Rent Nissan Patrol 2025 in Dubai

Check the tailgate on this year's Patrol and you won't find a V8 badge, because for the first time the fleet's flagship SUV doesn't carry one. Nissan built the Nissan Patrol 2025 around a twin-turbo V6 instead of the naturally aspirated eight-cylinder that powered every Patrol before it, and that single swap changes more about renting this car in Dubai than any styling update could. We hand it over at your hotel, villa or terminal, usually within one to two hours of booking. The question worth answering before you book is what the new engine actually changes for you, and whether the size and running cost still make sense for your week.

Two turbos, not eight cylinders: what changes behind the wheel

This is the all-new Y63 generation, not a facelift of the old truck, and the engine is where that shows first. Nissan retired the 5.6-litre V8 for this generation and built the Patrol around a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 instead, rated at 425 hp and 700 Nm through a nine-speed automatic. If you see a listing for this car quoting 4.8 litres and 280 hp, that figure belongs to the older Super Safari, a simpler and much older truck Nissan still sells alongside it, not this one.

On the road the difference is less about peak numbers than where the torque lands. The old V8 needed revs before it felt strong. This V6 puts its 700 Nm down from 3,600 rpm, so a two-and-a-half-tonne SUV picks up speed without you needing to lean on it. Merging onto Sheikh Zayed Road or clearing a slow lorry becomes a light push of the pedal rather than a downshift and a wait, and it does it more quietly too. It reaches 100 km/h in about 6.7 seconds, quick for something this size. None of that came at the cost of the hardware underneath. It's still a body-on-frame 4x4 with a low-range transfer case and terrain modes for sand, rock, mud and snow. The calmer drive sits on top of real off-road ability, not instead of it.

Seats, boot space and what a normal day asks of it

Depending on how the middle row is set up, captain's chairs or a bench, the Patrol seats seven or eight, and the third row is built for a grown adult on an actual trip, not just a child folded in for twenty minutes. That's a detail most three-row SUVs can't claim honestly.

The boot is the honest trade-off. Nissan doesn't publish a clean cargo figure for this generation, and with all three rows up the space behind the last seat is modest: a few soft bags or the weekly shop, not a stack of hard cases for a full car. Fold the third row flat and the load bay opens up properly, enough for a family's luggage on an airport run. Needing every seat and every case at the same time is the one combination that doesn't work cleanly, and for most renters it never actually comes up.

Living with the footprint is the other half of daily use. At 5,205 mm long and 2,030 mm wide, tight multi-storey bays and the ramps under Marina towers ask for patience and the reversing camera, and a mid-block U-turn takes a wider sweep than a smaller SUV needs. The payoff is 273 mm of ground clearance, so speed bumps and steep mall entrances that catch a low sedan don't register here at all.

What it costs to run, and how the cabin handles the heat

Nissan quotes 9.9 L/100km combined for the twin-turbo V6, and that figure holds up reasonably well once you're cruising. A week of Dubai stop-start traffic with the air conditioning working hard pushes real consumption higher, so plan above the official number rather than at it. The 97-litre tank absorbs most of that difference, giving you a proper range between fills even with a heavy right foot.

Heat is the question every renter asks about a car this size, and it's a fair one. Leave the Patrol in an open car park through a July afternoon and the first minute back inside is rough, the same as in anything left out here. What matters is the recovery, and this one pulls the cabin down fast because the system is sized for the volume it actually has to cool. Vents run strong front and rear, so the third row gets real cold air rather than whatever drifts back once the front seats are comfortable. Salik tolls and any RTA fines during the rental are the renter's to cover, and in a car this relaxed to drive far, the kilometres add up faster than you'd expect.

The renter this new-generation Patrol suits, and who should look elsewhere

Rent the Nissan Patrol 2025 if you need what the new engine and the old bones both deliver: a big family or group with real luggage, a third row that actually seats adults, or a trip that might end on a sand track. The V6 makes it quicker and noticeably calmer than the V8 it replaces, and the 4x4 hardware underneath means the capability is real, not a badge on a soft crossover.

Look elsewhere if it's one or two of you running errands and the odd airport drop. You'll spend the week placing a five-metre SUV into bays built for something smaller and feeding a 97-litre tank for a job a mid-size SUV or a sedan handles for less money and far less fuss in a tight bay. The included allowance is 250 km a day, then AED 0.5 for every extra kilometre, and you'll need to be 25 to take the keys. Rent the new Patrol for the engine and the space it actually needs to justify, not for the badge on the grille.