2025 Nissan Patrol Ti Review

Nissan is now selling an updated Patrol, not that you’d know from a casual glance. Inside, however, is a ‘modern and premium cabin experience’ that delivers ‘cutting-edge technology and comfort on or off the road’. 

True? Well, not far from it. The look is much improved inside and we like that the tech is simple to use too. None of that touchscreen lording it over you rubbish. Upon clambering up, there’s a lot that’s premium, as there should be for a $119k asking price. Figure on wood and leather, and a lot that’s also old-school. We headed off and a warning chime told us we’d left the handbrake engaged. What? It doesn’t cancel automatically? Where is it anyway? Or, right, it’s one of those foot-activated jobbies. We haven’t encountered one of them since, well, probably the last time we drove Patrol. 

The chap doing the handover said “I hope they’ve refueled it for you, we’d better check”. They had, all 140L of it. I understand his concern; a refill with requisite 95 will set you back $385. On a trip up North the best fuel use figure we saw was 16.2L/100km so a big tank is a must, especially if towing (3500kg, no wuckers). 

And it’s quite the whopper at 2861kg. To behold it is almost as tall as a small outbuilding. It’s nearly 2m in height and in width, while it’s 5165mm long. You need a spring in your step to rise up to the driver’s seat. Running boards will help height-challenged folk. 

V8 badges reside on the flanks, this with a 5.6L naturally aspirated donk, good for 298kW and 560Nm. Not many, apart perhaps from the fossil fuel lobby, would be happy to advertise its cylinder status to the world nowadays. Profligate consumerism and all that. Come 2027, the Ti will get a more modern 3.5L twin-turbo V6 with 317kW and 700Nm, a step up on the V8 for power and fuel efficiency (12 vs 16L/100km). 

In the bus

An optimal range of around 860km seems okay, only you’ll need ballet slippers to achieve that. Our average figures were in the 17s. Knowing it would be fond of fuel, we thought we might rezip the odo, pretty easy with a button on the side of the instrument binnacle labelled “Trip”. So old school. And you know what? For old codgers that’s not such a bad thing. If you want to save your favourite stations, it’s a matter of hitting the Tune button, scrolling to the frequency and then pushing and holding on one of the six slots to override the existing station. And so on and so forth. Everything is easy, reminding of how simple vehicle operation once was. By the by, not a bong to be heard on our trip from Wiri back into town, just the burble of the V8 up ahead.

Crikey, this is a big chap, like a mini-bus. You’re sitting way up high, looking down on all. You seem perched too high in this but there’s a tilt mechanism which literally changes the angle of the entire seat and improves things. 

Activating cruise is simple, all the buttons on the right side of the wheel. On the left are controls for trip information, but some of these you can’t access until you come to a halt, which is sensible. Because you really don’t want to be distracted in this. It’s a whopper and takes up a lot of real estate within your lane. Look away for a moment and you might find yourself locking horns with someone unintentionally. 

Tech tricks 

What else is new about this? There are two new interior colour schemes, comprising black or brown quilted leather accents. 

And there are woodgrain highlights for the dash and door, something not commonly seen anymore. 

On the tech side of things, Nissan has installed a new 12.3-inch central touchscreen for connectivity needs. There’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with in-built navigation. Behind a shiny woodgrain door is a new wireless charging device. 

Evidently the 7.0-inch TFT driver dash display is also new. It can serve double duty as an off-road monitor.

Figure on just the single grade now, the Ti-L going for $118,900. Fancy bits include a premium 13-speaker Bose stereo, a centre console cool box, and a digital high-definition rear view mirror. That seems like a sensible addition given how much of the internal rear view is blocked by the central headrest. 

This gets along well, with nicely resolved suspension settings and genuine room for seven occupants. There’s also 623L of luggage space in behind. Fold the third row into the floor and there’s space for Africa. More so if you fold the middle row seats which is easy and allows good access to the aft row. And as a tow rig, figure on 3.5 tonnes braked. You’ll hardly notice what’s hooked up too, such is the ease of this big rig with its seven-speed auto. No paddles, not needed, but plenty of off-road modes. 

Want a Land Cruiser 300 instead? It’s a diesel-only line-up and kicks off from $140k.  

Nissan Patrol Ti
$118,990  /  16.2L/100km  /  373g/km
0-100 km/h 7.12s
Engine  5552cc / V8 / DI
Max power  298kW@5800rpm
Max torque  560Nm@4000rpm
Transmission  7-speed auto, AWD
Weight (claimed)  2861kg