The hydraulics make for some surprisingly stable cornering

Just a handful of PowerPoint slides into the new Patrol’s presentation is all it took for Nissan to get its samurai swords out. Up pop two gigantic pictures of the Toyota Land Cruiser. ‘We want to beat the LC200,’ says the adament Nissan man. Couldn’t be any clearer that, could it? Nissan is going for the Toyota SUV’s jugular.

Seven years is what it took Nissan to be able to make that statement. It would normally have taken five, but the first two annums were spent gathering the half-a-billion dollars needed to develop the seventh generation Patrol, part of which included building an off-road Tochigi test track specially for this Y62.

It’s an important car, this, and you can bet much of Nissan’s reputation in the GCC will hinge on it. It’s why Carlos Ghosn felt it necessary to give two presentations in the region (one in Abu Dhabi, one in Dubai) before the world drive in Oman.

You could argue the bullishness is justified. The Land Cruiser has, after all, dominated the market. Its popularity hasn’t wained a bit (although we’ll see what effect Toyota’s recent recall issues have), and there’s hardly been an alternative since, if you were looking for a roomy and comfortable – but serious – off-roader.

Based on the Armada/QX platform, the new, ‘family friendly’ Patrol is now a palace in comparison to the student dorm of the ’90s Patrol. The low-rise head and tail lights mitigate its actual size and presence (bigger is better, remember), but once inside, the front and rear benches are so far apart they’re in differing time zones.

As you’d expect with a 13-year generation gap, the mechanical changes are vast. Built alongside the GT-R’s V6 and given the check-over by the same technicians, the new V8 is now larger by 800cc, comes complete with direct injection and variable valve timing and lift, and is driven through a strengthened 370Z seven-speed auto ‘box (there’ll be no manual option this time).

Gone is the basic live axle, replaced with an independent hydraulic system all-round, increasing diff clearance by 50mm. It comes from the same company that provides the Land Cruiser its front suspension, but here it’s a remapped, longer-travel version, and works by varying oil pressure to minimise body movements on- and off-road, in turn making anti-roll bars redundant.

The Omani launch drive was mostly rocky mountains, with a few coastal roads thrown in. So great views, but hardly a workout for the Patrol. The first day provided just enough to garner that the Hydraulic Body Motion Control adorns the Patrol with better road manners than you’d expect, levelling the car off (Nissan claims there’s more roll angle in an E60 5-Series) and adding a touch of stability in corners. In such a titanic SUV, anything that makes you feel like the centre of gravity has been lowered is a definite plus. Granted, when it comes to really working the 20in tyres, there are 5.1m-long, 2780kg limits.

The steering could definitely do with gaining some of that mass. When you first step in, it feels light enough to make you think it’s disconnected from the column.

On the centre console, just behind the gear selector is the control to the All-Mode 4x4, a new four-mode, computer-controlled four-wheel drive/traction system. It’s a reprogrammed version of the GT-R’s all-wheel trickery, sending all the power to the rear, with a maximum of 50 per cent going to the front with loss of grip. But no point fooling yourself into thinking you can hoon around in it - an X5 is not what Nissan was aiming for. Mind you, 400bhp does help when you’re in a rush.

While driving up a limestone mountain face, the Patrol’s unwavering progress off-road is brought to life through the technical overhaul. Twist the central dial to low range, select rock mode and drive away. No fuss. It works in the same way as Land Rover’s Terrain Response, adjusting power delivery, gearchange programming and centre diff locking as well as the rear helical LSD. Even while driving at high speed over the rough gravel, there’s a feeling of climbing a mountain while sat on a powerful, indestructable sofa, the tyres absorbing the constant assault.

To bring the Patrol further into the present, there’s the now common hill hold and hill descent controls, brake-LSD at the front, along with a whole host of gadgets and safety systems. One practical feature for desert bashing is the tyre inflation indicator that softly sounds the horn when you’ve reached the right pressure. The fact that all of the above has been tested in our own deserts will no doubt give added comfort to GCC customers.

The second day of the drive was a short run around the purpose-built off-road course. A bit of sand demonstrated it won’t get bogged down from standstill, some steep hills showed the 35-degree approach angle and although this wasn’t displayed in full, the Patrol will lean on its two side rubbers up to 48 degrees. In short, a walk in the off-road park in Patrol terms. Fans of the Y61 will cower at the grandeur and ease with which you can transverse rough ground, but while the Super Safari will be discontinued, Nissan will still offer the Safari grades and below to keep those who lust after the old-school charm happy.

Question is, is it worth the extra $ 7k over the V8 Land Cruiser? The amount of engineering that’s gone into the Patrol seems to sugget so, but you can’t call it a walkover without first pointing both of them at a steep dune. Still, as a people mover able to soothe one day and punch through the desert the next, first impressions are very positive. I’m sure Toyota will be sharpening its samurai sword.