There’s something indefinable about the Y62. Like it has some sort of “it” factor that you’d more likely hear from a reality TV talent show host talking about a good-looking young person who can sing rather than about a 4×4. 

The Patrol just has that special extra ingredient. It’s a big, brash, V8 petrol-only behemoth with fully independent suspension and a luxo interior. Australians should have hated it. But somehow, it’s more than the sum of its parts and it simply works. Like, really, really well. And we love it. 

It’s almost spiritual about getting in a vehicle the size of an ocean liner and having the handling and acceleration of a V8-swapped MX5. It not only defies modern physics and lets you know you’re behind the wheel of a very special piece of automotive engineering, but it goes even deeper than that. 

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Like there’s no problem this vehicle has that cannot be solved by letting that VK56 5.6L engine eat, washing your soul with that glorious exhaust note and healing your ailments with the sheer sense of fun and adventure that is inescapably evoked from the deep recesses of your subconscious with a simple downward nudge of the loud pedal. It’s a powerful rig in more than one sense. 

However, despite the big `Trol’s long list of positives, there are still more than a couple of negatives to offset. The interior is at least ten years out of date (an update has since been revealed), the V8 drinks fuel (by modern standards) like a salty sea-dog at an open bar and, no matter how you slice it, independent suspension is still a far cry from the solid axles that gave the GQ and GU models of yesterdecade their off-road prowess and cemented the Patrol badge as one of the best and most trustworthy in the country. 

With the Y63’s release being promised for later this year, does the latest and greatest Y62 – the Premcar-tweaked Warrior – have enough to entice buyers to spend six figures on an outgoing old warhorse? 

JUMP AHEAD

On-road performance

At first look, the Patrol is too big, too tall, too long and too wide to ever be something that would have the words “good handling” ascribed to it. And yet, almost illogically, the Warrior holds the road brilliantly, stops and steers accurately and predictably and overall is just a pleasure to drive.

You won’t be keeping up with Nissan’s other flagship, the Skyline GTR, on the twisty roads, sure, but you won’t be too far off and they certainly won’t be following you, let alone keeping up, across the Simpson. There is a little more body roll from the two-inch-higher Warrior, and the brakes, while excellent, still have to pull up nearly three tonnes, but all in all the acceleration and cornering are fantastic.

The inside is hardly cutting-edge, but it’s also far from uncomfy. Technology wise it has enough safety features to be annoying (like most new vehicles, to be fair) but if you’re someone who derives a sense of security from things like emergency assist braking and lane departure warnings then you won’t feel like you’re missing out. It has an eight-inch touchscreen which is large enough without being overbearing and is fairly intuitive to use. 

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The seats are plush and wide – you sit in them rather than on them – but other than that it’s a standard Ti interior, which is not a bad thing by any means, just a wee-bit outdated. A brand-spanking Range Rover it is not. 

Still, as an effortless mile-eater and tow rig, it’s up there with the best of them. Even with the big V8 it uses a bit over 14L/100km, which really isn’t too bad considering the power on tap, but if you are lugging a trailer along, have bigger tyres bolted up, or you’re doing a lot of low range work, then expect that figure to rise accordingly.

As a daily driver and family adventure machine, though, it’s not only a heavyweight contender, it’s in with a real shot at the title. 

Off-road performance

The “defies all logic” ethos transfers over to the Warrior’s off-road prowess, too.

Even with its 50mm increase in ride height and the Premcar-tuned Hydraulic Body Motion Control system, the fully independent suspension is not the starting point most of us would like for an off-road tourer. Except that it works so well. 

Of course, if you’re searching for hardcore rock-crawler performance this isn’t the droid you’re looking for, but for everything else the suspension is more than up to the task. There’s a surprisingly useful amount of suspension travel, but you’ll still lift wheels, however the rear locker and traction control (which is also showing its age, just quietly) are up to the job of maintaining forward progress over all but the gnarliest of obstacles. 

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In terms of dirt road and sand performance, this thing shines brightly. The V8 does the heavy lifting and propels you over the soft stuff laughingly easily, and the Premcar suspension soaks up corrugations and washouts at near Trophy Truck levels of refinement. If you’re tackling a particularly steep climb, putting your foot down or shifting into manual mode is rewarded with the bi-modal exhaust shifting to the less restricted side exit pipe that puts out a sound that’s nice enough to give Jimi Hendrix imposter syndrome. 

As a tourer, this is a weapon. Don’t let the old-school “diesel is the only way to tour” way of thinking stop you. The Warrior has 140 litres of fuel on board, which is enough to cover a respectable distance – the only diesel engines that can really even come close in terms of power output are the big units found in full-size American rigs. 

Seriously, take a Patrol for a drive and tell us we’re wrong. The fact that Patrol sales have been increasing steadily over the last few years, with 2024 showing the highest sales numbers ever in Australia should give you a hint that we’re not. The people who own these things love them. 

Verdict

Unless you are absolutely married to the idea of a diesel, the Patrol Warrior is easily (still) as good an option as an LC300, Land Rover Defender or Ineos Grenadier (which is a very different vehicle to begin with) and is a fair bit cheaper to boot. 

The daily commute, while more expensive at the bowser, would even out over the long run with cheaper servicing and, again, the power makes for a very easy and less fatiguing drive overall. Especially over big distances. 

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At the end of the day, the big deciding factor is going to be those fuel costs and whether you personally think they’re worth the superb amount of advantages a Y62 gives you, both on- and off-road. For us, they’re worth it. And buying the last of a model run means the manufacturer has got the recipe absolutely dialled, and with the factory warranty-backed mods from Premcar, the Warrior starts making a lot of sense. 

Cheaper and more powerful than its competitors and easily capable enough to take you to any destination in the country with a minimum of mods. So, is the old warhorse still worth those six-figures? Yeah, yeah it is. Long live the Y62.

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