But now everything has been explored, there are no more trails to blaze, and Nissan has, apparently, found all the paths. The name remains, but the new Pathfinder is no rugged adventure junkie. Now it’s a carlike, three-row, seven-seat, unibody crossover with the inevitable VQ-series 3.5-liter V-6 transversely mounted under its hood. Coming off the same Tennessee assembly lines that screw together the Infiniti JX35, it’s essentially a Nissan-branded version of?that machine, but with its own sheetmetal. It’s perfectly suited to buyers for whom adventure is getting lunch one day a week at Jersey Mike’s instead of Subway.The new Pathfinder rides on the same 114.2-inch wheelbase as the JX35 but stretches 0.8-inch longer overall at 197.2 inches. It’s the same width as the JX35, but has a higher step-in height and stands 1.8 inches taller. The VQ35DE V-6 in the Pathfinder is rated at 260 horsepower burning regular while Infiniti asserts that the same engine in the JX35 makes 265 horsepower on the higher-octane swill—apparently because Infiniti owners can afford premium fuel. Both run a continuously variable transmission that we loathe.
Nissan offers a choice of front- or four-wheel drive. On 4x4 models, the driver can select front-drive for maximum economy; automatic operation, which monitors conditions and feeds torque to all four wheels when necessary; or four-wheel-drive lock for those moments when the driver is in WTF mode and wants to rip apart the bumper covers by going off-road.
Models range from the galley rowers’ S and the steerage SV to the comfortable SL and the hyperglitzy Platinum. Our Pathfinder was a front-wheel-drive Platinum model full of cameras that look out every which way, sonar technologies that kept us from hitting our Siberian Husky when backing up, and a perfectly okay navigation system. Of all the technological elements aboard, the most impressive is the “Around View Monitor” system of four cameras that generates a mosaic overhead view of everything immediately surrounding the Pathfinder when backing up and parking.With eight cup holders and six bottle pockets in various parts of?the interior, every occupant can be fully irrigated.
While 18-inch wheels are standard on lesser models, the Platinum has 20-inchers wrapped by 235/55R-20 all-season tires. Converse All Stars have more aggressive treads.
What the new Pathfinder has going for it is what feels like acres of room. The front seats are kingly and are both heated and cooled on Platinum versions. The second row is versatile, and the right-side seat can be folded forward for third-row access even when a child carrier is installed. The third-row seats fold flat in a 50/50 split. As long as the kids are banished to the rearmost accommodations, this machine can transport seven in true comfort. And everything is well upholstered and attractively decorated—like the nicest Courtyard by Marriott ever.
The speed-sensitive power steering is so dead and heavy that the driver feels like a pallbearer at Luciano Pavarotti’s funeral. On-road ride motions, however, are controlled and always comfortable. The front-suspension struts isolate road divots nicely, but the rear multilink suspension allows the tires to tram along road features such as drainage grooves cut into the concrete of Southern California freeways.
When the first Pathfinder went on sale as a 1986 model, it wasn’t much more than a Hardbody pickup with a really bitchin’ shell and an endearing, boisterous character. Yes, demand for heavy SUVs dropped so fast it bent their skid plates even as buyers flocked to crossovers. Competent as it is, though, the new Pathfinder could stand more of?the original’s spirit. Here’s hoping that appears in the form of a Pathfinder CrossCabriolet.
