little sensitive, so it is kind of surging as we climb this.

17:46 But it has no dramas at all climbing this.

17:51 It is walking up that very nicely.

17:54 It is so effortless. I love this.

17:57 Alright, let's go down our rocks. We'll give this a shot.

17:59 We'll also try the hill descent control, which is activated by pushing this button.

18:04 We'll pop it into rock mode as well.

18:07 Alright, let's see how we go.

18:09 I can just imagine doing this with the whole family on board.

18:12 Going to a cool camping site in the middle of nowhere.

18:14 You're likely to be the only one there.

18:17 Okay, let's crawl down here.

18:19 Jet's a noisy hill descent control.

18:22 A little nudge there on the way through.

18:24 But it's handling this stuff very easily.

18:30 Yeah, this is very straightforward.

18:32 And super comfortable as well.

18:34 You're not really getting thrown around too much.

18:36 The suspension is nice and soft.

18:38 Yeah, look at that. A piece of cake.

18:40 Hill descent control works well too.

18:41 So, yeah, very impressive.

18:43 Wading depth of 700mm.

18:45 But unfortunately, while I would normally show you that,

18:47 today the river is super high, so we can't drive through it.

18:50 So, Nissan Patrol.

18:52 I'm a really big fan of this thing.

18:54 Yes, the infotainment system is ancient.

18:56 And yes, we didn't get all the interior updates that they had overseas.

18:59 But, to be perfectly honest, if I had to pay $92,000, $93,000 for this,

19:04 or $120,000 for a Land Cruiser Sahara,

19:07 I'd be picking this every day of the week.

19:09 Because the fuel economy in this,

19:10 you're going to pay it back very quickly with that massive difference.

19:14 And then on top of that, it doesn't actually use that much fuel.

19:16 A Land Cruiser is still pretty thirsty, despite the fact it's a diesel.

19:19 So, let me know in the comments section below,

19:21 have I been blinded by the Patrol,

19:23 or do you think that you would buy this over a Land Cruiser?

19:26 I think things will change when the 300 Series Land Cruiser comes out significantly.

19:30 But, if they maintain the expensive pricing of the Land Cruiser at the moment,

19:33 I think this is only going to increase in popularity.

19:36 So, let me know what you think in the comments section below.

19:39 Let me know which one you would pick.

19:41 Now, if you did enjoy this video, I'd love it if you could share it.

19:44 Also, hit the 'Like' button, and don't forget to subscribe and press the 'Bell' icon.

19:47 Because that's going to tell you every single time we drive something like this.

19:51 But until next time, take it easy.

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