When we heard that the new Path-finder would bear a strong family resemblance to the full-size Armada SUV, we were afraid. Very afraid. The old Path-finder was a good-looking truck, whereas the Armada is the Shrek of its field.
Fortunately, the new Pathfinder has real character, even though the styling is hardly beautiful. Like every new mid-size SUV, it is bigger inside and out, more powerful, and heavier, and it features a third-row seat.
Unlike the old Pathfinder, the new one uses body-on-frame construction. It has upper- and lower-control-arm front and rear suspension, with coil springs and antiroll bars at both ends. Ground clearance varies between 8.5 and 9.2 inches, depending on the model.
The Pathfinder is the first recipient of the latest VQ V-6 engine. Displacing 4.0 liters (in-stead of 3.5), it has been tuned to produce good midrange torque, with 80 percent of the peak 291 pound-feet being available below 2000 revs. It also makes 270 horsepower and mates to a five-speed automatic transmission.
Nissan expects that around 30 percent of Pathfinders will be rear-wheel-drive, but there's a choice of two all-wheel-drive systems: a part-time system that can be shifted on the fly and an on-demand version that shunts up to 50 percent of the torque to the front wheels in case of wheel slippage.... Read full article