Here’s a Nissan Paladin 20th Anniversary Edition, seen in southern Beijing earlier this year. The Pearl White SUV looked fantastic, fitted with cool stickers and sporty five-spoke alloy wheels. It is a special edition to celebrate China’s entry into the famous Dakar race. It also has a Mitsubishi engine. Let’s find out more.
About Zhengzhou-Nissan
The manufacturer of the Paladin is Zhengzhou Nissan (éå·ę„äŗ§), a Chinese-Japanese joint venture established in March 1993 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. It was Nissan’s first vehicle manufacturing joint venture in China, predating the much larger Dongfeng-Nissan operation. Today, Zhengzhou Nissan is part of the Dongfeng-Nissan corporate structure, but it operates as a separate vehicle manufacturer with its own product range and brand strategy.Ā Zhengzhou Nissan specializes in pickups, body-on-frame SUVs, and light commercial vehicles. It manufactures vehicles under both Nissan and Dongfeng brands, including the Nissan Navara and Frontier Pro, and the Dongfeng Rich and Z9 pickups.
The current Zhengzhou-Nissan Paladin debuted in 2023. TheĀ Chinese name is åøęäø (Palading), a phonetic rendering of Paladin. It is essentially a rebadged and updated Nissan Terra, a body-on-frame SUV developed from the Nissan Navara pickup platform. The most interesting part is that Zhengzhou Nissan replaced the original Nissan powertrain with a locally-made Mitsubishi engine and a ZF automatic transmission.
Although Zhengzhou Nissan manufactures the vehicle, the 2023 Paladin does not carry Nissan badges. Instead, it uses its own Paladin emblem and is associated with Dongfeng’s off-road vehicle business, rather than with Nissan’s. This separates it from the Nissan-branded Terra it replaced. According to Zhengzhou Nissan, the logo combines two elements from traditional Chinese culture:
- Kaoqi (é ę): Decorative flags worn on the backs of military generals in traditional Chinese opera, particularly Peking opera. They symbolize bravery and martial prowess.
- Dragon’s head (é¾å¤“): The emblem is also intended to resemble a stylized dragon’s head, representing Chinese cultural identity, strength, and confidence.
This kind of complicated multiple-meaning logo explanation is quite common in China.
The Nissan Paladin 20th Anniversary Edition
Nissan launched the Paladin 20th Anniversary Edition in 2024. It celebrates 20 years since the Paladin’s participation in the Dakar Rally.
That event, in 2004, marked the first time a Chinese brand participated in the grueling race. The Zhengzhou Nissan Paladin team finished 57th overall in the car category.
Zhengzhou-Nissan celebrated the occasion by commissioning a beautiful and super detailed 1:18 model of the Dakar race car, which I have in my collection.
The anniversary came with substantial factory-fitted off-road upgrades, including Tein nitrogen shock absorbers with 16-stage adjustable damping, specifically developed and factory-tuned for this model. All-terrain Giti AT70 tires and wider, more aggressive wheels. One-piece manganese-steel underbody protection. A factory tow hook with an approved towing capacity of 2,000 kg. A roof rack. Cool 20th-anniversary side graphics, decals on the doors, running boards, and…
… a factory-installed snorkel for improved water-crossing capability.
The interior
Tissue box alarm!
The Nissan Paladin 20th Anniversary Edition didn’t receive any interior upgrades. But that was hardly necessary. Look at this cabin! Much more luxury and tech compared to similar Nissan SUVs sold elsewhere in the world. It has real leather seats, leather trim on the doors and dash-top, and fancy wood trim.
It features a 7-inch driver’s display and a 12-inch touch screen. There are only a few buttons in the entire car, all on the center console. The rest of the interactions runs via the screen and via voice command.
Tissue box alarm! The Paladin sports a long wheelbase, so there’s plenty of room in the back. The floor mats are an aftermarket accessory.
Specifications of the Nissan Paladin 20th Anniversary Edition
The 2023 Zhengzhou Nissan Paladin uses a Mitsubishi 4K31TD 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine instead of the Nissan QR25 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine fitted to its predecessor, the Nissan Terra. The manufacturer is Shenyang Mitsubishi, an engine-making joint venture that supplies engines to numerous Chinese automakers.
It is unclear why Zhengzhou Nissan chose a Mitsubishi engine instead of a Nissan unit. After all, Dongfeng-Nissan had been producing a wide range of Nissan engines in China for years. According to contemporary reports, Zhengzhou Nissan wanted a more powerful engine, and the Mitsubishi unit offered considerably more power and torque than the old Nissan QR25. The choice wasn’t entirely surprising, however, considering that Nissan and Mitsubishi were both members of the larger Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
The motor delivers 228 hp and 360 Nm, good for a 160 km/h top speed and a 0-100 accelaration inĀ 10.68 seconds exactly. Chinese car makers are always very precise about that. It was a little thirsty, however, drinking 9.4 liters of fuel every 100 kilometers. Happily, it has a 73-liter fuel tank. Nissan mated the motor to an 8-speed auomatic, sending horsepower to all four wheels. It is based on a body-on-frame chassis. The 4×4 system comes with front and rear differential locks. Off-road specs: approach and departure angles: 33 and 30 degrees. The max breakover angle is 28 degrees, the maximum gradeability is 30%, and the maximum wading depth is 800 mm.
Price in China
In 2024, the Nissan Paladin 20th Anniversary Edition sold for 211.800 yuan, or approximately $29.400 using 2024 exchange rates. That’s not cheap for China, but comparable cars, like the FAW-Toyota Land Cruiser Prado or the Tank 700, sell for similar prices. It seems, however, that the Paladin is worth it – for the stickers alone.
