Rent Nissan Patrol 2020 in Dubai

Start the Nissan Patrol 2020 and there's no turbo lag to wait out, just a naturally aspirated 5.6-litre V8 building power the old-fashioned way, in one smooth pull off idle. We also keep the newer, twin-turbo Patrol on this Dubai fleet, and it's quicker on paper and quieter at a cruise. This one is a different character altogether, and the renters who ask for it by year usually know exactly why. We get it to your door within one to two hours of booking. What that older V8 actually feels like from behind the wheel, and whether it still suits your week better than the newer car, is what this page settles.

The V8, and what it feels like to drive

This is the facelifted Y62-generation Patrol, the body-on-frame wagon Nissan built through the 2010s and into the 2020 model year, not the redesigned Y63 that replaced it later. The engine is a 5.6-litre naturally aspirated V8 making 400 hp at 5,800 rpm and 560 Nm at 4,000 rpm, sent through a seven-speed automatic to Nissan's All-Mode 4WD system with a genuine low-range transfer case. There's no turbo spinning up before the torque lands, so the throttle answers the moment you press it. The newer turbo-six Patrols on our fleet make a different trade: quicker to 100 km/h, calmer at a cruise, but getting there through boost rather than raw displacement. Neither is the wrong answer, it depends whether you want the numbers or the character.

0-100 km/h lands around 6.6 seconds and Nissan claims a top speed near 210 km/h, quick for something built on a ladder frame at over two and a half tonnes. On Sheikh Zayed Road that reserve means an overtake happens on a light push of the pedal, not a downshift and a wait, and the low-range gearing makes a soft Hatta track manageable rather than a gamble.

One thing worth confirming before you book: apart from the newer turbo cars, a share of 2020 Patrols in the GCC also came with a smaller 4.0-litre V6 base trim instead of this V8. It is a competent engine, just noticeably calmer, so if the V8 is why you are choosing this year, ask us to confirm which engine your unit carries.

Seven seats and what the boot actually holds

Seven seats, and day to day that number holds up under real use rather than just looking good on a spec sheet. The middle row is wide enough for three across, or two adults with room to spare, and it slides and tips forward on its own, so nobody climbs over folded seatbacks to reach the third row. Adults can actually sit back there for the drive to Abu Dhabi, not just the ten minutes to school. Dubai's rules apply the same way here as in any car: seat belts are mandatory in every seat, and children under four need a proper child seat.

Boot space is the trade-off, and it deserves a straight answer. With all seven seats up, the space behind the third row takes a couple of soft bags and a stroller, not a stack of hard suitcases for a full car. Fold one side of the third row down and there's a proper load bay for cases while five or six people still travel. Take the whole row out and it swallows a big family's luggage for a week with room to spare. Living with the Patrol day to day means picking which of those layouts your trip actually needs before you leave, not working it out at the kerb with the cases already unloaded.

What the V8 drinks, and a blue cabin in the heat

Nissan's combined figure is around 14 L/100km, and it undersells what a two-and-a-half-tonne V8 actually drinks in Dubai traffic. With the AC working flat out and stop-start city driving, real consumption tends to sit closer to 16 or 17. The 140-litre tank absorbs that gap well, buying several days of ordinary driving before you need to think about a station again.

Mileage is the number to plan around more than fuel. The daily allowance is 250 km, and every kilometre past that costs AED 0.5. City errands, school runs and airport pickups sit comfortably inside that limit, but a full day out toward Hatta and back can close the gap faster than people expect, so tally the route before you leave rather than finding the overage at drop-off. You'll need to be 21 to take the keys, younger than several other large SUVs in this fleet ask for, and Salik tolls plus any RTA fines land on you as the renter, the same as on any car we hand over.

Once you're moving, the cabin settles fast. Blue bodywork sits in the middle of the heat scale, it won't shed sun the way white does, but it doesn't bake like a dark colour either. Climb back in after a few hours in open sun and give the front vents a couple of minutes at full strength before it feels comfortable. Rear vents are properly fed, so the third row isn't stuck with whatever warm air drifts back once you pull away. Size shows up mainly at the mall and the tower car park. At just over 5.1 metres long, the Patrol wants a full bay rather than the gap near the trolley return, though 275 mm of ground clearance means speed bumps and steep ramps stop being something you slow down for.

The renter this Patrol is built for, and the one it isn't

Book this Patrol if you want the naturally aspirated V8 specifically, not just a big SUV: a family or group with real luggage, a week that mixes highway distance with a day toward the dunes, or a preference for an engine that builds power without a turbo doing the work for it. The low-range 4WD and the seven seats back that up, and at 21, this Patrol asks less of your age than most SUVs its size do.

If what actually matters to you is the newer twin-turbo Patrol, quicker on paper and easier at the pump, ask about the 2025 car on the same fleet instead. It carries the same seats and low-range hardware inside a different engine and a redesigned shell. And if it's one or two of you running errands with the odd airport pickup, size down regardless of the year. You'll spend the week parking a five-metre SUV and feeding a V8 for a job a mid-size crossover handles on a fraction of the fuel. This Patrol earns its keep on the week that actually wants that old-school pull, not because it's the biggest name on the list.