Nissan Patrol modification ideas

[Gaurav]

OK I have been silently reading this space and holding my temptation to not to spoil your fun or be harsh on your emotions, but keeping all my good man behavior aside, I strongly think you all need to face the truth to get out from a stage of denial. 

SORRY, in advance guys.

• Y62 and Y61 are """"""""DIFFERENT"""""""" Animals all together. Please do not compare sofa with a television, they both have different uses.
   
• Y61 in a completely stock state can do over 90% of all off-roading you can ever wish to do, provided you learn the real art of offf-roading. Remaining 10% things reserved for motorsport, dune championship and flying from one dune to another dune contenders - usually shown in insta, fb and youtube videos for stunts or for provoking you to empty all your pockets. 
   
• Y62 with all the possible off-road mods will be at par or lower with Y61 in a stock state, because Y61 has been designed to do almost everything that a normal offroader want based on decades of research and development along with extensive testing in GCC. Now same goes for any dedicated stock offroaders too like FJC, Xterra, Wrangler etc.

Now firstly all you Y62 owners ask yourself if you are among 10% or 90% of offroaders.

• If you are in 10%, then you have a wrong choice of car, look for rally bred homologated vehicle that you can tow in a trailer every Friday and beat her to death on every dune with extreme modifications.
   
• If you are in 90%, then focus on learning the off-roading first and then decide to work on real limitation of your Y61 or Y62.
  • Y62 are inherently heavy, so no matter what version you drive with V8 - 400 hp, you are always struggling to manouver a chariot on small ridges, pockets, bumps and sharp dunes. 
     
  • Please IGNORE the biased reviews, police cars and mod company advertisement if you want the real truth, as none of them selling you any truth, they are just selling you a modified cars or mods to make your heavy beast a looker than a real off-roader.
     
  • Did you know how many mods any country police car has and all of them are not street legal to catch the bad guys or to reach to difficult places. So stop looking at stars and walking on earth, you will damage your toe or a knee.
     
  • For finding a real truth, next time you visit any good known desert look around and see what percentage of people driving Y62 with or without extreme modifications and you will get an answer.

What will I do, If I am in your place.

• Keep Y62  for family fun, light offroading, camping, beach trip etc.
   
• Get 20K-40K AED bone stock used Xterra or FJC or Y61 or Wrangler and learn off-roading first and then spend a single dime after 3-6 months of offroad driving.

[Salarios]

12 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

• Y62 with all the possible off-road mods will be at par or lower with Y61 in a stock state, because Y61 has been designed to do almost everything that a normal offroader want based on decades of research and development along with extensive testing in GCC. Now same goes for any dedicated stock offroaders too like FJC, Xterra, Wrangler etc.

 

The two cars were not independently designed and manufactured by separate engineers; all of Nissan's experience and knowledge through extensive R&D gained through designing the Y61 for over 20 years went into upgrading their flagship offroader to the modern era with the added benefit of technological advancements in automotive engineering. 

 

17 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

• • Y62 are inherently heavy, so no matter what version you drive with V8 - 400 hp, you are always struggling to manouver a chariot on small ridges, pockets, bumps and sharp dunes. 

Did you know the weight difference is only 220kg? That's two adults. But with 3 inches of additional ground clearance, several hundred more horsepower and torque, independent suspension, and a host of techological advancements such as hill-descent, hill-start, hydraulic body motion control, active tire pressure monitor system, and a dedicated off-road monitoring system. 

 

28 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

• • For finding a real truth, next time you visit any good known desert look around and see what percentage of people driving Y62 with or without extreme modifications and you will get an answer.

 

This is not a fair indicator of Y62's offroad capabilities. The price point makes it difficult for the majority of people to justify it for offroad use. And Nissan's Y62 marketing campaign has mostly focused on luxury, rather than offroad capability, which has influenced people accordingly. 

I'm a traditionalist more than the next guy, I love the Defender over a Range Rover due to its brute force, simple mechanics, and easy maintenance, but I would never invalidate the engineering accomplishments of its successor. 

[Chaitanya D]

I am still a beginner but only after starting off road I realised the flaws in y62 - needs some mods, probably high running costs and being heavy etc. 

But frankly few of my friends in Oman and here who have y62 have not done many mods suggest they did not have any issues. They do fairly regular desert offroading but definitely not jumping dunes etc :-)). Yes one needs to maneuver this car differently unlike the FJ/Wrangler/Xterra /Pajero etc.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Chaitanya D

[Gaurav]

8 minutes ago, Salarios said:

The two cars were not independently designed and manufactured by separate engineers; all of Nissan's experience and knowledge through extensive R&D gained through designing the Y61 for over 20 years went into upgrading their flagship offroader to the modern era with the added benefit of technological advancements in automotive engineering. 

Good marketing pointers. If it's true then whey after massive sales drop Nissan brought back Y61 after 1-2 year gap.

10 minutes ago, Salarios said:

Did you know the weight difference is only 220kg? That's two adults. But with 3 inches of additional ground clearance, several hundred more horsepower and torque, independent suspension, and a host of techological advancements such as hill-descent, hill-start, hydraulic body motion control, active tire pressure monitor system, and a dedicated off-road monitoring system. 

I never mentioned the weight is a constraint, but it might be for sure.

It's the host of technological advancement - that scares, fails and disappoint people after spending over 200K.

We have had in Carnity drive, Y62 failing to engaging the LO gear and then failing to get back into HI gear, and then eventually I have to winch that Y62 which was running on 2 wheel drive. After self recovering and coming on flat ground after few minute it engage back to HI gear again.

15 minutes ago, Salarios said:

This is not a fair indicator of Y62's offroad capabilities. The price point makes it difficult for the majority of people to justify it for offroad use.

Watch it once for fun sake to witness more Range Rovers, Raptor, G63 in the desert - which are far above Y62 price point.

17 minutes ago, Salarios said:

And Nissan's Y62 marketing campaign has mostly focused on luxury, rather than offroad capability, which has influenced people accordingly.

I salute and respect Nissan to adapt smart and honest way to sell apple by calling it an apple, rather than a bow and arrow.

I assume, they must have tried calling it a bow and arrow but failed miserably so they have learned based on their experience to call an apple an apple.

19 minutes ago, Salarios said:

I'm a traditionalist more than the next guy, I love the Defender over a Range Rover due to its brute force, simple mechanics, and easy maintenance, but I would never invalidate the engineering accomplishments of its successor. 

Well let's drive together for a year and then we can revisit these comments again.

I had a Range Rover Supercharged with 510 HP and I know very well it's limitation and capabilities alike.

It's not the numbers, weight or size always, it's the instant availability of those numbers at a right time. In most modern technological advanced vehicle computers overthink than humans and that's what create lot of differences in the experience what I want and what I end up getting with.

3 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said:

I am still a beginner but only after starting off road I realised the flaws in y62 - needs some mods, probably high running costs and being heavy etc. 

But frankly few of my friends in Oman and here who have y62 have not done many mods suggest they did not have any issues. They do fairly regular desert offroading but definitely not jumping dunes etc :-)). Yes one needs to maneuver this car differently unlike the FJ/Wrangler/Xterra /Pajero etc.

Yes @Chaitanya D, you are absolutely right. Y62 is a beautiful vehicle as far as you understand it's limitations and learn to play with those rules, you will enjoy without spending tons on modification.

[Zed]

4 hours ago, Gaurav said:

OK I have been silently reading this space and holding my temptation to not to spoil your fun or be harsh on your emotions, but keeping all my good man behavior aside, I strongly think you all need to face the truth to get out from a stage of denial. 

This breaks my heart... but I was already looking at Dubizzle for second-hand Wranglers, and now just need to convince CFO (aka Wifey) to approve the expense 😁

[Srikumar]

2 minutes ago, Zed said:

This breaks my heart... but I was already looking at Dubizzle for second-hand Wranglers, and now just need to convince CFO (aka Wifey) to approve the expense 😁

Tell her that you are gifting her the Patrol and will buy a cheap second hand car.

[Zed]

7 minutes ago, Srikumar said:

Tell her that you are gifting her the Patrol and will buy a cheap second hand car.

That's a Pro right there.... years of experience does bring a fountain of Wisdom 👏

[J J]

9 hours ago, Salarios said:

The two cars were not independently designed and manufactured by separate engineers; all of Nissan's experience and knowledge through extensive R&D gained through designing the Y61 for over 20 years went into upgrading their flagship offroader to the modern era with the added benefit of technological advancements in automotive engineering. 

 

Did you know the weight difference is only 220kg? That's two adults. But with 3 inches of additional ground clearance, several hundred more horsepower and torque, independent suspension, and a host of techological advancements such as hill-descent, hill-start, hydraulic body motion control, active tire pressure monitor system, and a dedicated off-road monitoring system. 

 

This is not a fair indicator of Y62's offroad capabilities. The price point makes it difficult for the majority of people to justify it for offroad use. And Nissan's Y62 marketing campaign has mostly focused on luxury, rather than offroad capability, which has influenced people accordingly. 

I'm a traditionalist more than the next guy, I love the Defender over a Range Rover due to its brute force, simple mechanics, and easy maintenance, but I would never invalidate the engineering accomplishments of its successor. 

Agree to @Gauravs comments .  We get very personal with our vehicles.   But lets accept and get into reality or the capabilities 

[desertdude]

11 hours ago, Salarios said:

The two cars were not independently designed and manufactured by separate engineers; all of Nissan's experience and knowledge through extensive R&D gained through designing the Y61 for over 20 years went into upgrading their flagship offroader to the modern era with the added benefit of technological advancements in automotive engineering. 

 

Did you know the weight difference is only 220kg? That's two adults. But with 3 inches of additional ground clearance, several hundred more horsepower and torque, independent suspension, and a host of techological advancements such as hill-descent, hill-start, hydraulic body motion control, active tire pressure monitor system, and a dedicated off-road monitoring system. 

 

This is not a fair indicator of Y62's offroad capabilities. The price point makes it difficult for the majority of people to justify it for offroad use. And Nissan's Y62 marketing campaign has mostly focused on luxury, rather than offroad capability, which has influenced people accordingly. 

I'm a traditionalist more than the next guy, I love the Defender over a Range Rover due to its brute force, simple mechanics, and easy maintenance, but I would never invalidate the engineering accomplishments of its successor. 

Hey man do what you can, if you can afford it, rock it. Just get the bumper issue fixed and run with it.

If I could afford to I would ride a Rolls Royce Cullinan in the dunes 

Like you I've never let anyone dictate what I should or shouldn't get. Of course I do my research and take advice from sensible people and with that in mind form my own opinion.

Back in the day while working in the desert I one decided I'm going to shift from a manual Land Cruiser to an automatic transmission. Unheard of those days and everybody told me I was commiting suicide. But later after seeing me many themselves converted to automatic

Same when I got a Land Rover Discovery and initially everybody made fun of me and said should have bought a Jeep. But once again proved them wrong

Further on for everyday use I got myself a used Range Rover and once again everyone I knew said I was crazy it's going to burn holes in my wallet the size of Jupiter.

And many people even here if honest enough will testify they ended up buying discoveries and range Rovers after seeing me. 

If everyone was to follow everyone else there would be nothing but Pajeros and Jeeps. 

Many of the naysayers have never even driven anything more than 250hp and 6 cylinders off-road so what do they know. There is nothing like the low end torque if a V8 and wideband power delivery.

So you do you mate. You'll make mistakes maybe even expensive ones along the way but you are only a fool if you don't learn from them.

So if you are willing and know what you are getting into them nothing should stop you or let anyone dissuade you from driving your Patrol.

Good luck

[Salarios]

This is an interesting and educational conversation so I’d like to keep it going. 
 

9 hours ago, Gaurav said:

Good marketing pointers. If it's true then whey after massive sales drop Nissan brought back Y61 after 1-2 year gap.

Because they launched the Y62 in the middle of a global economic recession, and it was an expensive, gas thirsty behemoth. And also, because they didn’t offer diesel which was a big no no in the diehard offroad community at the time. So there was no demand for a Y62-type-car when it launched, and again, not because it was an incapable offroader. The Y61 though, ticked all the boxes to meet market demand: lower gas consumption, cheaper to buy and maintain, and was offered in diesel. 
 

9 hours ago, Gaurav said:

It's the host of technological advancement - that scares, fails and disappoint people after spending over 200K.

I agree. But you can’t deny that advancements in the automotive industry can be useful offroad. Crawl control on the Toyotas to automatically get itself out of sand? Very impressive. Sonar on the Defender to detect water depth? Amazing. Auto-inflate and deflate from inside the cabin using a switch on the G63 6x6? We’re living in the future. Let’s embrace it and not resist it. 
 

9 hours ago, Gaurav said:

I salute and respect Nissan to adapt smart and honest way to sell apple by calling it an apple, rather than a bow and arrow.

I assume, they must have tried calling it a bow and arrow but failed miserably so they have learned based on their experience to call an apple an apple.

Oh come on Gaurav you’re a PR expert, you know this better than me: companies segment the market and develop marketing campaigns that appeal to the largest portion of their target market. Off-roaders are a tiny minority for them. So why would they market it to them in the first place?
 

The Gazelle is different though: it’s designed to entice the minority offroad community. Nissan knows they’ll sell very few of them but they don’t care, because they’re using the Gazelle brand as leverage to further cement their offroad credibility. The existence of Gazelle increases Nissan’s brand value, which they hope will be enough to stand out in a competitive market so they can sell more of their “cash-cow” products (high margin, high volume products). I’m getting off-topic, but just want to illustrate the point that companies aren’t in the “honesty” business. They use a series of well-known tactics to separate us from our money. 
 

10 hours ago, Gaurav said:

Well let's drive together for a year and then we can revisit these comments again.

It's not the numbers, weight or size always, it's the instant availability of those numbers at a right time. In most modern technological advanced vehicle computers overthink than humans and that's what create lot of differences in the experience what I want and what I end up getting with.

You’re right, technology doesn’t always make it better or easier. A 3m derham 6x6 Brabus in my hands is still inferior to a 20yr old TJ in the hands of experts in this community. And that’s why I‘m open to having my opinions changed in a year. 

But all I’m saying is let’s not stifle diversity in the Carnity community. Let’s not discourage the use of a particular offroad car to form a convoy of wranglers and Pajeros. Diversity within the group is what will make it more interesting for all of us. 

And most importantly: “let’s root for eachother & watch eachother grow” even if it’s a Y62!  
 

Much love to all, 

- Salar