2013 Pathfinder review

[dmuramoto]

Here in Colorado, we've been "enjoying" wet and sloppy April weather. But when the opportunity came to test drive the new Pathfinder, it brightened the day considerably! As most NICO members know, Nissan engineers reworked the old body-on-frame model into a unibody version for this totally refreshed model. It certainly feels like it as well, with a revised body and nicely laid out interior that reminds me of the Infiniti JX35 (soon to be QX60) crossover. Both models are built in Smyrna, Tennessee and share many design features. It's BIG inside too, with room for seven in three row seating.

This Pathfinder mates a 260-hp, 240 lb-ft tq VQ35DE with a CVT and it really moves out easily. Merging onto a snowy Boulder turnpike at night was easy as the FWD Pathy feels like a lighter car at speed. One area to note is this new Pathfinder is tuned for regular unleaded, with mileage improving over the outgoing model, to 20 mpg city and 26 mpg highway for the FWD model. NVH is well-controlled and the steering is light, but I wish Nissan had dialed in a bit more feel for such a large vehicle.

Looking at the rear, there's a nicely integrated class III hitch and trailer hookup for this Pathfinder. With an overall towing capacity of 5K pounds, this Pathfinder would actually be a candidate to haul my racecar if I still used an open trailer. But that addition is still progress for the CVT and adds another dimension to the new Pathy for a larger group on consumers. And while this new Pathfinder sacrifices some off-road capability, it's probably expanded its overall appeal- an important factor when you realize how big a seller this model is to the general public.

[kerrton]

Good review, thank you!!

I've been following the release of the redesigned Pathfinder closely, as I'm going to be looking at replacing my 08 Rogue in the next couple years with a 3-row crossover. I have been following the discussion at Pathfindertalk.com, some early issues with CVT vibrations and brake calipers, but overalll a lot of happy owners that I'd like to work on recruiting in to this forum! If we can set up a sub-section for the redesigned Pat, it would probably make existing members a little happier not to have to see anything to do with the new unibody crossover, and it would help 2013+ owners focus on just issues related to their model.

Looking forward to recruiting new Pathfinder owners and getting to know the 2013+ model in much more detail!

By the way I haven't test driven it yet because I'm trying to avoid catching the buyers fever (although I did sit in it in the showroom while waiting for my Rogue, very nice interior, the 3rd row has a decent amount of room)..... I need to get a couple more years of service out of my Rogue to make the numbers look more reasonable!!

[kerrton]

You know one bit of information that I'm trying to get my hands on is details of the AWD system beyond the basics that Nissan uses as selling points.... such as, does it have torque vectoring capability? How durable are the components, did they wimp out or is it more of what I hope to be a "bulletproof" design that can stand a little bit of punshiment?

Looking at the 5000 lb tow capacity I have to assume they've built those components to last and to stand up to serious abuse......