The superbly turned-out Y62 Nissan Patrol pictured here and on the cover of our February 2026 issue of the magazine reminded me of how much I’ve enjoyed driving the V8 Patrol over its long tenure in Australia. 

We know this will be the last year of the Y62 and its glorious VK56 V8 engine, as it will be replaced by the Y63 Patrol with a turbocharged V6 petrol later this year. That vehicle has been on sale in left-hand-drive markets for more than a year already, and there’s no doubt the V6 will be a superb engine that will not only outperform the standard VK56 but be more refined and efficient. 

It will, however, be missing that one key characteristic of the V8 that most red-blooded Australians love. There’s no replacing the sound of a V8 engine, and the VK56 has one of the sweetest-sounding growls ever to come out of a 4×4 vehicle – particularly when backed by a free-flowing aftermarket exhaust system, or even the bi-modal side-exiting system that Premcar fitted to the Patrol Warrior. It’s pure delight.

And it’s not just aural delight. The Y62 is no lightweight wagon and the VK56 does a stellar job of propelling the big Nissan across plains and tracks. Cap the engine with a Harrop supercharger kit and you have a real on- and off-road weapon!

In this age of EVs and hybrid powertrains, V8 engines are rapidly going out of fashion. We’ve lost them from Toyota, and soon Nissan. It seems the Chevrolet Silverado will be the last salvation for lovers of a bent-eight-powered 4×4. Ford has announced in the USA that it will stick with the V8 in its vehicles for as long as possible, but for Ford Australia this only relates to the Mustang, as the F-150 offered here only comes with a V6 engine. If you have the budget to afford a Mercedes-AMG G 63, then good luck to you!

Interestingly, there is hope from a manufacturer many wouldn’t expect a V8 from. GWM confirmed last year it was working on a V8 engine with a pair of turbochargers attached, which will be interesting to see if it makes it to Australia. Of all the automotive brands coming out of China, GWM has been the most successful in Australia, and its 4×4 offerings are getting better all the time. 

The prospect of driving a V8-powered Tank 500 or Cannon Alpha sometime in the future gives a glimmer of hope that the V8 will live on.

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