When Nissan invited me to Tasmania to drive the new 2023 Nissan Patrol Warrior, I jumped at the chance! My family are very jealous as they can't join me on this adventure!
After arriving in Tasmania to drive the new Nissan Patrol Warrior, we start the morning with a charter flight over Cradle Mountain from Davenport.
I see the incredible peak of the mountain with still a few tiny spatterings of snow, the big blue skies and a few fluffy clouds passing by. The mood is set for a day of adventure!
Landing on a little runway in Strahan to see a line of new Nissan Patrol Warriors, these enormous eight-seater 4x4s look very exciting and we jump in, two to a car, and off we set on the bitumen to Climies Track.
For this model, Nissan has again teamed up with the team at Premcar, which also created the Navara Warrior. Their challenge was to take the Ti model Nissan Patrol and make some serious adaptions to make it even more capable off-road and build the 2023 Nissan Patrol Warrior we're driving today.
The basis for the New Patrol Warrior is the Ti model Patrol and instead of customers buying lots of aftermarket parts the conversion is already done for you and it keeps the five-year, unlimited-kilometre Nissan factory warranty. As well as smoothing out the buying process for customers (I know my family doesn't have much free time to go around buying and fitting accessories), if anything goes wrong, you can go back to your dealership.
The Patrol Warrior drives well on the windy Tasmanian bitumen roads as well as on the dirt as we get closer to Climies Track and the sealed surface starts to give way to gravel.
I'm first up to drive and my co-driver and I discuss the changes made to the Patrol by Premcar to create the Warrior on our journey, as well as the challenging road ahead. PremCar has an Australian facility where they re-developed progressive rate rear springs, re-developed the front springs, and re-engineered the clever HBMC system to give a 50mm lift and made the Patrol Warrior even more capable off-road.
After a briefing and letting the tyres down at the start of the Climies Track, it is evident quite quickly after setting off how capable the 2023 Nissan Patrol Warrior is. As we begin to tackle the gnarly deep ruts and boulders the Patrol Warrior just seems to roll and climb over everything.
Having done a fair bit of sand and dirt road driving, I am not nervous but I am shocked at how tricky Climies track is, with its huge deep ruts that look like they are carved out like a river, big boulders and water crossings.
The wildflowers are in bloom and everywhere I look, the track is lined with vibrant sprays of colour.
I wouldn't tackle a track like this normally but by the end of Climies Track, I am having so much fun that I feel really confident to tackle more tracks like this in the 2023 Nissan Patrol Warrior with my family.
It is incredibly capable off-road, is able to crawl slowly and climb over every terrain we ask it to.
I know my husband and kids would love this experience as much as I am and I think to myself I'll feel confident to take my family off-roading in the Nissan Patrol Warrior and come back here with my family one day.
Full of excitement from the morning's challenging and rewarding drive, we stop for a picnic lunch with an incredible view and discuss the near misses and pin-stripes the Patrol Warriors have gained!
Back in the vehicles to retrace our route back to the start of the track, I hand over the wheel to my co-driver and enjoy the ride.
This gives me time to enjoy the wildflowers properly and consider the 2023 Nissan Patrol Warrior for families.
Despite the 50mm lift, they have purposefully kept the overall height under two metres so the Patrol Warrior will still fit into most underground car parks, making it practical for everyday use while still being great for weekend camping trips. Or if you are doing a longer family road trip, it is still practical to go to the supermarket.
If your family has a camper trailer or caravan the towing capacity of the Nissan Patrol is 3.5 tonnes, and part of the PremCar Warrior conversion is there is a full-size spare tyre underneath the back of the Patrol so you won't get stuck in the outback without a spare!
So the Patrol Warrior has been improved for its off-road capabilities so we can be confident taking it on great family adventures. When we’re not camping or off-roading, we want it to be a great everyday family car which it can be. The adjustments made by Premcar have improved the off-road drive and capabilities but also the way it drives on bitumen and around town so that for everyday school drop-offs, it’s excellent too.
For family practicality in the back of the Patrol, there are ISOFIX in both of the outer second-row seats. They are within slits in the seat leather and are easy to attach to. There are top tether anchorages for both the outer second-row seats but not the central seat. You can not put a child seat in the central second-row seat.
I installed two Infasecure child seats in the second row; the Infasecure Momentum More and the Infasecure Attain More. They fit really nicely with a large gap between them that a tall adult passenger can very comfortably sit between them. You could put an Infasecure Versatile Folding Booster seat in the central second-row seat as it does not require a top tether anchorage.
In the third row, the seat on the driver's side has a top tether anchorage in the back. I installed the Infasecure Attain More back there.
Depending on how many child seats you need to install for your family and how many passengers you are carrying, you have the flexibility to use the two seats behind the driver and put all the other second and third-row seats flat to open up an enormous and long boot space if you want to fit swags or kayaks, for example, inside the car for your family adventures.
Or you can use the second-row seats and put the third-row seats flat giving you an enormous boot space to fit kids' bikes, scooters etc. for everyday life and plenty of space for a fridge when camping. There is also a 12v socket on the left side of the boot to plug it in.
Legroom is excellent in the Patrol and even with rear-facing child seats installed in the second-row, there is ample legroom in the front for a 184cm driver.
Storage is great throughout the Patrol Warrior. There are cup holders in all three rows of seats so passengers are comfortable every day as well as on road trips.
We did use the front cup holders as ‘cupcake' holders during our Climies Track drive!
The door bins in the front and back will hold a large refillable water bottle which is important for long journeys.
There are USB sockets in the back of the central console box so if rear passengers are not looking out at the passing scenery they can charge their devices while driving along.
There are air vents in the ceiling for both rear rows of seats so rear passengers can be kept comfortable while driving along. You can control this from the front dashboard too so parents have the ultimate control over the aircon!
I have so much fun with the new Nissan Patrol Warrior. I like the flexibility in the rear seating and I feel very confident to take it on some great off-roading and camping adventures with my family in the next school holidays!
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