{"id":27614,"date":"2021-07-10T16:24:37","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T20:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=27614"},"modified":"2021-07-10T16:24:37","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T20:24:37","slug":"payne-nissan-pathfinder-finds-its-groove-as-3-row-family-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/payne-nissan-pathfinder-finds-its-groove-as-3-row-family-value","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Nissan Pathfinder finds its groove as 3-row family value"},"content":{"rendered":"

The three-row SUV space is a\u00a0Fleming\u2019s steakhouse on wheels with all kinds of delicious red meat on the menu. There\u2019s the regal\u00a0off-roadin\u2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee L. The rockin\u2019\u00a0twin-turbo V-6 Ford Explorer. The gorgeous\u00a0why-would-you-spend-20-grand-more-for-an Audi-Q7 Mazda CX-9.<\/p>\n

But the midsize ute that has wowed everyone is the Kia Telluride. A filet mignon platter with a Big Mac price. With looks, tech\u00a0and value, it undercuts segment stalwarts by $5,000.<\/p>\n

Challenge accepted. Here comes segment stalwart Nissan Pathfinder with its own value steak meal.<\/p>\n

\"6'5"<\/p>\n
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Pathfinder has been a segment regular going on five generations now. The original Pathfinder even predates Explorer. But sales have tailed off in recent years as the competition intensified and the Nissan grew long in the tooth. Interestingly, the all-new\u00a02022 Pathfinder eschews Nissan\u2019s usual visual sizzle for meat and potatoes.<\/p>\n

Walking up to the big ute in Holly, Michigan, for a test drive, I found Pathfinder surprisingly simple. No floating roof. No plunging\u00a0full-fascia\u00a0V-motion grille. No whoop-de-do front fender swoops. No hybrid drivetrain. Like the all-new\u00a0compact Rogue SUV also introduced this year, Pathfinder\u2019s design is simple. Muscular. Timeless.<\/p>\n

Pathfinder saves the sizzle for the stuff that really matters to families shopping in the midsize space: seats, towing capacity\u00a0and room room room.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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At 6\u20195\u201d tall, I could sit behind myself in the third row sitting behind myself in the second row. Heck, even Nissan\u2019s 6\u201910\u201d product planner, Andrew Molnar, could fold himself into the third seat without having to take his head off. Ah, the advantages of not succumbing to the SUV \u201cswept coupe-roof\u201d trend.<\/p>\n

Of course, most families don\u2019t have kids the size of Kevin Durant. so the third-row seat space is a delight. Get the volume SV or SL trims and you can option a panoramic sunroof to bathe them in sunlight, too. Most important is third-row seat access \u2014 particularly when mom has popped out two more young \u2019uns (twins?) since their first two children were born.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right\u00a0rug rats, mom and dad want to put the child seats in the second row for easy access. Which means you\u2019re headed to the third row if you\u2019re age 6-plus. No problem.<\/p>\n

Nissan engineers must be consulting 6-year-olds\u00a0because they have made the second-to-third-row transition a wonder. Let\u2019s pause briefly to give props to Honda here since they were the first to engineer one-button\u00a0third-row seat access in their own Pilot three-rower.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n
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Pathfinder goes further.<\/p>\n

First off, the rear doors open wide \u2014 almost 90 degrees \u2014 for easy access. Then press a single button on the second-row seat, with child seats in place, and\u00a0\u2014 WHUMP! \u2014 the entire seat\u00a0jumps forward, opening an easy path to the third row. This jujitsu maneuver is unworkable on other brands (the clever Grand Cherokee L excepted) since the child seats prevent\u00a0the seats from collapsing forward.<\/p>\n

Exiting the rear coach seats is just as easy, thanks to another single button in the back of the second-row seats. Take a bow, engineers.<\/p>\n

Aft of the third row is plenty of cargo space, including a bonus sub-trunk for additional room. The second-row captain\u2019s chair operation also features a removable center console. Get the standard bench seat and you can string three child seats across the middle row (triplets?).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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The front seats are similarly spacious with best-in-class room. Console storage is enormous thanks, in part, to Nissan\u2019s compact \u201cchicklet\u201d shifter (also found in Rogue). Like the rear cargo area, there\u2019s a sub-cubby with space for little-used items \u2014 or purses that you want to keep out of public view.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s even storage above the glove box.<\/p>\n

Anchored by a tablet-sized screen, the interior is horizontally laid out with easy-to-use knobs and menus. The screen is a bit slow to respond to commands, but it\u2019s hard to be mad since Nissan makes wireless Apple CarPlay standard. Mrs. Payne adores this \u2014 and it\u2019s a feature coming into mainstream vehicles as quickly as luxury barges (why are we paying $20,000\u00a0more for luxe again?). I only lament that wireless Android Auto is not also available since, um, that\u2019s my phone.<\/p>\n

\"Driver's<\/p>\n
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True to its badge, the Nissan will competently negotiate off-road paths (AWD gives you plenty of modes to choose from). But for all its girth, the Pathfinder was surprisingly easy to drive over Hell, Michigan\u2019s writhing asphalt roads. Credit engineers again for crafting the Pathfinder\u2019s doors out of aluminum so the big, tech-laden beast gained no weight over the outgoing model.<\/p>\n

Credit, too, the good ol\u2019 V-6 engine under the hood (Telluride is similarly powered). Yeah, I know, Wall Street investors go\u00a0into a swoon whenever auto companies mention batteries these days, but range-limited EVs are impractical for trip-minded families and hybrids present packaging problems.<\/p>\n

Meat-and-potatoes Pathfinder is all about space, and the 284-horse V-6 allows excellent towing capability of 6,000 pounds \u2014 the weight of your average RV when mom and dad want to haul the family to Yellowstone for a well-deserved camping trip after being cooped up at home with COVID for the last 10 years (really? Just 15 months? Seemed longer).<\/p>\n

\"Ol'<\/p>\n
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The snarl of a V-6 merging onto the highway is also my kind of music.<\/p>\n

Music is the universal language, and so is value. My $45,000\u00a0SL tester came loaded with auto emergency rear braking (a must with big vessels like this), blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise control\u00a0and lane-keep assist. And it came in at the same price as a comparably equipped Kia Telluride, a rare feat for anyone in this class.<\/p>\n