The Nissan Patrol was first presented in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. The Patrol’s all-new exterior design is less rugged and more upscale. It is a much more luxurious place to be with the company saying that since most customers spend less than 15% of the time off-road, it wanted to create “a better, higher quality interior for the whole family.

The Nissan Patrol has a more premium design with generous amounts of leather, polished aluminum and wood grain paneling as well as a bevy of luxury features such as a new multi-screen DVD entertainment system with two rear-facing 7-inch screens embedded into each front seat headrest. It has improved passenger space suggesting over 100mm more legroom for second row passengers, and a roomier third row of seats as well.

The new Patrol is built on a new platform and is suggested with a new and more powerful 5.6-litre V8 engine that replaces the previous model’s 4.8-liter V8. The new V8 produces 400hp and 550Nm of torque. Nissan did not bring out any details on any other future powerplant offerings for the Patrol.

The 5.6-liter V8 engine is connected to a new 7-speed automatic transmission and an upgraded 4WD system that incorporates a variable 4×4 mode package allowing the driver to quickly switch between four drive modes: sand, on-road, snow and rock.

The 2011 Patrol has a new suspension setup that now uses 4-wheel independent suspension, upgraded from the previous rigid axle setup, while Nissan also equipped the SUV with a Hydraulic Body Motion Control System (HBMC), which is said to reduce body roll during lane-changing and cornering.