Nissan Pathfinder
Car and Driver
Tested: two thousand seventeen Nissan Pathfinder Platinum AWD
2017 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum AWD
- Nov 2016
- By ANNIE WHITE
- Photography By CHRIS DOANE AUTOMOTIVE
We can’t all be winners. The fortunate among us learn this lesson early, after coach-pitch strikeouts or unscored but obviously one-sided soccer games. Others—the mildly gifted or the cautiously insulated—come to the realization later in life, when it hurts more. It takes only one track-and-field meet to realize that there’s a lot of running that goes on after the gauze is violated, but little glory is meted out for the hammered, violated ones who cross the line with the victors already on the podium. Nissan doesn’t have a winner in the Pathfinder, but it’s a midpack contender in a stacked field.
The Pathfinder’s 284-hp V-6 engine underwent a thorough revamping for two thousand seventeen that shoves it a little further toward the front of the pack. Direct injection is fresh to the Trio.5-liter powerplant, as are redesigned pistons, a higher compression ratio, and variable intake-valve timing. Together, the revisions produce an extra twenty four horsepower and nineteen lb-ft of torque than were available in the two thousand sixteen Pathfinder. (We’d hoped for a fatter power bump, but let’s not look bounty horsepower in the mouth.) The revised engine was good for a 7.4-second run from zero to sixty mph. That’s just 0.1 2nd quicker than our test of a two thousand sixteen Pathfinder—and not fairly the 0.2-second improvement Nissan predicted when we got our very first drive of the fresh model in August.
The programming of the Pathfinder’s continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), which drew our ire in the aforementioned review of the pre-refresh model, has improved. It still remains near five thousand rpm under moderate-to-heavy acceleration but does so by imitating a traditional automatic, shifting from six thousand rpm back down to 4500, then repeating the cycle until the pedal is lifted. This avoids the inherent droning that lesser CVTs cause, while still making use of the Pathfinder’s high-end torque. CVTs supposedly improve fuel efficiency over traditional automatic transmissions, but the Pathfinder failed spectacularly on that score during our two-week test, recording just sixteen mpg despite an EPA combined rating of twenty one mpg. In fairness to the Pathfinder, about half of those miles were under unusually hard driving conditions. But with highway cruising and errands around town mixed in, the result is still remarkably low.
Exterior revisions to the Pathfinder are less evident, albeit Nissan claims that a reshaping of its nose has made the crossover look more “masculine.” On the inwards, the Pathfinder, or at least the Platinum version we tested, has the same high level of feature content that struck us last year. Our test car came standard with heated and cooled front seats, heated second-row seats, a heated steering wheel, and a panoramic sunroof. But even tho’ the dashboard and door panel fittings look plush at very first glance, closer inspection exposes them to be mostly cleverly molded hard-touch plastics with dashes of an unconvincing faux brazilwood. There’s better to be had in this segment and at this price—look to the Mazda CX-9 to see the heights mainstream-brand crossovers can reach.
Our real problems with the Pathfinder begin when the road gets twisty. The steering is feather light, reactions to inputs are slow, grip (measured on our skidpad at 0.77 g) is lacking, and when coaxed through corners the Pathfinder rolls like a sailboat on a sea of pudding. It feels every bit of its 4654-pound paunch, and dirty motions make the Pathfinder feel outdated. Much as our long-term test of a two thousand thirteen model mostly amazed us with its road manners, it simply can’t keep up with the more recently introduced CX-9, Hyundai Santa Fe, and GMC Acadia.
Nissan makes a good case for the Pathfinder as a family hauler with some undeniably convenient features, such as a second-row bench seat that tilts forward to permit third-row access even with a child seat mounted. The sixteen cubic feet of storage behind the third row isn’t remarkable, but with it stowed cargo space grows to almost fifty cubic feet, among the best in its class. Those bright catches sight of aren’t enough to make up for the Pathfinder’s dynamic flaws, especially since the real winners in this race can haul the stuff of family life and supply a rewarding driving practice.
Highs and Lows
Highs:
Utter complement of near-luxury features, largely inoffensive CVT, more power than the previous edition.
Corners like a yacht without a keel, too much plastic for this price point, doesn’t measure up to the competition.