Nissan Confirms Rugged Warrior Trims For New Navara And Patrol

Nissan has officially confirmed that the Australian-developed Warrior flagships will return for the new Navara and the Y63 Patrol. The Navara Warrior has been previewed by a concept at the launch of the new generation of the midsize truck, giving us a great idea of what to expect.

Developed in collaboration with Melbourne-based engineering firm Premcar, these rugged trims will serve as the off-road heroes for the Australian market, tackling rivals like the Ford Ranger Tremor and the Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport.

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Andrew Humberstone, the soon-to-be departing head of Nissan Oceania, spoke to local media CarExpert about their future plans. While he declined to confirm or refute rumors about a Navara Nismo, he said:

“We’re doing a lot with Nismo at the moment – looking at a lot of things – but we have our Warrior affiliation, in which we have a great partnership with Bernie Quinn (Premcar CEO). Great guy, great company – doing a lot of work with them. We continue with Warrior, for both Navara and, of course, the new Y63 Patrol in the future.”

Nissan Navara Warrior Concept

The managing director of Nissan Oceania added that the Warrior will follow six to nine months after the launch of the Navara Pro-4X, meaning it will hit the roads before the end of the year.

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The production model is expected to mirror the spec of the Navara Warrior concept, looking tougher than its predecessor. Expect a steel bumper with an integrated bull bar and extra LEDs, heavy-duty underbody protection, a new set of 32.2-inch all-terrain tires, and a lifted suspension.

Despite the visual and chassis upgrades, the Warrior won’t get any performance tweaks compared to the Pro-4X it will be based on. The latter is fitted with a Mitsubishi-sourced 2.4-liter biturbo diesel producing 201 hp (150 kW / 204 PS) and 470 Nm (346.7 lb-ft) of torque. It also gets a Super 4WD system with a lockable center differential and selectable drive modes.

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In terms of rivals, the Nissan Navara Warrior might not be able to match the performance of the Ford Ranger Raptor, as that could be the role of a potential Navara Nismo. Still, the localized suspension upgrades and the off-road accessories will make it one of the most rugged options in the midsize pickup segment Down Under.

Rivals include the Isuzu D-Max Blade, the Toyota Hilux Rugged X, the Mitsubishi Triton GSR, the Kia Tasman X-Pro, the Ford Ranger Tremor, and the Mazda BT-50 Thunder.

What About The Patrol?

As for the Y63 Patrol, the returning Warrior trim will also be based on the Pro-4X trim, fitted as standard with an adaptive air suspension and an electronic locking rear differential. While the Warrior won’t look as wild as the Nissan Dune Patrol concept from SEMA, it will likely feature extra underbody protection, beefier tires, and suspension tweaks.

Nissan Dune Patrol Concept

Unlike the outgoing Y62 Patrol Warrior that came fitted with a naturally-aspirated 5.6-liter V8 engine, the Y63 generation will stick to the twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6.

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Despite having less cylinders and a smaller displacement, the new powertrain is more powerful than its predecessor, generating 425 hp (317 kW / 431 PS) instead of 400 hp (298 kW / 405 PS). Furthermore, the performance-focused Patrol Nismo produces as much as 495 hp (369 kW / 501 PS) from an upgraded version of the same engine.

The main rival of the Nissan Patrol is the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series, which is available in a rugged GR Sport guise. Nissan has yet to set a launch date for the new Patrol Warrior, but chances are it will arrive sometime in 2027. Unfortunately for other markets, the Warrior trims of the Navara and the Patrol will most likely remain exclusively available in Australia.