Patrol commercials update

Nissan has sparingly updated the commercial variants of the company's heavy duty offroader, the Patrol cab chassis, in the past.  Now it's time once more for the cab chassis to catch up with its wagon body siblings (more here).

Dropping the 4.2-litre diesel engine from the Patrol cab chassis in favour of a smaller engine seems like a bad idea -- unless that smaller engine is the ZD30 3.0-litre turbodiesel, which now features common-rail injection and an intercooler.

The 'new' engine, which has been available for years in the Patrol wagon models, develops more power and torque than the older 4.2-litre engine and boosts the cab chassis models' towing capacity to 3200kg (braked).

As well as delivering 380Nm of torque at 2000rpm and 118kW of power at 3200rpm, the 3.0-litre engine is more frugal than the old 4.2. It is a proven unit that has been available in the wagon models for some years. The new engine is coupled to a five-speed manual transmission. No automatic option is available.

The new models can be distinguished from the old by a facelift that aligns the cab chassis models with the current wagons. This style was introduced to the wagon range in 2004, so it barely warrants the 'new' tag.

Available in two levels of trim, DX or ST, the Patrol can be specified with either leaf or coil-sprung rear suspension in the DX grade. The former allows for heavier payloads and the latter provides a better ride.

Pricing has not changed for the revised Patrol cab chassis range, so the DX leaf spring model is priced at $49,790, DX coil spring model is priced at $50,180 and the ST (coil spring suspension only) is priced at $52,890.

The new range goes on sale in October.

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