2008 Nissan Patrol Cab Chassis review
January 9, 2008 by Karl Peskett
The four cylinder turbo diesel isn’t the last word on quietness either. Sure, it is torquey (380Nm), but you still get a lot of noise in the cabin, and comparisons to names such as Kenworth and Mack aren’t too far off the mark. The good thing about it is its tractability (or should that be tractorability?…) as it will pull from basically idle onwards. There’s a bit of lag too, but it’s easy to predict, as there’s only 118kW to play with. Once in low range however, the power deficit is negated, and so is the lag, meaning its role as a bush basher is fulfilled in every sense.
One area where the Patrol Cab Chassis is simply outstanding is its range. Being turbo-diesel, fuel economy is decent to start off with, listed at around 11 litres/100km. Combine that with a 95 litre fuel tank and you’ve got about 850km to play with. But that’s not the end of the story. There’s a further 700km to be had once the sub-tank is brought into action. Yes, the secondary fuel tank is an amazing 80 litres.
In theory, nearly 1600km can be wrought from the two tanks. Of course filling up is going to hit you hard, especially with fuel prices as they are currently. If you run the Cab Chassis dry, expect a trip to the servo to cost you the better part of $290. Ouch. And that’s a best case scenario. Get stuck filling up on the Nullarbor somewhere and you’ll be looking at $320-350. Thankfully, because of the range, you won’t be having to do that so often.
But if you are loading up hay bales, you’ll appreciate the massive (optional) tray. Sized at 1900mm wide, and either 2250 or 2400mm long, it really does carry a lot. But, it should be a delete option, as you get slugged anything from $1794 and upwards for it. The other increase is the Patrol Cab Chassis’s braked towing capacity which is up to 3.2 tonnes from 2.5.
Tags: Nissan Patrol, Nissan Patrol Cab Chassis
The only reason Nissan sell any of these 4 cylinder toys,is because Toyota can’t bring in enough 78 series V8 turbo’s to satisfy the demand.How many of these toys do you see in the real outback and mines? you could count them on one hand.
I agree Dennis, even the old 6 cyl Toyota Turbo Diesels eat these 4 cyl Nissan diesels. You only have to read the car section in the telegraph to see how many people have written in reguarding their 3L Nissan Diesels blowing up.
It is bloody slow and does nissan have a V6?
Window winders are not a bad thing if you want a 4×4, because electric windows can get broken easiely
WAY overpriced for what you get.
U forgot to mention the high and silly load hight of the tray.
They should cosy 1/2 of what they sell them for.
Better off with a Falcon RTV for 90% of the time, the other 10% you can use your FIAT tractor :-)
Cheers
F-0
An interesting review, particularly when the description of a basic bland interior don’t quite match the photos of a rather stylish looking dash. I don’t think the patrol is a spin off from the Xtrail but maybe that explains why the only engine option is 4 cyl!
I’m not exatly buyest towards toyota and nissan, I own a GQ nissan patrol and there as tough as nails, I think it is a bloody big shame they ditched the pushrod 4.2 as much as the days of pushrods are over i think it was great.
I wouldn’t buy a 3.0lt patrol ute, i’ll wail for the V6TD, if it doesnt happen soon LC76 here i come, I Love em!! Bloody fantastic engine.
Dont like the 200’s at all, mainly because i love my manual gears,
I to didn’t like the 3.0 litre engine in it but after a bit of research i found a good 3.0 litre V6 Turbo diesel made by VM Motori (and italian company). After about 2 weeks i had secured an engine and it was on it’s way to north queensland. It may not sound like much but the engine i put in trumps toyota’s 4.5L (single) turbo V8. The toyota’s V8 generates 151Kw/430Nm while the TDV6 engine i got makes 184Kw/510Nm. I did have to get a mate of mine who knew heaps about engines to fit it for me (and it tok him 3 weeks to do). So stop getting in a sook and just do what i did, ok. It is a tiny bit smaller than the standard one but it will fit in the engine bay.
out of which vehicle did you get the VM v6 or was it a crate from the factory??
What did it set you back..and are you satisfied with the conversion.
Looking at fitting similar to my GQ camper
We have these at my work.
No go below boost and then everything above it.
Auto in this vehicle is the best option if it is an option.
The suspension is rough in the rear as ours have been uprated.
One of the fellas managed to make the cam belt slip some teeth with an incorrect gear change – bye bye engine.
I have had three toyotas, all of them have blowen up, all of them new. I have learnt my lesson, i have 5 nissans now all ok, at least the run.
I bought a 2009 Patrol ST-L diesel, manual, for towing purposes only. What a waste of money. Some what diappointed with the performance of the 3 litre. 1st gear up Bulli pass in the steep areas and 2nd gear up Mount Ousley NSW towing a 2.5 tonne boat and trailer. This vehicle is great for towing on a flat road and thats about it. I hope someone from Nissan reads this as there will be no future buisness with Nissan from me.