No obstacles for Patrol

Don’t let his age fool you, veteran broadcaster David Bloomer is a young man at heart and his skill for driving is something that has to be seen to be believed.

To prove it members of the media were invited to the Bahrain International Circuit for a unique experience ... being chauffeur-driven around its off-road obstacle course by the Radio Bahrain personality in a Nissan Patrol.

Navigating around the obstacles is a challenging experience as anyone who has ever taken up the challenge will attest. I’ve even driven it once and gave a dismal performance on the parallel bars.

Cool and collected David, however, took the Patrol through its paces in a seamless display of skilful driving ... although, he did have some help from the SUV itself.

Dubbed ‘the hero of all terrain vehicles’, the Nissan Patrol boasts a 5.6-litre V8 engine that commands as much respect as the size of the vehicle itself.

Packed with a plethora of features, this is one beast made for off-roading. It comes with a Hydraulic Body Motion Control (HBMC) system which keeps the car flatter with less body roll during lane-changing and cornering, while delivering stability on rugged and sandy tracks.

The Patrol employs an ALL MODE 4x4 system which allows the driver to quickly switch between four drive modes: sand, on-road, snow and rock with the flick of a switch.
 
The new Hill Start Assist and Hill Descent Control functions also can be selected easily with the touch of a button for braking purposes on sloping road surfaces.

The off-road course at the BIC includes inclines and declines of 85 per cent, deep water obstacles, soft sand, uneven surfaces, tight turns and rocks Ö lots and lots of rocks.

David and the Patrol were unflinching, taking each obstacle in their stride. However, the fact that this model has front, rear and side cameras mean that there isn’t much of an excuse for error because you can see the challenges around you from every angle.

While taking the vertical drop incline David switched on the Hill Descent Control which automatically activated the breaks. It requires a lot of trust in a car to take your foot off the break while going down this drop but don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe ... David assured me.

The same thing happened as we went up a 65 degree climb that was so steep I swear I thought we were either going to take off or roll backwards ... fortunately, neither happened. We cruised to the top of the hill in comfort and style.
 
Next up was the Oasis obstacle which required a steep drop followed by a brief drive to what can only be described as a giant car see-saw. Again, David and the Patrol came out smiling.

The new Nissan Patrol is available for test drive at Y K Almoayyed & Sons showroom in Sitra. For more information, call 17732732.