Y63 Nissan Patrol ‘much better’ than Toyota LandCruiser

The battle has officially been joined. Nissan has declared the incoming Y63 Nissan Patrol a 300 Series Toyota LandCruiser beater.

“The car [Y63] is much better [than LandCruiser],” Nissan’s global product supremo Ivan Espinosa stated baldly.

Espinosa, a Nissan Motor Corporation vice-president, was speaking to Australian media at a roundtable during the Japan Mobility Show on Tuesday.

“You will drive it,” he added. “We can talk when you drive it and you tell me what you think.”

The Y63 Patrol hasn’t been revealed yet by Nissan and isn’t expected on sale locally until 2025, but it has been spotted several times in camouflaged testing in the Middle East, where it is very popular.

Espinosa formally confirmed the Y63 Patrol would swap from the petrol VK56DE 5.6-litre V8 to a twin-turbo petrol V6 expected to be 3.5 litres in capacity. Diesel will also not be an option for the new Patrol.

The Titan pick-up ending production in the US in 2024 will mean Nissan no longer offers a V8 in its line-up. But Espinosa was positive about how the new engine would be received by Patrol buyers.

“I think the customers in the moment that they see and drive a V6 twin-turbo, you discover a new universe. The capability, the performance, the acceleration, the power delivery and output. It’s different,” he said.

“The customer will smile, I am sure about that.”

In the same roundtable, Espinosa’s colleague Pierre Loing was bullish about the new powerplant’s performance.

“I am of the generation that used to like the V8 and I still do, but that V6 twin-turbo, you will not lament the V8, that is for sure,” he said.

The Y63 Patrol will also be sold as the Nissan Armada in North America and as the luxury Infiniti QX80 in various global markets, which has already been previewed.

Espinosa also promised Y63 buyers a better cabin experience, saying both “interior quality and attention to detail” would be improved.

However, he nominated an upgrade in technology as the biggest interior step. Currently in Australia such basics as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection are missing from the Y62.

“Probably where we are stretching the most is on technology,” he said.

“Current Patrol – I’m not gonna lie – is what it is. It is old and we don’t have the best infotainment system.

“And this is where you are going to see a big, big leap into that technology of the Patrol … building on the strengths and catching up aggressively where we are not.”

Espinosa promised the Patrol would retain its off-road capability while improving its on-road capability.

“We built on the strengths of what we have. Off-road performance, of course we will keep it,” he said.

“Performance driving dynamics you will see also a big, big improvement. The dynamic performance is very well executed.

“On-road when you are driving at high speed response … the chassis dynamics, the steering speed has also been greatly improved.

“So you have a completely different experience when you drive it.”

The existing Y62 Patrol is selling in record numbers in Australia and has just had the Aussie-developed Warrior added to its line-up alongside the existing Ti and Ti-L.

However, the 300 Series twin-turbo diesel V6 300 Series LandCruiser, which launched in Australia in 2021, still outsells it significantly in the upper-large SUV segment.

Year to date to the end of September 2023, VFACTS reporting shows there have been 10,816 LandCruisers sold and 5582 Patrols.

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