Nissan’s Latch and Glide system allows third-row access if you’ve installed a child-safety seat in the second row. The third-row seatbacks recline - a rare bonus - but the Explorer and Durango have the comfiest third rows.
Third-row headroom, by contrast, is good. With 5.5 inches of second-row seat travel, either row can enjoy room aplenty if the other one gets very little, so negotiate wisely. The second-row seats sit low to the floor, and adults in the second and third rows will have to work out a compromise for acceptable legroom. It is, however, competitive with its non-luxury ilk, if not as roomy as some of them. The Nissan Pathfinder’s cabin shows clear design similarities to its platform sibling, the Infiniti JX35, though the Nissan is expectedly less rich, with harder textures up front and less padding where backseat passengers rest their arms. Handling and ride composure in normal driving otherwise impressed, with good steering feedback on winding roads and a settled wheel at highway speeds. A Pilot and Highlander I drove the same day had better grip. The sidewalls protested even during modest high-speed curves. The same held true with two tire sizes on two trim levels: Bridgestone Dueler Sport P235/55R20s on a top-of-the-line Platinum and Continental Cross Contact LX P235/65R18s on the Pathfinder SL. Nissan says low-rolling-resistance all-season tires helped save a few tenths of a mile per gallon, but I found they surrendered grip too easily in tight corners. Unfortunately, that efficiency doesn’t come for free. Both figures edge out the major competition by 1 to 2 mpg, though one Explorer variant - front-drive with a turbocharged, four-cylinder EcoBoost engine (20/28 mpg) - has Nissan beat. The Nissan Pathfinder boasts an excellent EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 20/26 mpg city/highway (22 mpg combined) with front-wheel drive, and all-wheel-drive versions are rated 19/25 mpg (21 mpg combined). That’s atypical in a segment where weight gains are the norm even when SUVs move to more modern platforms (see the Dodge Durango or Ford Explorer). To that end, Nissan removed hundreds of pounds from the Pathfinder in its redesign - between 279 and 508 pounds, depending on V-6 trim. Nissan says buyers cared much more about fuel economy than towing. Fans of the old V-8 Pathfinder will find little comparison when it comes to passing power or towing capacity, the latter of which drops from 7,000 pounds to a more crossover-competitive 5,000 pounds. Still, once the V-6 kicks up to higher revs the Pathfinder moves out, though not as stoutly as a V-6 Toyota Highlander or Chevrolet Traverse. The duo provided enough oomph for rapid elevation changes, but the so-called “next-gen” CVT’s penchant to hunker back into lower revs makes for some lag when you dig into the gas while passing. Nissan swapped the old Pathfinder’s truck-suited drivetrains - a 4.0-liter V-6 or 5.6-liter V-8, each with a five-speed automatic - for its familiar 3.5-liter V-6 and continuously variable automatic transmission. Fog lights are optional on the S and SV and standard on higher trims. It’s more of a statement than the bulbous tail, whose blocky window spoiler and generic taillights don’t make much of an impression.Įighteen-inch alloy wheels are standard, with 20-inchers installed on the Platinum.
But the face borrows more from Nissan’s truck-based Xterra and Armada than from its car-based Rogue and Murano. Where Honda doubled down on blocky SUV styling with its second-generation Pilot, the Pathfinder looks more like a tall wagon, with overall height - 69.6 inches - on the shorter end of the competitive set. Compare them here, or stack up the 20 Pathfinder here. Trim levels include the S, SV, SL and Platinum each can have front- or four-wheel drive. The 2013 Nissan Pathfinder boasts handsome styling and a decent, if imperfect, compromise between drivability and fuel efficiency.Ĭertain trim levels have subpar tech features, but the Pathfinder has a few strengths that should get the attention of family shoppers. Nissan’s solution: Re-imagine the aging Pathfinder - historically a truck-based SUV, most recently with combined EPA city/highway mileage ratings as low as 14 mpg - into something that competes squarely with the Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander. Every major automaker except Volkswagen now offers one, and that may soon change (see the post). Through September, three-row midsize and large crossovers have edged north of 660,000 sales. Nissan admits that it’s among the last automakers to offer a crossover with three rows of seats, something Honda and Toyota have peddled since the early 2000s.
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