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| The 2017 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum 4WD. |
If you are straining to tell what is new with the 2017 Nissan Pathfinder, it's because Nissan has refined rather than re-imagined its three-row crossover. The styling is a bit more squared-off, especially at the front, yet smoother and more slippery, allowing for an improvement in the vehicle's drag coefficient.
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| 2017 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum 4WD. |
That is important because it allows for a substantially revised 3.5-liter V6---in which nearly half the parts are new---to increase its power rating from 260 to 284 horsepower and only give up one mile per gallon in the EPA city fuel economy estimate and none at all in the highway estimate (20 city/26 highway becomes 19 city/26 highway) compared to
the previous-generation Pathfinder. And the new one is able to tow up to 6,000 pounds as opposed to last year's 5,000. There are also suspension changes that reduce body roll and make steering more responsive.
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| 2017 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum 4WD interior. |
Our test vehicle was the top-of-the-line Platinum. Click
here for a comparison of the various Pathfinder trim levels. Base price is $43,560 and the Platinum is so well-equipped that the one we drove for a week had only one option, the Family Entertainment Package. Dual eight-inch head restraint DVD players with two wireless headphones, a remote control and an HDMI and USB connection.
That added $1,700 to the cost, which, with $900 in destination charges, came to an as-tested price of $46,160. That is a little less than three-thousand dollars more than
the 2014 model we reviewed two years ago, and the 2017 Pathfinder is simply a better vehicle for all the changes, subtle though they may be at first glance.
