Nissan kicks off the day in the US with two important newcomers. The first of those two is a completely new Pathfinder, which, in line with the latest fashion, probably looks more adventurous than its average buyer.
The off-road hype is booming in the US. SUVs were already popular, but in the slipstream of real off-roaders like the Jeep Wrangler and the new Ford Bronco, high-legged family cars have been looking tougher lately.
That trend doesn’t ignore the Pathfinder either. While the outgoing generation of that seven-seater still has a neat, rounded carriage, the new one is clearly squarer and tougher. Although four-wheel drive is of course available and according to Nissan, the car can tow more than its competitors with over 2,700 kg, the focus is still just on the good family work. That is why the car now offers room for eight people as standard, although seven-seat configurations with ‘captain’s chairs’ are also available.
The interior looks modern and offers a 9-inch touchscreen, 12.3-inch instruments and a 10.8-inch head-up display. So nice to the size, just like the engine. Nissan is installing the familiar 3.5-liter V6 in the US, an engine from the VQ family that was in fact also found in the old 350Z, for example. In its latest form, the block delivers 284 American horsepower, or 288 ‘European’. The V6 is no longer linked to a CVT, but to a modern nine-speed automatic transmission.
The V6 also proves that we shouldn’t expect the Pathfinder in Europe, at least not in this form. The large Nissan operates in a segment that did not exist on our continent for a long time, but that now seems to be making the switch with the arrival of the Ford Explorer and Toyota Highlander. These seven-seater medium-sized by American standards are not available in the US and Canada.
2000: the Pathfinder finds its way to the Netherlands
There was once a Nissan Pathfinder in the Netherlands. He started his career here in 2000 with a model series that has always remained very rare here. More success came from 2005, when the Pathfinder was on the European price lists as the SUV brother of the Navara pick-up. That Navara is called Frontier in America and has been completely redesigned at the same time as the Pathfinder. More on that later.