Prowling the coast in Nissan's flagship

Sunny days, warm breezes with a tang of salt, boat ramps bearing heavy trailer traffic. In the Auckland region, summer hung on long enough to give us time for some coastal cruising in Nissan’s flagship, the recently facelifted 2022 Nissan Patrol.
Long an absolute legend among the hard core off-road fraternity, Nissan’s Patrol in 2022 form is available in Ti and Ti-L spec levels. For those who still have some love for the rumble and roar of a V8, this is one of the better ways to get your fix in an SUV.
Ours was a Ti-L (of course) - big, black and beautiful, all wheel independent suspension and permanent four-wheel-drive. There’s a lot to like about the Patrol, as any dyed-in-the-wool owner of a previous model will readily confirm.
We headed out east, fleeing the urban stickiness of the super-city. On the way to our coastal destination, though, the big Nissan saved us. We weren’t even on the gravel yet. The road to Kawakawa Bay and out around the headland toward Kaiaua has a 30 km/h blind corner, a slightly uphill left hander. Nicely cambered, it’s a perfectly safe tar-sealed turn, though there’s a medium-sized descent off the outside that catches the unwary every few weeks.
Perfectly safe at 30 km/h. Except when a double cab ute with a big fizzboat on the back is mid-corner with four right-hand wheels (two ute, two trailer) well over the white centre line and wisps of tyre smoke rising off the front tyres.
Not even time enough to see what kind of ute – just the driver’s wide eyes as he realised what was about to happen.
Hard on the brakes, swerve as far left as possible without mounting the banked inside verge and tipping Mr Nissan’s nice 4WD over.
Truth be told, I was ready for the ABS to start kicking as the tyres grappled with the turn-and-slow manoeuvre and the sheer mass of a 2,746 kg SUV coming to a stop from 30km/h.
All we got was the muted howl of tread blocks slurring the coarse chip road surface and giving the other vehicle a second chance at getting through the corner. What we felt was one of the world’s finest electronically controlled drivelines apportioning drive to maximise deceleration. The Patrol just dived into the braking zone so hard we expected to see the road surface rippled up like corduroy in front of us.
More than any coastal sand-track ramble or rocky beach safari, more than any electronic safety gew-gaw or infotainment hook-up (and the Patrol has both Apple and Android capabilities) this is what impressed us: the sheer ability of a big SUV to prevent damage or injury in an extreme situation. It did not give up, where other vehicles might have.
So, which Patrol should go on the shopping list? The 5.6-litre V8 Ti, or the 5.6-litre V8 Ti-L?
The 2022 range begins with the Ti, itself a well-equipped executive or family transport. It starts at $102,650 with a respectable standard spec and tech list including discreet but effective blind spot warning, Nissan’s excellent around-view proximity monitor system and automatic emergency braking. We’re old-school enough to like safety systems that can be described as ‘driver assistance’ – the trend these days is more toward the intrusive end of the spectrum. Nissan gives the driver information and trusts them to make decisions accordingly.
Inside, there are electric front seats with leather accents that carry over for the driver onto the steering wheel, navigation on board, the expected infotainment screen in the dash centre – though in such an expanse of dash it seems a tad small. The driver’s seat adjustment is extensive – eight-way, enough to meet the preferences of the small to tall.
Like most large SUVs, the Patrol will tow up to 3,500 kg braked; 750kg unbraked.
The update for 2022 gives the Ti and Ti-L two differing looks: Ti models get a new black grille, a new brand logo (in line with Nissan’s new corporate look), and new fender vents. Patrol Ti-L variants get those cosmetic changes and the new fender vent design and new Nissan badge, retaining chrome slats on the grille to stand apart from the Ti’s all-black version.
But if the desire is for a relaxed and cossetting drive in a high-spec big four-wheel-drive then the Ti-L, starting at just $5,000 more, is the weapon of choice. It offers the same silken 5.6-litre multiple cam VVT-equipped V8 driving through the same seven speed automatic transmission to Nissan’s sublime full-time four-wheel-drive system. It has the same 270mm ground clearance. The same massive brakes.
The Ti-L just has more. More of everything.