Nissan Pathfinder Is The Most Practical SUV

Nissan Pathfinder is a rugged and strong built yet refined off roader. Nissan hasn’t ignored the practicality and that is shown with a large cabin. The pathfinder is a hardworking vehicle which doesn’t feel comfortable when on road. The ride is bouncy and the engine is growling , unlike other SUVs of the same class, the Pathfinder is nowhere near luxurious. However it serves the purpose very well of being a simple, reliable and powerful workhorse and costs about £4,000 less than the major rival Land Rover Discovery. The Nissan Pathfinder has simple but meaner boxy looks which doesn’t mean it is an ugly car.

The cabin is inspired y the Navara, and is enormous and practically designed. It boast full seven seats and a split opening tail gate. There are many stowage spaces to hold your bits and bobs. The materials used are rugged and of high quality. The Pathfinder is powered by a 2.5 litre four cylinder engine with five speed manual or six speed automatic gearbox. It returns 187 bhp and does 0-62mph in 10.7secs and 11secs with automatic and manual gearbox respectively. The manual gear box requires patience when changing the gears. The ride of the Pathfinder is its biggest negative. It is unsettled on bumpy roads and steering feels wobbly therefore making the handling very difficult and the ride uncomfortable. Having said that, the Pathfinder is best at what it is designed to do, the rough stuff, thanks to a full set of low range gears and a lockable differential.

The Nissan Pathfinder managed to achieve only four star Euro NCAP crash test rating, which might leave a bad impression on some as most of the cars get the maximum five star rating these days. But it is not easy for a 4x4 to get full five stars. The standard safety features include six airbags, ABS brakes, electric stability control and traction control. Nissan Pathfinder has a strong build which is bound to last longer. The Nissan Pathfinder is as practical as any van, all the versions are equipped with seven seats. The boot has 190 litres of space which can be increased to 515 litres by folding the last set bench of seats.

However fold all the seats and you have an enormous space for 2,091 litres of luggage. The rear screen goes down as well allowing to fill the load. The Pathfinder is a bulky and heavy weight car and therefore thirsty on the fuel. With manual gear box it does 33.2mpg with 224g/km of carbon emissions and the automatic is even less at 31.4mpg with 238g/km of CO2. As the carbon emissions are higher the road tax costs are also sky high. The fuel tank has eighty litres of capacity and costs around £130 to fill. Keeping all this in mind. The initial costs might be less but the Pathfinder is expensive to run.