More V8 thunder than lightning: Why the 2024 Nissan Patrol Warrior doesn't have more power and torque compared to the regular Y62 models

Why doesn’t the new Nissan Patrol Warrior make more power over the regular versions?

This question has been one of the most vexing since the company announced its more-extreme off-road-focused version of the Patrol 4x4 wagon would retain the same 298kW power and 560Nm torque outputs as the regular version back in September last year.

According to the Melbourne-based vehicle engineering and manufacturing firm responsible for the transformation, Premcar, even upping the engine outputs by a small margin would have added big increases in cost to a project already running late due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To achieve that (extra power and torque in Patrol Warrior), you have to remap the engine,” according to Premcar Engineering Director, Bernie Quinn.

“We could have introduced the exhaust hardware and lower the back pressure, and therefore increase the breathing efficiency of the vehicle. However, it doesn’t just happen on its own with the hardware change; we also have to remap the engine, which we just can’t do.”

Quinn added that there is a limit to the amount of resources an outside firm like Premcar can put into vehicle development before it starts pushing the finished article’s price up too much, putting excessive financial pressure on it to recoup costs for the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

“We’re not in the position to do that with the OEM product for a number of reasons,” he said.

“One is the complexity of the approval process, and then the other one is it means re-certifying all the emissions, retesting all the emissions, redoing all the engine durability.

“We did that for many years with Ford Performance Vehicles, for example, and you quickly run into a lot of millions of dollars with that hardware development.

“Look, we could have done it, but you’ve got to choose where your best bang-for-bucks are,” he said. “We’ve got this market to $100 grand, because we chose carefully what we were going to spend that money on, and I think the product is great with what we’ve chosen.”

Cynics might suggest, with the all-new Y63 Patrol expected to be announced sometime next year complete with a switch from V8 to twin-turbo V6 power, that Nissan rather than Premcar did not want to invest in a powertrain that appears to be nearing the end of its production life.

Whatever the case may be, Quinn believes that the Patrol’s 5.6-litre quad-cam petrol V8 did not need any enhancement because it is more than powerful enough for its intended off-road use, and that the modifications undertaken to the suspension, bumpers, body work and elsewhere are pitch perfect for the adventure-seeking customer base that the Warrior has been designed to attract.

“We saw the potential,” he said. “Patrol’s had an interesting life. It used to have, in Y61 and earlier GU series, a very different image to what it has today. And so that customer base that loved the old Patrol and its real off-road credentials and image still exist.

“So, we tried to push the product that way with the mods that we’ve done, and appeal to the legacy of the Patrol brand and that old customer base.

“If you had a Christmas stocking for all the things you can play with, including putting superchargers on the car and those sort of things, yeah, we'd love to do everything.

"(But) did we really need to increase the power and torque of that engine? No, it’s bloody fantastic. Can we do some improvements to the suspension to improve its off-road capability and still drive it on the road and still have a great time driving it? Absolutely.

“It's great bang for the buck.”