There is a particular moment in the American automotive life cycle when an SUV stops being an SUV and becomes something else entirely. You can see it in the parking lot. The tires are clean. The paint is immaculate. There is a child’s car seat in the second row, a soccer ball somewhere beneath the cargo floor and, almost certainly, a reusable shopping bag containing something from Whole Foods. The vehicle is no longer preparing to cross a mountain. It’s preparing to cross town.
The Nissan Pathfinder has lived through this transformation. Once, the name suggested a truck-shaped object intended for people who regarded mud as a feature rather than a stain. Then the Pathfinder abandoned much of that old-school SUV character for the increasingly suburban business of carrying families, groceries and 259 pounds of children’s sporting equipment.
So, What’s New?
Now Nissan has given it another makeover, and the message is unmistakable. Nothing radical has happened beneath the skin. The company has adjusted the presentation. The grille is new. The bumpers are new. The lighting is new. The wheels are new. Inside, there is a new 12.3-inch infotainment screen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a wireless charging pad with integrated cooling.
A Tried And True Powertrain
Beneath the new tailoring is a vehicle that has rather more mechanical substance than its suburban surroundings might suggest. The Pathfinder carries a 3.5-liter V6 making 284 horsepower and 259 pound-feet of torque, connected to a nine-speed automatic. Front-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is available. Choose AWD and the Pathfinder gains Sand and Mud/Rut modes in addition to Sport, Eco, Snow and Tow. Towing capacity rises from 3,500 pounds with front-wheel drive to a fairly serious 6,000 pounds with AWD.
The engine has enough muscle for ordinary American life, which is to say merging, passing, climbing highway grades and hauling the family toward somewhere with a gift shop. Put your foot down for an overtake, however, and the transmission can seem to require a moment of private consultation. Sport mode helps. It sharpens the throttle and adds weight to the steering, although it doesn’t cure the transmission’s leisurely shift logic. Thankfully, the paddles do. Take control yourself and the Pathfinder suddenly develops a faint whiff of mischief, as if the family accountant has loosened his tie.
On The Road
The steering remains light, but the body control is better than the vehicle’s bulk might suggest. Lean builds progressively rather than arriving as one great nautical event, giving the driver plenty of warning before the Pathfinder remembers that it is, in fact, a three-row SUV. It’s quiet, composed and comfortable. Road noise stays impressively subdued. The suspension is soft enough to absorb bumps without delivering them directly to your spine, and that softness becomes useful when the pavement disappears. Because the Pathfinder will leave the pavement. Whether it should is another question.
Yeah, But What About Off-Road?
On gravel and relatively civilized dirt roads, the Pathfinder is perfectly competent. The terrain modes give the driver something to do and the AWD system provides additional confidence. But this is not a machine itching to discover what lies beyond the next boulder. Its wide turning circle becomes particularly apparent away from pavement, where maneuvering can feel less like threading a trail and more like attempting to turn a ferry in a canal. That’s not a criticism. Most Pathfinders will spend considerably more time negotiating supermarket parking lots than mud ruts.
How Comfy Is It?
The seats are supportive, and the second row has enough room to keep full-size adults from resenting the children who have claimed the third row. The third row is tighter, naturally, but three normally proportioned adults can fit if they are sufficiently friendly. Getting back there is easier than in many three-row SUVs, and the second-row captain’s chairs are divided by a removable center console that can be lifted out with one hand.
Visibility is good until you look straight back. Then, headrests form a small upholstered barricade, at which point the rear camera becomes less of a convenience than a trusted colleague.
The Upshot
This is the Pathfinder’s peculiar achievement. It has learned how to look considerably more adventurous without becoming considerably more adventurous. It’s not the old Pathfinder. It isn’t pretending to be. Instead, it’s a reasonably comfortable, mechanically straightforward family SUV that has rediscovered some of the visual vocabulary of its past. The Pathfinder hasn’t returned to the wilderness. It’s merely learned how to dress for it.
