The Nissan Patrol Safari is one vehicle that is hard to miss. Particularly when they’ve got those blue lights flashing on top, a pair of Patrols bracketing one of those cars with single-number license plates—they’ll get your attention, all right. Here in Manila they’ve pretty much cornered the market for bodyguards’ transportation. I can’t quite visualize those barong-clad guys shopping around at the nearest Nissan dealer, but I can certainly imagine their bosses specifying the Patrol without hesitation.
Elsewhere in the world, Patrols fill a similarly brutish role. Tough-as-nails U.N. inspector Richard Butler used them as his vehicles to inspect Saddam’s secret stashes of suspicious Scuds. Maybe he thought they could help intimidate the mustachioed one. Even in Mission: Impossible 2, the new Patrol has made an appearance as what else but the henchmen’s chase vehicle. Well, John Woo may have been able to make the Patrol dance with a Ducati, but their primarily role seems to be carrying the backup.
Yet there are some Patrols out there that don’t end up with sirens and those annoying bullhorns. These are cars that were bought by perhaps a woman for its extra height and ground clearance (always a good selling point for the ladies), or a family man who just wanted space for more than five, and who knows—maybe for some of that unstoppable-vehicle image.
So we decided to take a look at this car as an alternative to all those fridge-type vans. After all the Patrol can seat seven (even eight in a pinch) in its three rows of seats. The Hyundai Starex may look more sleek and modern, but it certainly doesn’t have the off road capability and brute pulling power of the Patrol.
Before one gets inside, one might think that the Patrol would be difficult to drive, unless you’re related to the Incredible Hulk. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. Nissan has apparently decided to make everything very soft and easy for the driver, perhaps to a fault. The clutch on this five-speed manual model is very easy to depress and hold down to the floor—we were reminded of Nissan’s luxury cars like the Maxima. Switching from the Patrol to an Accord, I suddenly realized how stiff the Accord’s clutch really is! In addition to the welcome softness, it’s quite easy to modulate the level of clutch engagement.
If only the gearshift itself was as cooperative. The shifter feels very vague and hesitant. Another remnant from the 80s Nissans? You’d really have to give it a good shove before it goes into the proper gate. This is a pity because a good shifter is necessary with the massive 4.2-liter diesel engine. The engine redlines at 4500 rpm, so you’ll need to shift often when accelerating from standstill. The large capacity, though, translates to high torque, and that means that you can leave it in a high gear and this wagon will still pull quite strongly.
The car actually has ten gears, because in addition to the 2-wheel drive and 4-wheel drive high mode, as a true offroader it had a 4wd low range. Just for fun, we tried out the low range 4wd in the parking lot of Cardinal Santos Hospital. What safer place to do something insane? Actually, we couldn’t do much insane driving because in 4wd the Patrol moves veeeeerrrrry slowly. It’s like watching a time lapse film without the time lapse. The engine growled mightily, and we could feel the thrum of 270 Nm being transferred to all four enormous 15-inch wheels, and for getting through mud or rough terrain, this transmission will clearly do the trick.
After we got out of the hospital, we tried out the other mode, the 4wd high, to see if it will improve its handling. Well, we discovered that the Patrol is no Porsche Turbo 4wd. Engaging the 4wd high resulted in massive under steer: the Patrol didn’t want to turn into bends, and we actually had to adjust our judgment of the Patrol’s turning radius. Perhaps the 4wd would be helpful in low-traction situations like floods, dirty roads, rainy weather (that just summarizes the possible road conditions in Metro Manila), but it results in car behavior that is quite disconcerting. After trying it for a few minutes, we had enough of that and stayed with 2wd for the rest of the day.
The steering is dialled for ease of use rather than feedback. You won’t have any problems turning the wheel even when parking, as it’s feathery light. Unfortunately, that also means it’s lifeless: you won’t feel anything through it, whether you’re running over smooth roads or boulders. Hmmm…maybe the boulders are the reasons why it was tuned that way. As the steering is on the slow side, turning the car requires additional alertness from the driver. Surprisingly the vehicle corners quite flatly, and doesn’t tilt heavily in bends like we expected it to.
The dashboard is so vintage 80s, and matches those rectangular walkie-talkies so well. Oddly, the clock and stereo are mounted very low on the dash, perhaps so as not to distract the boys from watching the boss. Watching the gauges though will be quite easy, as they’re large and well-placed. In addition to the usual indicators, oil-pressure and volt meters are provided. It wouldn’t be good to run out of either while still in Saddam’s backyard.
As family or barkada transport, the Patrol fares quite well. The seats are not spectacularly comfortable, but legroom is adequate for whole-day journeys. The vehicle’s bubble-top design greatly benefits headroom. Getting in and out is difficult only for the ones in the third row, as you’d have to step over the second row’s seatback after folding it. However, for all occupants, a large step is needed to climb up to the Patrol’s seats.
One thing we noticed on our test car is that the headlamps are totally inadequate, even on high beam. A good dose of lens cleaning, or aftermarket bulbs or fog lights are the best solution to this.
With the price of a new Land Cruiser, Range Rover or Mercedes M-class being sky-high, the Patrol could be a good alternative. Despite the obvious need for more refinement, it works quite well here and now. You wouldn’t want to bump into one of these, particularly if there are men with loaded weapons inside, but to command one from the driver’s seat is just fine. Lucky “Kevin Costner”s!
By Jason Ang | Photos By Jason Ang
Originally Published in the October 2001 Issue
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