V8 or wait? Should you splurge on the Nissan Patrol now, or wait for the all-new Y63 model (with a smaller engine...)

With the Y63 Nissan Patrol now tipped to be just 18 months away — and the wait times on the current-generation (and V8-powered) model still stretching months — buyers are faced with the choice of securing the Y62 while they can, or waiting for the brand’s all-new answer to the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series.

Choices, choices. So we've compiled what we know below to help you in deciding.

The Y62 Patrol is Nissan’s venerable off-road, towing and family favourite, and it has been powering across our streets and landscapes for a decade. That means – much like the LC200 before it – it is getting a little long in the tooth in new-car terms, not that it has dented its popularity even slightly.

In fact, Nissan is struggling to keep up with its customers, with a growing order bank and a plan to bring more vehicles to Australia in 2023 to meet demand.

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Put it this way; more than 5700 examples of the Patrol found homes across Australia last year, and Nissan expects that number to climb even higher this year.

"We sold right around the 6000 mark in the last calendar year, and the number for the fiscal year (the Japanese fiscal year ends March 31) will be similar," says Nissan Australia boss Adam Paterson.

"We plan to grow that number (this) year. And we still have a very strong order bank.”

But the clock is no-doubt ticking on that model’s potent petrol V8 engine, with the locally developed Patrol Warrior, which should launch in the second half of this year, expected to act as something of a swan-song and send-off for the current-generation Y62 Patrol and its sizeable power unit.

Around the corner is an all-new model, with solid US reporting pointing to the brand waving goodbye to its V8 and instead introducing a powerful, but more efficient, V6 engine.

It’s a move that's already been performed by Toyota with its LC200 to LC300 upgrade, and the drums are increasingly beating that the 70 Series LandCruiser will soon undergo a similar transformation, only this time with its eight-cylinder diesel swapped for the Prado’s 2.8-litre, four-cylinder engine.

We know that, whatever powers the new Patrol, Nissan in Australia is demanding it sacrifices none of its capability, both on and off-road, which means torque and towing will remain priorities.

In fact, the popularity of the current-generation vehicle means Nissan has a bigger seat at the product-planning table than ever before, which means there’s a better chance than ever that Japan will listen to Australia’s demands.

"As the volume has increased, and we’ve been able to demonstrate demand for Patrol that is more than we’re able to supply at this point, we’re getting a bigger voice at the table,” Mr Paterson told us last year.

"I would say that (the Patrol) has always been built to be a true off-road-capable vehicle, and that’s even more a requirement in this country than in other markets where it is sold.

"Even though its a similar product to the vehicle sold in North America, my experience is that the capability of it is utilised more here than it is overseas.

"So the requirements of this market, I feel, is to keep it very, very true to its off-road capable heritage, because it's utilised. As we sit at the global table as far as requirements go, ours is to make sure it remains as capable as it's always been."

We’ll find out exactly what that means in the near future, with a pre-production Y63 Patrol having been reportedly snapped testing in the Middle East (another significant market for the brand’s biggest bopper).

The all-new Patrol has seemingly been spied in the Middle East

The images, captured by cars_secrets, suggest the model being tested is a Y63 platform wrapped mostly in Y62 metal, which means that either a new model is still some way off, or Nissan is being decidedly cloak-and-dagger in the way it’s testing its new model.

Reports out of both the Middle East and the USA — both quoting Nissan sources — suggest the Y63 will say goodbye to its 298kW/560Nm petrol V8, and instead swap to a twin-turbo V6. That engine will reportedly pair with a new nine-speed torque-converter automatic transmission and a permanent all-wheel-drive system.

That said, the brand will no doubt seek to match the current V8 on power, and beat it on efficiency, despite the fewer cylinders. The Nissan Z delivers 298kW and 475Nm from its twin-turbo six-cylinder engine, for example.

That said, it's unclear whether the Patrol's powertrain will be new to Nissan, or a tweaked version of an existing engine.

Also on the table is electrification in the shape of Nissan’s e-Power system, with the brand confirming that the technology that has just arrived in the X-Trail is able to be scaled up to a model like the Patrol.

That would see a petrol engine paired with twin electric motors and e-4ORCE all-wheel drive, which is able to send power forwards or backwards, or to individual wheels.

“The questions has been asked, that if you scale up, do you lose the economies or the benefits as the vehicle gets heavier and larger? And (the) answer was that then the regenerative braking is that much more effective, and able to deliver that much more power," Mr Paterson says.

"So it is scalable."

All will be revealed soon enough, with buyers soon to choose between two Patrols — including the new Warrior — both powered by a V8 engine, or wait for an almost certainly smaller, but no less punchy and more efficient, twin-turbo V6 in an all new model.

The choice is yours.