Nissan's Patrol GR Face Lifts Prices Drop
Published: 17th January 2003
Its seats are trimmed in a tough grey cloth and the S still has remote central locking, an alarm, all round electric windows, twin airbags, a luggage area cover, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors, air conditioning and a single CD player. So it’s basic (compared with the SVE) but not that basic. It even has aluminium side-steps to help mother and/or an ancient collie enter with dignity.
The SVE adds leather upholstery. And there’s an awful lot of it given the Patrol has seats for seven. But that’s not all the SVE gives you over the S. Its front seats incorporate side airbags and are electrically adjustable – they’re heated, too. The air conditioning system gains electronic set-and-forget control with air of a less conditioned kind available through a huge electric glass sunroof. The interior is dressed with more leather on the steering wheel rim and gearshift knobs, lashings of wood effect trim on the centre console and a splash of chrome on the door handles. There’s an in-dash 6CD autochanger to keep everyone amused on the school run, a holder for mother’s Oakley sunglasses and to ensure you’re heading in the right direction for the family’s annual skiing vacation, there’s an electronic compass. And so you know it’s cold enough when you get there, the SVE also adds an outside temperature gauge with ice warning – just to be on the safe side. The SVE’s body is fully colour-coded with standard metallic paint, too, and with its 16" deep-dished alloy wheels ensures this Patrol GR looks as right parked outside a tasteful barn conversion as it does dumped in a farm yard. And all for a lot less than a Land Rover Discovery XS.
Technically the 2003 Patrol GR is as for the 2002 model which received changes to its suspension geometry for a smoother on-road ride and more precise handling. To remind you, the GR’s grrrrrrr comes from a 156 PS 3.0-litre direct injection turbo-diesel motor. And it still delivers a potentially tree uprooting 354 Nm of torque at a near crawling 2000 rpm. Trailer wise, the Patrol GR can cope with 3.5 tonnes of horsebox or caravan. And reassuringly in this age of flood warnings, it will wade through 70 cm of escaped river.
In its 50, no 51 year history of being in the 4x4 business, Nissan has become something of a leader in the traditional 4x4 sector. The United Nations is a big Patrol GR customer no doubt due to the vehicle’s reputation for unburstability as much as its willingness to climb a 39 degree gradient. And more Patrols are being seen on patrol – forgive the pun – around the motorways of the home counties with blue lights on their roofs. Some have even been converted into ambulances for when an emergency is too remote for a lesser vehicle to get to. So in a market increasingly crowded with soft-roaders and crossovers, there are still many who want a traditional 4x4 bruiser for which no journey (or adventure) is too big. And the 5010 mm long Patrol GR has both the size and the name for the job.
