Nissan tried to distinguish the Pathfinder with some nifty family-friendly features like a second-row center console a parent can remove with one hand from the driver's seat and second-row seats that slide and fold with a child seat (but not a child) fixed in place for easy third-row access. That capacity doesn’t put it in the top 10 SUVs for towing, but it does exceed most modern crossovers. The Pathfinder also can tow up to 6,000 pounds. Like most modern crossovers, the Pathfinder handles going up and down hills and over relatively manicured dirt with aplomb. We did travel to Holly Oaks ORV park north of Detroit for some off-roading, although the route Nissan took us on studiously avoided sticky situations that would have required articulation or water-fording. Like most vehicles in its class, the Pathfinder is happiest on straight roads and not being pushed very hard - exactly the conditions it will face with most American families.
![pathfinder nissan pathfinder nissan](https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/WOvXO/s1/new-nissan-pathfinder-unofficial-rendering-rear.jpg)
The Pathfinder's ride is smooth and quiet the steering is heavier than the previous generation, and the body control is tighter, though neither change is truly dramatic.įew will miss the droning from the CVT, even if the nine-speed transmission Nissan opted for isn't terrific. It’s hard to pick out one standout feature, or anything it does poorly.
#Pathfinder nissan full#
Nissan’s drive route offered us the full gamut of warm weather Metro Detroit traffic situations, with the orange construction barrels in full bloom. I'm here to inform you that it is an emphatically acceptable vehicle and a perfectly good option.in a three-row crossover segment crowded with them. Nissan let me sample the new Pathfinder with other media members for a day in Metro Detroit. Someone - possibly affiliated with Nissan - even altered the Pathfinder Wikipedia page to reassert its non-crossover status. Nissan describes the Pathfinder as having four-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive. Nissan kept the unibody architecture, but it's framing the Pathfinder as a rugged SUV - perhaps a nod to American Nissan dealers pining for one. But this time, it's more about branding and semantics. Now in the 2020s, we're in for yet another reinvention. In the 2010s, Nissan switched the Pathfinder back to a unibody crossover, this time without the Pathfinder's distinctive C-pillar door handles. In the 2000s, it went back to rugged and body-on-frame. In the 1990s, Nissan converted the Pathfinder to a unibody architecture.
![pathfinder nissan pathfinder nissan](https://bestride.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2017-Nissan-Pathfinder-Front.jpg)
The name resonates with buyers: the original Pathfinder body-on-frame off-roader from 1985 rivaled the likes of the Toyota 4Runner, and the make has been a staple of Nissan dealerships ever since.īut Nissan has found it challenging to - excuse the wordplay - find a path for the Pathfinder since the '80s. It may be calendar year 2021, but for carmakers, it's model year 2022 - and for Nissan, that means the Pathfinder is all-new.