Chris Forsberg has a healthy habit of unveiling top-notch machinery in the halls of SEMA. The three-time Formula Drift champion has long had a strong relationship with Nissan, and his excellent custom builds reflect that—spanning everything from old sports cars to modern trucks. This year, Forsberg created a custom Nissan Patrol, and it’s packing tremendous power under the hood.
The Patrol has been Nissan’s off-road adventure rig for decades, with fans across Australia, the Middle East, and anywhere with wide-open, off-pavement playgrounds. In the States, we finally get a taste of the real Patrol—we just call it the Armada. Still, those older generations are boxy, brilliant brutes. Forsberg’s build starts with a fourth-generation Patrol chassis, pairs it with the engine from a fifth-gen example, and then goes appropriately off the rails from there.
Forsberg’s Racing Patrol draws power from a TB48 inline-six. It’s a big, 4.8-liter mill that normally makes nearly 250 horsepower; here, Forsberg boosted and tuned it to deliver 1,000 hp. That leap comes thanks to a Garrett G42-1200 turbocharger—Garrett rates it for up to 1,200 hp and a max turbine speed of 118,000 rpm. A Link Fury ECU handles engine management, a Hypertune billet intake manifold feeds the air, and an ACT dual-plate clutch works overtime to send power through the manual gearbox to the ground.
If you’re throwing around that much oomph, proper seats matter. Recaro Sportster buckets should keep Chris in check.
The curb appeal is dialed, too. Credit the livery design, lighting upgrades, and wheel-and-tire package. Black overfenders flow into a blacked-out grille, a sharp contrast to the Mobil 1 red, white, and blue. Up front, a quartet of Nismo Off-Road driving and flood lights teams with Holley RetroBright headlights—exactly what you want when you plan to go fast at night.
The wheels are custom 17-inch Nismo rollers wrapped in 35-inch Yokohama Geolandars. Nismo describes the suspension as a custom, "off-road-inspired" setup; they mention remote reservoirs but don’t offer much else. I’d love a better look underneath.
Regardless, the stance is excellent, the power is prodigious, and the build looks fantastic. I suspect it’s both a bear and a beauty to drive. I’ve driven and ridden in some of Chris’s past builds—like his Gold Leader Datsun 280Z and La Flamma Blanca Infiniti M56 drift sedan—and each was magnificent for different reasons. This Racing Patrol, though, just became my favorite of the bunch.
An old SUV with 1,000 hp? Sounds dangerous and dumb… I love it.
Gallery: Forsberg Racing Nissan Patrol
