Many folks judge a vehicle by performance and exterior looks. I too subscribe to that, but the interior of the car is just as important to me as the previously mentioned two items.
While the Pathfinder looks great and has excellent performance (4.0 liter DOHC V6 with/266HP/288lb-ft torque), I found the first-class interior surroundings to be the best feature.
The Pathfinder is roomy, well-tailored, and will seat six folks quite comfortably. The driver’s memory storage system stores your favorite settings for driver’s seat, power pedals, and outside mirror positions. I do wish that the door lock button for Open and Closed were illuminated. Only the “closed” can be seen causing the driver to fumble for “open” in the dark. Maybe one setting could be colored red for “lock” as an example.
Dual zone automatic temperature control provides personal attention and total comfort. Heated front seats and steering wheel keep the chill away. This week it was cold in Texas, falling just below freezing. And while that is nothing like the low temperatures of the north, it was cold enough to make me appreciate those heated conveniences.
The third row was an ideal place for the grandkids that like the privacy, plus being far away from Granddad’s guidance while traveling.
I guess the thing I liked even more than the 5-speed automatic transmission as the Pathfinder easily handled the mountains and sharp curves, was the abundance of storage. For the four-day trip my wife carried five suitcases, an overnight bag, makeup kit, medicine bag, and a briefcase. I loaded my one piece of luggage and a plastic bag filled with my shaving stuff, and we were off. I folded the third row down, and that gave me an expansive 49.2 cubic feet of cargo space with a flat floor. The side pocket nets, side pockets, dual level glove compartment and two cup holders gave us storage for her raisins, cut apple, celery sticks, bottled water, trail mix, and her 20-mile-cup of Starbucks coffee. I call it 20-mile-coffee because it seems we stop every 20 miles for coffee and the bathroom. Yes, there was even sufficient room for my Big Gulp Dr Pepper, beef jerky and “Pig skin” chips. I try to eat nutritious foods too.
The driver and passenger seem to be completely surrounded with air bags. Side-impact bags, rollover supplementary air bags for outboard, and roof-mounted curtain side impact to be more specific. A Bose radio system kept us aglow with the music of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.
The Pathfinder we drove was listed for less than $38,000, and we averaged a little over 20 mpg on the trip, which is what Nissan said it should get. We averaged about 15 mpg in the city. Nissan needs to get the mileage up for both of these.
Things I specifically like about the vehicle: lumbar adjustment on the driver’s seat, manual tilt steering column, Nissan intelligent key, side running boards, and the tire pressure monitoring system.
Durhl Caussey writes a car column read around the world. He may be reached at this paper or [email protected] .
Friends Read Free