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The ageing V8 Patrol is set to live beyond the rollout of new emissions rules later this year – but Nissan may sidestep them by reclassifying the car, rather than investing in costly engine upgrades.
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The V8-powered Nissan Patrol four-wheel-drive will remain in production and on sale in Australia after the introduction of strict new tailpipe emissions regulations it doesn’t yet meet.
But Nissan has refused to explain how it will meet the rules – and whether the V8's act will be cleaned up, or if the Patrol will simply sidestep the regulations by dropping its payload and switching vehicle categories.
Either way, the Japanese car giant has assured there are no plans to end production and cut the Y62 Patrol's life short less than 18 months before the arrival of an all-new model with cleaner turbo V6 power.
New ‘heavy vehicles’ imported to Australia from November 1, 2025, will be required to meet more stringent Euro 6 emissions rules, which limit the amount of nitrogen oxide and other pollutants that can enter the atmosphere.
While it is an SUV – not a box truck or semi-trailer – the 'Y62' Patrol is legally classified as a heavy vehicle, as its gross vehicle mass (GVM) is in excess of 3.5 tonnes, at 3505kg in Ti or Ti-L form, and 3620kg as a Warrior.
It would appear to present Nissan Australia two options: upgrade the V8 from its current Euro 5 classification – unchanged since the Y62 Patrol launched 13 years ago – or drop the model from its showrooms.
However, Nissan has confirmed to Drive that the latter will not happen – as the Y62 will remain in production in Japan for Australia after November 1 – but re-engineering such an old engine less than two years before an all-new Patrol arrives is an expensive exercise.
But there is a third option on the table: re-classify the Patrol as a light vehicle by cutting its payload.
The inbound ‘ADR 80/04’ rules are different to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, which will soon fine manufacturers based on the CO2 output – an emission not counted under the Euro 6 mandate – of the vehicles they sell.
Such a move by Nissan is not forecast to impact the Patrol’s performance or off-road capability, but would see its payload – the maximum mass of passengers, cargo and accessories a vehicle is legally allowed to carry – reduced.
It would be a drop of as little as 5kg for the Ti and Ti-L, to no more than 811kg for the former, and 750kg for the latter, based on tare mass.
But the Warrior is set to lose more – at least 120kg, to no more than 690kg – after its payload, boosted to offset its higher weight, was a selling point for the vehicle on its introduction nearly two years ago.
If Nissan elects to reduce the payload, the change would apply to vehicles ‘complied’ for sale in Australia from November 1, a process that occurs shortly before, or just as a car arrives on docks locally.
Examples in dealer stock that were ‘complied’ before close of business on October 31 can be sold as-is after that date.
Nissan declined to confirm what changes it will make when questioned by Drive on how the Patrol would continue to be built and sold.
“The Nissan Patrol and Patrol Warrior will continue to be imported and second-stage manufactured after this date [November 1],” a Nissan Australia spokesperson told Drive.
They confirmed it will also remain in production in Japan for Australia from November.
Second-stage manufacturing refers to the process a Patrol undergoes through engineering partner Premcar – the firm formerly behind Ford Performance Vehicles – to become a Warrior.
“As with all our range, Nissan Australia complies with all applicable ADRs,” the spokesperson said.
Asked if the Patrol's V8 will be upgraded to Euro 6 compliance, a spokesperson said: "Whilst we don’t comment on future product plans, the Patrol and Patrol Warrior will always meet the applicable ADRs."
And when asked how it will be compliant with the emissions mandate if it remains Euro 5 compliant, the spokesperson said: "We don’t comment on future product plans."
The same answer was given when asked by Drive if Nissan has plans to reduce the gross vehicle mass of the Patrol.
Confusingly, Patrol Ti and Ti-L variants were long homologated as light vehicles – with gross vehicle masses of 3500kg neat – but the most recent Model Year 2025 update bumped them to 3505kg, months before the new rules.
There is no known Euro 6-compliant version of the V8 available globally. The Y62 Nissan Patrol was never sold in the European Union.
While the Patrol V8 may be able to survive the Euro 6 mandate, it will not help Nissan’s CO2 average under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).
From July 1, the rated CO2 emissions of every new vehicle a car company sells will be tracked, and fines calculated and issued if they do not meet strict targets – even those with a gross vehicle mass of more than 3500kg.
The V8 Patrol belches out 334 grams per kilometre of CO2 according to its official lab-tested rating, compared to a target of 216g/km for 2025.
It means that if the only vehicle Nissan sells in the second half of this year is a singular Patrol, it would face a fine of $11,600 from the Federal Government.
Car makers can balance out the sale of high-emitting vehicles with those that meet the targets – such as EVs and hybrids – but strong sales of the Patrol and its Navara ute means Nissan will be put under the pressure by the rules.
The regulations become stronger each year, so in 2027 – for any Y62 Patrol stock still around after the late 2026 or early 2027 arrival of the new Y63 – Nissan would face a per-vehicle fine to balance out of closer to $17,000.
Emissions data for the new Y63 Patrol in Australian testing is yet to be confirmed, but its new 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 has been developed to be more powerful, yet better for the environment than the 5.6-litre V8.
The Patrol's V8 is part of Nissan’s ‘VK’ family, introduced as a 4.5-litre in 2002, before a 5.6-litre version debuted in the US-market Nissan Titan pick-up in 2004, followed by a slightly different version for the Y62 Patrol overseas in 2010.
The next-generation Y63 Patrol will need to be Euro 6 compliant from the get-go, as newly-introduced heavy vehicles were required to meet ADR 80/04 standard from November 1, 2024.
Meanwhile, newly-introduced light vehicles will need to comply with an even stricter tailpipe standard – known as ADR 79/XX here, and based on Europe’s Euro 6d rules – from December 1, 2025.
It will not apply to existing light vehicle models until July 1, 2028, far more time to adapt than heavy vehicle manufacturers were afforded.
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
