Needless to say, the popularity of Sport Utility Vehicles are at an all-time high, with almost all major car manufacturers offering one in their model lineup. Even sports carmakers such as Porsche, Lamborghini and Aston Martin have their very own super SUVs. Not to mention, the high-riders have quickly become their bestsellers.

However, despite their growing number, not a lot of SUVs nowadays are considered to be true off-roaders, particularly the kind with a low-range 4x4 drivetrain, and of course, bodies that are built to withstand abuse from the beaten path. While most SUVs today have gone soft, the Nissan Patrol has stayed true to its old school off-road SUV roots, and here are the reasons why it's such an awesome machine.

8 Old School

In highly urbanized countries, you'd probably not see a lot of Nissan Patrols plying the streets and motorways. However, in the Middle East, this big SUV is just as common as a Toyota RAV4 in the United States.

It's because in those countries, a dependable, and go-anywhere SUV is a requirement, something that the Nissan Patrol has built that reputation over the years. The old-school ruggedness of the Patrol could be compared to the likes of the Toyota Land Cruiser, and even the Land Rover Defender.

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7 5.6-Liter V8

There's this thing called performance SUVs, such as the Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Macan, that has engines that produce in excess of 400 horsepower to give that sports car-like speed and performance.

However, in the Nissan Patrol's case, the 5.6-liter V8 may be producing 400 hp and 410 ft-lb of torque, but it is delivered in a rather old-school way. The low-end grunt would let the big SUV pick up speeds easily, and waft along the motorway quietly.

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6 Full-Time 4WD

Like what we said earlier, the Nissan Patrol is a true old-school off-roader, and its full-time four-wheel-drive harnesses each of the big V8 engine's 400 hp to transfer it to the road via the 7-speed automatic transmission.

There's a Low range that doubles the engine's torque in tough terrain, and when faced with a sticky situation, there's a standard locking rear differential that would give the Patrol all the traction it needs to power through loose ground.

RELATED : Can The Nissan Patrol NISMO Beat The Toyota Sequoia?

5 Vehicle Dynamic Control

Similar to the Land Rover's Terrain Response System, the Nissan Patrol is loaded with plenty of off-road tech that takes care of the four-wheel-drive system's settings and adjusts accordingly to the terrain.

There's a mode for On Road, Snow, Sand, and Rock to adjust the Patrol's traction settings, and for emergency situations, the traction control can be turned totally off. Furthermore, it's equipped with Hill Start Assist and Hill Descent Control to aid the big SUV in maneuvering off-road.

4 Four-Wheel Independent Suspension

The latest Nissan Patrol is the first one to be equipped with a four-wheel independent suspension, as its predecessors have always came up with live axles in the front and rear. It might have caused quite a stir among the purists, but the ride difference on-road and off-road was night and day.

Nissan developed the HBMC, or the Hydraulic Body Motion Control technology that balances the Patrol's suspension for excellent on road driving performance and comfort, while at the same time enhancing the big SUV's off-road capability.

3 Luxurious Interior

Get inside the Patrol, and you're greeted with lots of leather and wood trim. The seats provide superb plushness and is more like a La-Z-Boy seat rather than a proper car seat.

For an interior designed in the 2010s, you can expect it to be a bit dated in terms of the layout and how the seats fold, but nevertheless, the Patrol has plenty of space inside to make it look like you're driving a luxury yacht on the road.

2 Around View Monitor

The Nissan Patrol is a huge SUV that's standing at almost 17 feet long and more than 6 feet wide. With that being said, the Patrol has a surprisingly good turning radius and plenty of driving assists to maneuver the gargantuan 4x4 around tight streets and parking spaces.

One feature that helps a lot when driving the Patrol around town is a 360-degree surround view monitor, that gives the driver a bird's eye view of what's happening around the big SUV.

1 Patrol NISMO

To make things a bit sportier, Nissan took the Patrol and gave it the NISMO treatment. It received a unique wraparound body kit with the signature red details of Nismo, and even has a roof-mounted spoiler to go along with 22-inch forged alloy wheels.

Furthermore, NISMO's Takumi craftsmen reworked the engine to produce 28 hp more than the standard Patrol, while the suspension has been redesigned for better cornering performance and was upgraded with Bilstein shock absorbers. Sadly, though, the Patrol NISMO is only available exclusively to Middle East countries.