Nissan Patrol Warrior, Cadillac down under & VFACTS! | The CarExpert Podcast - video Dailymotion

CarExpert

Want to meet the team? FREE tickets to the CarExpert Melbourne Showcase Event HERE: https://car.expert/melbourne-showcase-free-tickets  Sean, Scott and Jade decode last months vehicle sales with a breakdown of September VFACTS, they take a look at Cadillac’s potential return to Australia and Scott tells us all about the Nissan Patrol Warrior.  Welcome to our new video podcast! While we've been publishing the CarExpert Podcast as an audio podcast for some time, we wanted to change things up with a video podcast! It’s hosted by Sean Lander (one of our videographers), resident CarExpert Scott Collie and our Social Media guru Jade Credentino.  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Cadillac coming to Aus?: 00:50 VFACTS: 08:21 Nissan Patrol Warrior: 14:34 Picks of the week: 24:57 Outro: 28:47  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

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Sean and welcome to the Car Expert podcast.

00:02 We've got a big show for you today.

00:03 We're going to be talking about Cadillac.

00:05 Are they coming to Australia?

00:06 Looking kind of likely.

00:07 We've got VFACs, they've just dropped,

00:09 so we're going to be talking about what's hot, what's not.

00:12 And we're going to be talking about the brand new Nissan Patrol Warrior.

00:15 It's finally here.

00:16 We've been talking about it for what feels like a decade,

00:20 but they finally brought it out.

00:22 And to help me get through all of that, we've got Jade Credentino.

00:25 Jade, how are you doing?

00:25 Hello. Good to be back.

00:27 Looking very, very colourful in pink,

00:29 unlike the rest of us. Yes, pretty in pink.

00:30 Well, that was a little bit too much, I think.

00:33 And to bring us back down to a more monotone level,

00:36 we've got Scott Colley over here as well.

00:38 How are you, Scott? I'm good.

00:39 I've taken inspiration from the BMW colour palette today.

00:42 Ah, yes. It's the German edition of the BMW.

00:44 The German rainbow, yeah, exactly.

00:45 Well, we'll get straight into it.

00:48 America's answer to BMW is Cadillac to a degree.

00:51 Basically, if you don't know what Cadillac is,

00:53 they're Chevys with very nice leather.

00:57 Already Americans are crying.

00:58 Yeah, someone's upset.

01:00 Generally, if you're over the age of 65, you've bought a Cadillac,

01:03 but they're actually trying to change that image

01:05 and they're moving heavily into the EV space in the States.

01:08 And they've recently trademarked a couple of names in Australia.

01:11 Now, Holden fans, get excited.

01:13 The statesman's coming back.

01:14 Nope. No, it's not.

01:15 Unfortunately, nothing...

01:17 On the back of this week of all time,

01:18 Sean, you cannot say that to a Holden fan.

01:21 Nothing doing there.

01:21 But they have filed trademarks for three Cadillac names,

01:26 and I'm going to read them because I will get them wrong.

01:28 The Lyric, the Optic, both of those are spelled with a Q,

01:31 but not what you'd expect.

01:32 And the Escalade IQ.

01:35 That was the simplest of the last you got it involved.

01:37 The Escalade might sound more familiar.

01:39 It's basically a big SUV, a Chevy Tahoe with, again, nicer leather.

01:43 It's the Kardashian-spec Cadillac.

01:45 Exactly. Blacked out four-wheel drive.

01:46 Yes, if you've ever been picked up in Vegas from a hotel

01:49 and taken to a shady club, that's probably what you went in.

01:52 In the boot of a car, but that was different.

01:53 That's a Cadillac as well, but that's a slightly different Cadillac.

01:56 So, Scott, tell us a little bit about what's actually going on here.

01:59 So what we've seen is a report from a website called GM Authority in the States,

02:04 and they're quoting insiders in the General Motors world

02:06 that say that Caddy is coming to Australia

02:08 and they're going to actually make a bit more of a push

02:11 than we've seen so far since Holden left.

02:13 What GM's done so far is offer the Camaro briefly,

02:17 the Corvette in very limited numbers,

02:19 and then the Silverado pickup truck.

02:21 And they're all sold through GM SV dealers that used to be HSV dealers.

02:25 We should be very clear that that's not General Motors as such.

02:28 They're a third party.

02:29 It's a distributor, essentially.

02:31 Yeah, so General Motors has an office out here.

02:33 They're distributed through dealers

02:35 that used to distribute Holden special vehicles.

02:37 It's all a little bit complex.

02:39 Based on what GM Authority's saying,

02:41 Cadillac wants to come to Australia on a slightly bigger scale

02:43 and do electric cars to take on BMW, Mercedes, Audi, that sort of thing.

02:48 This isn't the first time we've heard this, though.

02:50 Cadillac actually got very, very close to selling cars in Australia

02:53 just before the GFC hit in 2008.

02:56 Got to the point where media invites had been mailed out

02:58 to the big magazines and newspapers at the time.

03:01 Apparently, 60 cars actually made it to Australia

03:04 before the GFC absolutely obliterated GM,

03:06 and those cars went to New Zealand,

03:08 where Cadillac was sold kind of briefly.

03:10 So Caddy's had a crack here before.

03:12 This time, it does seem like the timing might be a bit better.

03:15 Well, it's interesting you say that,

03:16 because up until as recently as 2018,

03:19 the guys at Lang Lang Holden Proving Ground

03:21 were actually testing and developing Cadillacs here

03:24 for the American market,

03:25 but because Lang Lang was a world-class GM proving ground,

03:28 they actually were shipping them down here on left-hand drive

03:30 and testing them.

03:31 And if you ever drove around there,

03:32 you'd often see left-hand drive CTSs getting around on the road.

03:36 Yeah, they have a really incredible emissions lab there,

03:38 a big chunk of which was set up to do Cadillac stuff, I understand.

03:42 Yeah, so we nearly got them a few times.

03:45 It was probably not what a lot of punters

03:46 were hoping to get in their Cadillac, which is a big, lazy V8.

03:49 But Jade, tell us a little bit about what the models

03:52 that Cadillac have trademarked here.

03:53 Yeah, so you've got the Lyric, Optic and Escalade.

03:57 Now, the Lyric is the only one

03:59 that Cadillac currently has on sale in America.

04:02 They have revealed the Optic and about to release the Cadillac.

04:08 - So... - The Escalade.

04:10 Escalade.

04:11 There's a lot of names and a lot of cues

04:12 with all these electric cars, aren't there?

04:14 They just seem to get all mixed up into one.

04:16 So, based on size-wise, the Lyric can be similar...

04:20 Well, is similar-sizing to an X5.

04:22 The Optic is similar-sizing to a Tesla Model Y.

04:26 And the Escalade is just...

04:28 It's like a small planet on wheels, basically.

04:31 So, it's basically a Hummer EV with nicer leather, is what you're saying.

04:35 Yeah, I'd probably even say that.

04:36 It's a similar size to, like, a full-size Chevy Silverado

04:39 or Ram 1500 pickup truck, 'cause that's what it's based on.

04:42 That's what you need in your electric SUV, basically.

04:45 Oh, look, in my inner-city apartment,

04:46 I can think of nothing better than trying to park a 5.7-metre...

04:50 I'm assuming that's the tonnage as well.

04:52 Yes, exactly.

04:54 It is fun to make fun of American cars,

04:56 but can I just say, these cars do look fantastic.

04:58 Cadillac's on a really, really sort of strong role

05:00 with its styling at the moment,

05:01 and especially the Optic and the Lyric,

05:04 which are kind of more bespoke than the Escalade.

05:06 That's got a petrol version as well.

05:08 They really do look quite compelling.

05:09 And, sorry, I cut you off there on price,

05:11 but it seems like it's priced pretty well in the States.

05:13 Yeah, so, in the States, the Lyric starts from $58,590 US,

05:18 so, on a rough conversion to Australian dollars,

05:21 it's around $93,000.

05:23 Now, that's for the entry-level.

05:25 What do you guys think about that?

05:27 I think if it's the same sort of size as a BMW X5,

05:29 that's pretty good value.

05:31 I don't know what exactly the specs are,

05:33 and they'll be different if the car comes to Australia anyway,

05:35 so it's not worth diving into it too far.

05:37 But, I mean, based on what we've seen with American cars recently,

05:40 you're probably looking at $140,000, $150,000 easily.

05:43 Maybe less with some incentives if...

05:45 I was also going to say, I mean,

05:47 it depends on whether the car's being manufactured in right-hand drive

05:50 or converted to right-hand drive.

05:52 This report that we read suggested

05:53 the car was going to be manufactured from the start in right-hand drive,

05:57 and not just for Australia,

05:58 which means Japan, the UK could get it as well.

06:00 That means higher volumes and theoretically lower cost.

06:03 So, the idea that Sean's got, I don't think is wrong

06:06 if Caddy's taking these things apart

06:08 and putting them back together just for us and our volumes.

06:10 But if Cadillac can actually commit to building enough of these

06:13 for the UK, for us, for Japan,

06:15 there is a chance that it comes in...

06:17 It'll still cost more than the stakes,

06:18 but maybe around the $120,000, $130,000 mark.

06:22 And if it can do that, it undercuts a Merc EQE, a BMW iX,

06:25 and it offers something different.

06:26 I can see the appeal.

06:28 Yeah, I agree.

06:29 So, I'm curious, guys,

06:30 what American cars would you like to see come to Australia

06:33 in this...I guess in this vein of EVs

06:35 that we don't currently have here that America does?

06:38 For me, there's three.

06:40 Rivian. I really love the look of the Rivian Utes.

06:43 And I know we've talked to them before about the idea of it.

06:45 They've said they want to expand.

06:46 So, hopefully soon, once their manufacturing's up and running...

06:49 They can't deliver their cars.

06:51 Yes, yes.

06:52 They're going through the same thing test they did a little while ago.

06:54 Lucid cars look fantastic.

06:55 I've also written on my page Shelby GT350R,

06:59 which is not electric and not on sale anymore in America,

07:01 but I really want one.

07:02 A flat-plate Craig, man. Come on.

07:04 Exactly. Exactly.

07:05 What about you, Jade?

07:06 Well, we actually had this question a couple of weeks ago on the podcast.

07:09 Still keeping Lucid on my list, but, yeah, adding Rivian.

07:12 But their SUV.

07:14 The R1S.

07:15 Yes. I think it looks really cool.

07:17 I've seen quite a lot of off-road reviews in America

07:19 and it looks pretty sick.

07:21 Very cool.

07:22 Alright, well, guys,

07:23 if you haven't already gotten your tickets to Jade's event...

07:27 Car Experts event.

07:29 The Car Expert Open Day, to use the official title.

07:32 Run by Jade.

07:33 This is your last chance.

07:34 So, Jade, just fill everybody in.

07:35 What's the latest update?

07:37 It's happening this weekend.

07:39 So, what's the latest news?

07:41 Yeah, so, official countdown is on.

07:43 We're less than a week to go.

07:45 Tickets are free.

07:46 It is held down here at the Melbourne District Dockland Shopping Centre.

07:49 I will get Sean to put the link in the description.

07:52 Now we're going to be dropping some exciting details

07:55 throughout the week and some little eggs

07:58 that you guys will be able to enjoy on the day.

08:00 So make sure you're staying tuned to all of our social platforms.

08:03 You can find them at carexpert.com.au.

08:06 Any updates to cars? Any changes?

08:08 Stay tuned. We've got a couple of things

08:09 that are very exciting that are coming,

08:11 but I can't mention them just yet.

08:13 She's really good at the cliffhanger.

08:15 Yeah.

08:16 The stay tuned, the... I want to know.

08:18 She's working for neighbours in your hostel or something?

08:21 All right, well, we'll move on.

08:23 VFAX, it's that time of the month again.

08:24 VFAX are here and we are edging closer

08:28 than probably we've ever been at this time of year before

08:30 to a magic million sales.

08:33 Year to date, 899,286 cars delivered in Australia.

08:38 And to clarify, VFAX are based on cars delivered, not cars sold.

08:42 So it's very important, that distinction.

08:45 110,700 cars delivered in September,

08:48 which is a crazy number.

08:50 We're coming off back-to-back record months now

08:53 as supply gets better.

08:54 110 is a massive month for September.

08:56 Especially, well, I mean, a lot of that is helped by the fact

08:59 that a lot of the delays in Europe have eased up.

09:03 Ford have their own 40 McFord Facebook to bring the cars in.

09:06 Like, all these things that were holding us up for so many years

09:10 are just suddenly disappearing before our eyes

09:12 and these cars are appearing en masse.

09:14 It doesn't mean necessarily

09:16 that those cars were sold in September either.

09:17 And it's really interesting you mentioned the distinction

09:19 between sales and deliveries.

09:21 There've been a lot of brands like Toyota,

09:23 we know Isuzu for quite a while,

09:25 Ford to a lesser extent with Ranger and Everest

09:27 have had really long waiting lists for their cars.

09:29 The cars arriving in September

09:30 might have been sold in February or March for all I know.

09:33 Last year. Exactly.

09:34 So to get a little bit off topic,

09:36 when do you guys think that that's going to kind of natural it,

09:38 like even itself out?

09:40 Look, based on what... Probably never.

09:41 Yeah, well, you say that,

09:43 but based on what we're hearing from dealers,

09:45 times are kind of tough for people at the moment.

09:47 Interest rates keep rising, everything is getting more expensive.

09:50 All of a sudden, orders are starting to slow down

09:53 for a couple of the big brands,

09:55 dealers are starting to have stock,

09:56 which is a good thing if you do want to negotiate on a new car.

09:59 But it wouldn't surprise me if into next year,

10:01 we do start to see things slow down

10:03 as the historical demand is finally delivered.

10:05 And we start looking at data from people

10:07 who are trying to buy cars on a much more limited budget.

10:09 Mm, interesting.

10:11 So the big, unsurprisingly, the heavy hitters are still there.

10:15 Hilux topped the charts, Ranger second.

10:18 The interesting thing is Model Y

10:20 is still hovering around in third there.

10:21 And I find that really fascinating.

10:24 Like, I mean, they only have one car.

10:27 It's not like where they've got all these incentives,

10:31 like you can get with a Ranger or a Hilux

10:33 and heaps of different variants.

10:34 It is just the Model Y.

10:36 Tesla will sell you a Model 3 sedan or a Model Y SUV,

10:38 and you can choose a color on the Model Y

10:40 and whether you want long range or performance.

10:42 It's pretty simple, isn't it?

10:43 It's amazing.

10:44 It's truly impressive and a testament to the fact

10:46 that they can actually get cars here

10:48 because there are no other EVs in the top,

10:50 as far as I can tell, top 20.

10:52 The Model 3, I think, just sneaks in.

10:54 But again, same factory, same company.

10:56 None of the other manufacturers

10:58 are delivering enough cars per month.

10:59 So big ups to Tesla there for that.

11:02 D-MAX fourth, RAV4 fifth.

11:05 So not a hugely surprising top five, I guess.

11:08 One thing I did notice,

11:10 this is a very niche end of the scale,

11:12 Ram delivered around 500 vehicles this month.

11:15 And two or three months ago, we were talking about

11:17 they were doing over a thousand a month.

11:18 Now, do you think the lack of instant asset write-off,

11:22 it's not there anymore?

11:23 Do you think that's caused a big downturn in Ram sales?

11:26 - I don't have a great answer for you.

11:28 I think it's worth considering the fact

11:30 that these numbers can be quite cyclical.

11:32 So the big last couple of months is obviously based on

11:36 the fact that a big boat of Rams

11:37 came to be converted recently.

11:39 I think we need to wait to see the next couple of months

11:41 worth of sales before we can actually comment on

11:43 whether it's a trend or whether

11:45 the boat just got stuck off the port

11:47 and they couldn't all be converted in time.

11:48 Maybe the people converted them

11:50 had to focus on converting other vehicles.

11:52 We don't know at this stage.

11:53 But I do think that if you look at the price of petrol,

11:56 the fact the instant asset write-off

11:58 has been cut from 150 grand back to its previous level.

12:01 And again, the rising cost of living.

12:03 It's no great surprise that maybe 100,000

12:06 or $120,000 American pickup truck

12:08 slow down a little bit

12:09 'cause people have less cash to spend on that sort of thing.

12:11 - Do you think if you're in the Ford marketing department,

12:13 you're a little nervous right now about your F-150?

12:16 - I don't think so.

12:17 I mean, Ford has been fairly conservative

12:18 with what it said about the F-150 so far.

12:21 And that's how Ford communicates the company.

12:23 I know you've interviewed people from Ford as well, Jade,

12:25 and they play a very straight bat.

12:27 But because Ford does kind of have a lot of say

12:30 in the joint venture with RMA,

12:31 which is remanufacturing it,

12:33 but also has a direct line to the factory,

12:35 I'd imagine they can turn that project

12:36 up and down as required.

12:37 And there's plenty of people out there

12:39 who only want an F-150.

12:40 They don't want anything else.

12:41 - Yes, that's exactly what I was gonna say.

12:43 Yep, all set.

12:44 - So any surprises in there that you guys noticed?

12:46 Anything that jumped out to you?

12:48 - I think the Land Cruiser wagon

12:49 is slowly making its way back up there.

12:52 - Again, talking about deliveries easing.

12:54 - Yeah, deliveries easing.

12:56 It did surprise me that the Corolla is that high up.

12:59 I mean, I don't keep tabs.

13:00 - So where do you finish the Corolla, sorry?

13:02 - The Corolla finished at eighth,

13:03 and sold, sorry, delivered 2,217 Corollas in one month,

13:08 which, yeah, maybe I need to pay attention

13:11 and see more on the roads.

13:13 But yeah, I was pretty surprised by that.

13:14 - This is one of the highest selling cars of all time.

13:17 - But it is also a passenger car.

13:18 And if you look at the rest of this list, as Jade has,

13:21 the top two, well, three of the top four cars are utes.

13:26 The other two in the top five are SUVs.

13:29 And then the top 10,

13:30 I know I'm sort of bouncing around here,

13:31 but the Corolla is the only passenger car there.

13:34 - You got the i30 in 15th, which is quite a far away now.

13:38 - The MG3 in 17th. - And the MG3.

13:39 - Yeah, the Model 3 in 20th.

13:40 So although it's not hitting the sales heights it used to,

13:43 and it's traditionally been a really strong seller,

13:45 for the Corolla to be that high up the list

13:47 as a car instead of an SUV is quite interesting.

13:50 So I think the answer's clear, Aussies love utes.

13:52 That's not changing anytime soon.

13:55 And if you're looking for a ute and you don't wanna wait,

13:58 we have a fantastic service that can connect you

14:00 to a dealer right now and gets you into your new ute

14:04 or Model Y or- - Toyota Corolla.

14:07 - Or Toyota Corolla sooner than maybe

14:10 if you went to a dealer yourself.

14:11 It's called Help Me Car Expert.

14:12 It's very simple, you just head to Google,

14:14 type in Help Me Car Expert.

14:15 It'll take you to a page with a bunch of pictures of Paul.

14:18 He'll help you find the next car.

14:20 A great deal and connect you to a dealer

14:21 so you can get in your new car sooner rather than later.

14:24 And speaking of new cars that you might wanna get into,

14:27 Scott recently drove one, one that I'm quite excited about.

14:30 - I'm excited about this too. - I think Jay,

14:31 you're pretty excited too.

14:32 You've been talking about this eight years.

14:34 The Nissan Patrol Warrior.

14:35 Now, this has been made by a company called PremCar.

14:40 PremCar were a bunch of Australian engineers

14:42 that worked in Ford and Holden

14:44 and a few other areas like that

14:46 that made a car a couple of years ago called the Holy Grail.

14:48 It was basically like the most powerful Ford Falcon ever made.

14:51 - It was the dream FPV Falcon, essentially.

14:53 - That never got made.

14:54 And basically, if you had an XR8 Falcon,

14:56 you could take it to 'em, give 'em a bunch of money

14:57 and they would make it--

14:59 - Holy Grail. - Holy Grail, yes.

15:01 You'd be seeing Jesus sooner rather than later with that one.

15:05 They then got handed the keys to Nissan Navara

15:07 and told to turn it into what they called the Warrior,

15:10 which had a whole bunch of lift and suspension

15:12 and off-road and now they've been given the Patrol,

15:16 which means that the Patrol,

15:18 which is the second oldest car in the world

15:20 as far as I'm concerned,

15:22 is finally getting an update, it kinda needs.

15:24 So tell us a bit about it, Scott.

15:25 - So yeah, PremCar's a really interesting story.

15:28 They are Aussie engineers

15:29 and they do this in conjunction with Nissan.

15:31 The cars come from the Nissan factory in Japan

15:33 and they go down a production line in Epping in Victoria

15:37 and they get some bits taken off them by PremCar

15:39 and then obviously they install it to a factory standard

15:42 and warranty it for five years.

15:43 So if you Patrol or Navara Warrior,

15:45 something goes wrong with the PremCar bits,

15:47 you go through your Nissan dealer

15:48 and it actually is all covered by PremCar as well.

15:52 The Patrol Warrior is probably the Warrior

15:55 we've been waiting for.

15:56 A lot of the Navara Warriors, very capable off-road

15:59 and we saw that in our mega tests.

16:01 It's a little bit gutless.

16:03 That 2.3 liter twin turbo diesel engine's not that flashy.

16:05 - They didn't touch the engine to be very clear.

16:07 - Right, 'cause it's very complicated

16:09 to get a car certified for emissions.

16:11 So they've left that alone.

16:12 It's also, I mean alongside a Ford Ranger Raptor

16:15 or even a Toyota Hilux GR Sport,

16:18 it's just not quite as exciting.

16:20 But the Patrol, as we know, is a V8

16:23 and it's a big family off-roader

16:24 and it just really lends itself to what PremCar is doing.

16:28 The highlights are all under the skin.

16:30 So you get a side exit exhaust

16:33 to get more noise from the V8 and it sounds fantastic.

16:35 - It sounds so good.

16:37 - You get a new suspension system

16:39 that has been reworked by PremCar

16:41 and it's all engineered in Australia.

16:43 And you also get more body protection,

16:45 some more worry bits inside.

16:47 Essentially it turns it from a very comfy,

16:49 cruisy capable off-roader to a slightly sharper to drive,

16:53 slightly more capable off-roader

16:54 that, I don't know about you guys,

16:55 but I think looks really good.

16:57 - Yeah, I quite enjoy it.

16:58 I think it'd be really interesting to see

17:00 if potential people who have orders on the Patrol

17:04 will change them over to a Warrior.

17:06 I know that when I used to sell cars,

17:08 a lot of people bought a Patrol

17:10 just before they were going

17:11 and doing the lap around Australia.

17:12 So it'd be really interesting to see

17:14 how many people start adopting the Warrior.

17:17 I followed the story, the whole, I guess,

17:20 Patrol Warrior development quite closely

17:23 and it was really cool to see everything.

17:25 So if you guys wanna check that out,

17:26 again, it's on the Car Expert website,

17:28 but it's really cool to see what PremCar has done with it

17:30 and I'm very excited to get behind the wheel.

17:32 Next week it will be at the event.

17:33 So there we go. - There's your tickets.

17:35 - Check it out.

17:36 - Scott, do we have a price on the Patrol Warrior yet?

17:38 - Yeah, so it's just over $101,000 in Australia,

17:41 which sounds like a lot for a car that is--

17:43 - It is pretty fairly priced.

17:44 - Yeah, you could still do five trips around Australia

17:46 over buying a 300 series with that as we learned.

17:49 - That's exactly it.

17:50 So what the Patrol has going for it

17:51 is it is incredibly capable.

17:53 It's about $40,000 cheaper

17:55 than a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 GR Sport,

17:58 but it is incredibly capable off-road.

18:00 It's got more than 300 mils of ground clearance.

18:02 It's got a lot of underbody protection

18:05 between a 29 mil suspension lift

18:07 and a 21 mil lift through the wheel and tyre package.

18:10 It's got a lot of clearance

18:12 to get you all sorts of rough places

18:14 and Nissan actually let us take it off-road properly.

18:17 Often on these car launches,

18:18 they're really carefully stage managed.

18:20 You'll be driving a Ranger Raptor or something

18:22 and they'll go, "Well, here's a very gnarly gravel road

18:24 to drive down," and then there's people watching

18:26 to make sure you don't disappear off into the bushes.

18:29 Nissan took us to Tasmania and took us down a track called--

18:31 - God's Rally track.

18:32 - God's Rally track, exactly.

18:34 And took us down a track called Climies

18:36 and it was this really rugged, rocky, challenging track

18:39 that there were bits where you needed someone directing you

18:41 'cause if you dropped a wheel,

18:42 you were in all sorts of trouble.

18:43 And it absolutely floated through there.

18:45 There were some scrapes down the side

18:46 'cause it's a big car and there's some narrow bits,

18:49 but on really awkward, low-speed,

18:51 rock-crawling sort of bits and pieces,

18:54 it's got awesome clearance.

18:55 That bash plate did come in handy.

18:57 I think the other thing though is it's really nice

19:00 and natural to drive off-road.

19:01 That V8's super linear, so at low speeds in low range,

19:04 you can just get the right amount of power.

19:07 My only real complaint about the car in general

19:10 is that it's still a million years old inside.

19:12 I know you've sat in one, Jade.

19:13 It doesn't have CarPlay, it doesn't have Android Auto,

19:15 it doesn't have anywhere to put your phone.

19:17 It's a bit of a pain in the ass.

19:19 - So one thing I do wanna nitpick,

19:20 and this is something you told us about

19:22 when you came back in the office,

19:23 the exhaust system sounds like

19:24 the world's most complicated exhaust system.

19:27 So it has side pipes, which is awesome,

19:30 and all cool cars should have side pipes like a G-Wagon.

19:34 But the exhaust still also comes out the back,

19:37 just to be very confusing.

19:38 Can you explain that in the simplest possible terms?

19:41 - Yeah, it's a Ferrari F40.

19:42 It's got three exhaust outlets, is basically it.

19:45 - Now that explains that.

19:46 Move your car.

19:47 (laughing)

19:48 - No, so it's a flap system,

19:51 and when you're driving on light throttle

19:54 or you're just cruising,

19:55 the exhaust is routed through the standard rear exit.

19:58 So you don't get all that much noise in the cabin.

20:00 It's very refined, which in a car that people buy

20:02 to do a lap of Australia is obviously a good thing,

20:05 'cause you don't want it droning away.

20:06 But when you put your foot down a bit harder,

20:08 or when you flick into manual mode,

20:10 it reroutes through the side exhaust,

20:12 and you get this awesome,

20:14 it's like a NASCAR-y sort of burble from it.

20:16 It's still not super loud.

20:18 It's not gonna wake the kids up when you put your foot down,

20:20 but it does definitely give you

20:21 a little bit more emotion from the car.

20:23 And chatting to the guys from PremCar,

20:25 obviously they're proud of what they've put together,

20:27 because they've put it together.

20:29 But the level of engineering that does go

20:31 into making something like that work,

20:33 making it pass drive-by regulations,

20:34 and making it fit to sell through a niche

20:36 in dealership is not small.

20:37 So although it's not quite as elegant

20:39 as one set of side pipes that are just loud all the time,

20:42 I think it's a really clever solution to a problem

20:44 that, to be honest, we're running into more and more,

20:47 and that is that cars don't sound great.

20:48 I mean, a Land Cruiser 300 is a V6 diesel,

20:51 and it's very capable, but there's no real emotion from it.

20:53 So if you want a bit of emotion,

20:55 this is a good way to go about it.

20:56 - Well, correct me if I'm wrong,

20:57 it's the only NA, naturally aspirated V8,

21:02 sort of off-roader you can buy these days, isn't it?

21:05 - Depends on how you class the American pickups.

21:07 - Well, okay, let's exclude the,

21:09 let's talk about like a traditional sort of

21:11 four-wheel drive SUVs, Land Cruisers,

21:13 like the Defenders supercharged,

21:15 the Mercedes real turbocharged,

21:18 like this is the only thing that you can get

21:20 that has a proper-

21:22 - Old fashioned.

21:23 - Yeah, yeah.

21:24 I mean, it was essentially the engine

21:25 they use in the V8 supercar as well.

21:27 They stroked it back to five liter for that.

21:29 But I mean, when you hear one of these

21:31 with a decent exhaust, they already sounded fantastic.

21:34 So I've looked props to them

21:36 for actually making it sound good

21:38 because as a standard car, it doesn't sound,

21:40 really do much, but yeah, I think good on them

21:43 for doing that, even if it is a little bit complicated.

21:46 Question is, 100 grand, would you have the Warrior

21:50 or would you go a Land Cruiser?

21:52 Jade, we'll go to you first.

21:54 - I am very proficient in my Land Cruiser 300 knowledge now

21:57 after writing the Price and Spec article recently.

22:00 I would go a Warrior, yep.

22:03 - So Jade, what is it about the Warrior

22:04 that makes you want to do it?

22:06 Is it the V8? Is it the looks?

22:08 - I think it's just the capability.

22:09 Like if I, in the back of my mind,

22:12 I have this idea that one day I'm gonna do Australia

22:15 and I know that that car is probably gonna last me

22:17 until I finally make that decision to go.

22:19 So I don't need to upgrade.

22:21 - But you wouldn't have updated the infotainment system

22:22 by then either.

22:23 - I was gonna say the infotainment system

22:24 would need to be an aftermarket accessory.

22:26 But I think it's just something that Australia needs,

22:31 not needs, but it's something that cars keep getting more

22:34 and more and more expensive.

22:35 And so does the cost of living.

22:37 And it seems to be, well, if you want a beefy Land Cruiser,

22:41 that's the price that you have to pay.

22:42 So I think PremCar is on a really good job

22:44 to keep this car at a price bracket where,

22:47 yeah, it might be out of reach for some people,

22:49 but some people can make compromises

22:51 where a Land Cruiser would have been

22:53 completely out of the question.

22:54 - It's miles beyond again.

22:55 - Yeah, so what about you?

22:57 - I think I'd go the Warrior as well.

22:59 I like the new Land Cruiser.

23:02 I've enjoyed driving it every time I have,

23:04 but for all of its newness,

23:07 it still feels kind of old inside.

23:09 It's still to drive on the road,

23:12 I don't think sort of moves the game

23:14 on the way I hoped it would.

23:16 Whereas the Warrior with its new suspension

23:18 feels a bit more tied down than the standard car.

23:20 It's very capable off-road

23:21 and I'm a little bit like Sean on this,

23:23 but I just love the sound of a V8.

23:25 And if I'm spending a hundred grand

23:26 on what is ultimately an enthusiast car,

23:28 'cause you're buying this for purposes

23:30 that aren't just practical,

23:31 want it to make me feel something.

23:33 - Fair enough, but the Warrior.

23:35 (all laughing)

23:37 Or yeah, you can't even buy two,

23:39 I used 200 series for that price.

23:42 If you wanted a Land Cruiser,

23:43 you'd still be waiting months for it.

23:44 Whereas you'd probably walk into a Nissan dealership

23:46 and get this tomorrow, so.

23:47 - Yeah, so Nissan told us actually

23:48 there's a little bit of a wait,

23:49 but not a significant one.

23:51 - Depending on the dealer and the color

23:52 and that sort of thing,

23:53 you'll be able to get one of these pretty quickly.

23:54 - By the time you sort out your finances,

23:55 it's good to go.

23:56 - Yeah.

23:57 - Or by the time you pick your caravan out, so.

23:58 - Or do a Vin Diesel style heist

24:00 to get a fuel tanker to then fuel the Patrol's V8 from.

24:03 - Actually, that's a good question.

24:05 Before we move on, because we're nearly done with it,

24:06 but what is the size of the fuel tank that comes with it?

24:09 - Yeah, actually if you had to guess.

24:10 - They put a bigger one in there.

24:12 - No.

24:13 - Is it still 130 liters?

24:14 - 140.

24:15 - 140, okay.

24:16 So a tank and a sub tank or just a main tank?

24:18 - Just a big tank.

24:19 - Yeah, right.

24:20 Any room for a sub tank with all the changes?

24:22 - No, so one of the changes Prem Car has made

24:25 is it's redesigned the rear bumper

24:26 so you can fit a full-size spare tire underneath.

24:29 It's got bigger wheels and bigger off-road tires

24:31 and the tire can be inflated.

24:33 I know some people,

24:34 when they put bigger wheels on their Patrol,

24:36 deflate the tire to get it on the underbody mount

24:38 and then they've got a compressor,

24:39 but without going too far into the weeds,

24:41 Prem Car didn't want to do that.

24:42 So theoretically, I'm sure if you wanted to,

24:45 you could remove the spare tire at the back

24:47 and fiddle around with that space,

24:49 but no, as it stands.

24:50 - Okay, fair enough.

24:51 All right, good to know.

24:52 All right, well, let's move on.

24:53 We're doing a bit of a shorter podcast this week

24:56 for reasons, but let's move on to our picks of the week.

24:59 Jade, I'll throw it to you.

25:00 What's your pick this week?

25:02 - Okay, so I think you're gonna like this.

25:04 And I didn't do it just 'cause I think you're gonna like it,

25:06 but I thought it was pretty cool.

25:07 So Porsche have revealed a 911 GT3-R

25:11 Rennsport Limited Edition.

25:13 - That is catchy.

25:14 - Yes, but it's also 1.6 million Australian dollars.

25:18 - I like that, ladies.

25:19 - Yes.

25:19 (laughing)

25:20 So it uses the same 4.2 liter engine

25:23 that the 911 GT3 race car uses,

25:27 but because it's not limited by FIA limitations,

25:30 it actually has a 40 kilowatt power increase.

25:34 So it now has 455 kilowatts of power over the GT3 race car.

25:39 Looks awesome.

25:41 I'm sure Sean will put a picture up of it

25:43 if you're watching on our YouTube,

25:45 but that is my pick of the week.

25:46 - It's like a no rules race car.

25:48 - Yes.

25:48 - But what is the point?

25:49 Like a cycling on the track day

25:50 and beating a bunch of MX-5s.

25:52 Why would you buy that over buying a $300,000-

25:56 - They do kind of say it's a collector's item.

25:58 And that's the exclusivity of the fact

26:01 that it's a limited edition.

26:02 Like not everyone is gonna go out and buy it.

26:04 I think it's gonna be one of those things

26:06 that you buy, you put in your garage

26:07 and in 20, 30 years time,

26:08 it's gonna be worth a lot more money.

26:10 - Porsche is also in the midst of celebrating

26:12 a big anniversary this year.

26:14 I believe it's 75 years.

26:15 So I think that's also part of it.

26:17 There's a lot of these cars that's rolling out

26:19 as kind of a happy birthday to me sort of thing.

26:21 And this is another one that sort of draws

26:23 on its racing heritage,

26:25 but also has a modern design

26:26 that's designed to fit in with those celebrations.

26:28 - Very cool.

26:29 All right, Scott, what's your pick this week?

26:30 - I've gone the opposite direction to Jade.

26:32 It's a video that went live a little while ago

26:34 on Car Wow, our friends in the UK,

26:36 and it's the slowest drag race they could possibly do.

26:39 (laughing)

26:40 It involved a Suzuki Jimny among others.

26:42 And I just thought it was really funny.

26:44 So yeah, if you've got about nine to 10 hours

26:47 to watch a Suzuki Jimny run down, not quite.

26:50 - Had a, what's it called, a Citroen Ami?

26:52 - Yeah, Citroen Ami,

26:53 their little electric reversible thing

26:55 that rolled at Monaco recently.

26:57 - It didn't roll, it fell over.

26:58 - Sorry, toppled on its side.

27:00 - The leaning tower of Citroen.

27:01 - Yes, it did a Nicholas Latifi at Monaco there.

27:04 - Exactly.

27:05 - Definitely have to watch this video.

27:05 - Yeah, actually to be fair, I did watch that video.

27:08 - It's good fun, isn't it?

27:08 - It took most of my morning to get through it,

27:09 but it was very entertaining.

27:11 So yes, definitely worth a watch.

27:13 My one is actually sticking with Porsche.

27:16 Sotheby's are doing what's called,

27:18 are selling what's called the White Collection.

27:20 It's 63 Porsches, all finished in some form of white.

27:24 This is bigger than the Beatles' White Album,

27:27 I'll be honest, and way cooler in my opinion.

27:29 One of the cars is a 918 Spider,

27:31 they reckon will go for about three million US.

27:33 - Wow.

27:34 - The collection features everything

27:35 from classic 911s to modern GT3 RSs.

27:40 They even have one of these in white.

27:42 - So you're a 930 Turbo?

27:43 - Yes, they have a 2.7 Carreras,

27:46 they have a whole bunch of stuff.

27:47 And I just think that's very cool.

27:49 It's probably hundreds of millions of dollars

27:51 worth of Porsches.

27:52 - 63, I know the 918 is gonna be among the most expensive.

27:56 If that's going for $3 million,

27:57 you can extrapolate the maths on that.

27:59 It's gonna be a seriously...

28:01 Have you guys, by the way, I passed a hat around earlier.

28:04 Did you put some cash in there?

28:04 - That's not enough to get us anywhere near that.

28:06 - Oh, I think I actually have a little 911 on my desk.

28:10 - Oh, perfect, I'll see your set then.

28:10 - I'll donate that.

28:11 - Yes, that will be my donation.

28:13 - Yeah, so very cool.

28:14 The White Collection, bigger than the Beatles' White Album.

28:16 That's what I'm gonna put that one out there.

28:18 Guys, any final thoughts you wanna leave us with this week?

28:22 - Yeah, we're coming up to Bathurst.

28:23 I know we talked about this last week,

28:24 but we're recording this the week before Bathurst,

28:27 which is the biggest car race in Australia.

28:29 - So Bathurst was yesterday,

28:30 so we're just gonna run through,

28:31 we're gonna congratulate all 25 drivers,

28:33 just so we can put the right one in there.

28:35 - I know you wanted Chas Mostyn to do well, so...

28:37 - I know. - Hooray all...

28:38 - Oh, no, no, no, no, no. - That crash.

28:40 - That's Shane Baker's Birkin.

28:41 He really couldn't care less.

28:43 - He's pretty quick, isn't he?

28:44 Yeah, but it is a big week

28:45 for motoring enthusiasts in Australia.

28:47 So I hope race fans, you enjoyed the race.

28:50 I hope you managed to commandeer the couch for the afternoon

28:53 and I hope the beers, wines, waters,

28:55 whatever it was you were drinking, tasted good.

28:57 - And in addition to that,

28:57 it is the 60th anniversary of the Bathurst 1000,

29:00 which, or the great race at Bathurst,

29:02 which I think is really cool.

29:03 There's a whole bunch of cars.

29:04 So if you were at Bathurst and you happened to be listening

29:07 to this or watching this after a big weekend

29:09 at the end of the mountain, let us know how it was.

29:11 Leave us a comment.

29:12 We'd love to know what your experience

29:14 at the mountain was.

29:15 Did you see Larry Perkins' 1993 winning Commodore there?

29:19 That was the last of the Holden V8s to win Bathurst.

29:21 So that's a really cool car.

29:23 But yeah, that pretty much brings us

29:24 to the end of this week, guys.

29:25 Thank you for joining me.

29:27 Thank all of you for joining us.

29:28 And remember, turn your lights on

29:30 when you're driving in the rain.

29:32 Please and thank you.

29:33 Have a great week.

Nissan Patrol Warrior, Cadillac down under & VFACTS! | The CarExpert Podcast

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