It was a long time coming, but it’s finally been revealed. It has been nearly a year since the first teaser came out, but Premcar has finally unveiled the Nissan Patrol Warrior. In case you’re asking, Premcar is the company behind the Navara Warrior after it was tapped by Nissan Australia to build and develop its more serious off-road-oriented models.
Starting with the off-road goodies, the Patrol Warrior gets a thoroughly re-engineered suspension system. It has a wider track that the standard Patrol, and it also gains 50mm (about 2 inches) in ground clearance. Based on that, the clearance jumps from an already impressive 273mm to 323mm. Yup, that’s over a foot's worth of space between the ground and the Patrol Warrior's axles.
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The Warrior isn’t just a Patrol with a lift kit. This beast also comes with softer springs at the front and progressive triple rate coils at the back with super soft, soft and hard. While it sounds like it has active suspension, the entire arrangement is actually passive. The springs at the back have different coil patterns and react more responsively to the terrain.
Finally, Premcar deleted the anti-roll bars for the Patrol Warrior. While anti-roll bars keep the massive Patrol level (as much as it can) around the corners, it hinders the SUV’s suspension articulation off-road. To counter that, the Hydraulic Body Motion Control (HBMC) system was thoroughly reworked to make up for the removal of the anti-roll bars.
Of course, the Patrol Warrior gets several exterior mods to make it stand out from the more ‘pedestrian’ version. It gets a unique front bumper treatment that gives this SUV a greater approach angle. There’s also a thick skid plate under the chassis to prevent damage to vital components. The Patrol Warrior rides on all-terrain 34.4-inch tires wrapped around unique 18-inch alloy wheels. Lastly, chunkier fender flares give the Patrol Warrior a beefier exterior appearance.
Sadly, it’s unlikely that the Patrol Warrior will ever be exported out of Australia. For starters, it’s a project between Nissan Australia and Premcar, and only a limited number of units will likely be made. Also, the Australian-market Patrol is right-hand drive, so that pretty much shoots down any plans to export it in left-hand drive markets.
A shame, really, since it has all the right ingredients to make a proper Land Cruiser GR Sport competitor in other countries.
