The Nissan Patrol with a difference

Armada Mountain Patrol takes off-roading to new heights.

Meet the Nissan Patrol with a penchant for ruggedness.

Nissan has unveiled a beefed-up, rock-hopping version of its Nissan Armada in the US, otherwise known in Australia and other markets as the Nissan Patrol.

The Armada ‘Mountain Patrol’ overlanding concept was shown off at the Overland Expo West in Arizona in the US overnight.

In essence, the concept takes the standard Patrol and goes town with off-roading gear, all designed to make exploration a little easier.

To get things started, Nissan added a roof-mounted tent, heavy-duty coil-over suspension, extended A-arms and 17-inch Icon Rebound wheels wrapped in 35-inch Nitto Ridge Grapplers rubber.

While they were at it they added rock sliders, a tailgate-mounted spare tyre, heavy-duty steel bumpers, a roof-mounted LED light bar, bumper-mounted fog-lights and wheel-arch lighting.

While the large SUV’s 5.6-litre naturally-aspirated V8 remains untouched, with 298kW and 560Nm sent to all four wheels via a seven-speed transmission, sound is turned up via a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust system.

“For those family adventure fans who aren’t familiar with the term ‘overlanding’, all they need to do is look at the Armada Mountain Patrol to understand that this is not ‘glamping’, not a day trip to the local forest – it’s adventure taken to new heights,” said Brandon White, director of Nissan’s US arm.

“One thing true off-road enthusiasts understand about the Armada Mountain Patrol is its authentic adventure heritage. Every 2018 Armada is inspired by the global Patrol – a vehicle with over five decades of off-roading credibility.

“For that reason, only minimal modifications were made to the factory Armada drivetrain.”

This isn’t the first time Nissan North America has tinkered with the Armada. You might remember the Armada Snow Patrol concept shown earlier this year.

The Armada concept isn’t likely to have any real ramifications for the Aussie-spec Patrol, but with a decent budget, it does show you what’s possible.