Best 7 Seater SUV in Saudi Arabia. A Deep Dive

If you want a 7-seater SUV in Saudi Arabia, there are a number of viable options at your disposal. There’s a wide variety of cars from different manufacturers to pick from, situated across segments and varying price points. While “the best” may be subjective, an ideal 7-seater SUV should meet a few requirements.

It must be practical, reliable, spacious, comfortable, and safe. Ideally, it should also offer good performance and a strong set of features. If the chosen car has a modern and noticeable design, that would be a bonus! This is where the all-new Nissan Patrol 2025 comes into its own, almost achieving “the best” status.

Variants & Price

The all-new Nissan Patrol 2025 is represented by eight variants in Saudi Arabia. The first lot consists of the Patrol 3.8L V6 and the following variants:

• XE – SAR 248,999
• SE T2 – SAR 266,999
• SE Titanium – SAR 314,999
• SE Platinum City – SAR 334,999

 The second lot consists of the Patrol 3.5L V6 Twin Turbo and the following variants:

• LE-T1 – SAR 307,999
• LE-T2 – SAR 332,999
• LE Titanium – SAR 378,999
• LE Platinum City – SAR 419,999

 Exterior

The all-new Nissan Patrol 2025 arguably has the “modern” and “noticeable” portions of its exterior design bases covered. Its coolest styling cues include C-shaped LED running lights, a connected LED rear bar, and floating D-pillars with ‘PATROL’ lettering. Not to be outdone is Nissan’s reimagined V-Motion front grille, contrasting dual-tone paint schemes, and 22-inch alloy wheels.

The vertically-arranged headlights, tall & flat facias, plus brick-like sides with the flared fenders give the Patrol a formidable presence. The Nissan Patrol is large! It drives in with a length of 5,350 mm, width of 2,030 mm, and a height of 1,955 mm. Contributing to its largeness is a wheelbase of 3,075 mm. Oh, it also weighs 2.8 tons!

Select variants of the new Patrol have a maximum ground clearance of up to 253 mm. This affords them an approach angle of 32 degrees and a departure angle of 25.5 degrees. The maximum ramp breakover angle of the Patrol is 27 degrees and its maximum wading depth is 700 mm. The signature puddle lamps are a nice touch, too.

The Patrol’s popular colors are Pearl White, Radiant White, Mineral Black, Silver Metallic, Gray Metallic, and Radiant White with Super Black Roof. If you’d like to stand out from the rest, you may pick Forest Green or Grand Blue. All variants of the Nissan Patrol 2025 come with a 97-liter fuel tank.

Interior

Even the previous Nissan Patrol had a premium and well-appointed cabin. With the all-new Patrol, those attributes have been raised by a few notches. While it wears the bog-standard “Nissan” badge, the Patrol 2025’s interior might as well be from a high-end Infiniti. The ambiance here is undeniably luxurious and upmarket, with a sense of premium refinement and quality.

The comfort provided by the new Patrol’s quilted-leather seats can rival those from premium luxury brands. The Patrol can carry up to 8 people, though it’s best suited for carrying 7. Unlike many 7-seater SUVs, even the third row of the Patrol is usable for shorter adults. Even with all three rows in place, there’s a decent amount of luggage space.

The rear seats can be electrically folded or raised from the boot, and there’s an onboard air compressor here too. Aside from loads of charging outlets, second-row occupants get optional entertainment screens and a dedicated climate control panel. A massive panoramic sunroof lets in a good amount of light, with the 64-color ambient lighting system managing moods well.

There are individual climate control settings up front, plus ventilated & heated seats with a massaging function. The front seaters get a wireless charger, a large center storage box with a cooling unit, and two digital displays. The 14.3-inch touchscreen supports Android Auto & Apple CarPlay, and has built-in Google Maps – it can also be used to operate the third-row seats.

The all-new Nissan Patrol 2025 also comes with a 12-speaker Klipsch sound system, whose performance is hard to fault. The transmission is now controlled via buttons placed on the center console, which may not be the best interface imaginable. Speaking of buttons, Nissan has kept physical buttons in the all-new Patrol, which was a thoughtful decision.

Engine and performance

Buyers in Saudi Arabia have two petrol engines to pick from. The first is a 3.8-liter naturally-aspirated V6 with 316 hp and 386 Nm of torque. Those seeking better performance should pick the 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 with 425 hp and 700 Nm of torque. It should dispatch 0-100 kmph in under 6.5 seconds and, at full chatter, around 200 kmph.

The twin-turbo six-cylinder also claims lower fuel consumption, averaging 10.1 kmpl or 9.9 L/100 km. This is in contrast to the N/A six-cylinder’s average of 9.7 kmpl or 10.3 L/100 km. Both engines use a new 9-speed automatic transmission, working well both on-road and off-road. All Patrol variants have a full-time four-wheel drive system with Rock, Mud, and Sand modes.

The all-new Patrol’s suspension uses double wishbones at the front and coil springs at the rear. In higher variants, the rear springs are matched with new electrically-controlled shock absorbers. The top variant features adaptive air suspension with active ride-height management, which can be used to lower the car for easy ingress/egress. It also makes the Patrol go around corners better.

Safety

The all-new Nissan Patrol 2025 is equipped with ‘Invisible Hood View’ and 3D around-view monitoring. These combine multiple cameras and sensors to produce a detailed image of the surroundings, immensely helpful in a big car. Its other aids include a color head-up display, automatic headlights, tire-pressure monitoring, hill-start assist, hill-descent control, and vehicle stability control.

There’s adaptive cruise control, ISOFIX child-seat mounts, 7 airbags, a limited-slip differential, and ABS with EBD. The all-new Patrol also scores predictive forward-collision warning, blind-spot intervention, lane-departure mitigation, lane-keeping assist, plus front & rear emergency braking.

Conclusion

Of the “ideal” requirements mentioned earlier, the Nissan Patrol 2025 meets all of them. It’s pricey, but the all-new Patrol is easily amongst the best 7-seater SUVs in Saudi Arabia.