Nissan Pathfinder Turbo Diesel 2005 Review

Nissan hasn't gone looking for any soft targets with its new Pathfinder. It isn't just going to be content with being another player in the mid-sizer brigade or gently ramping-up interest in a model that has slid almost into obscurity over a long, nine-year lifespan.

No, the new Pathfinder is gunning for the Toyota Prado. Maybe not so much when it comes to sales - the Prado was, after all, the country's most popular 4X4 last year and outsold the current Pathie by a factor of 12 - but in terms of ability. Ability to carry seven occupants, to perform with ease, to go off-road, tow a heavy load and do all those other things expected of a good all-rounder.

"We wanted to bring this car back to the original Pathfinder concept," chief product specialist Hiroyuki Fushiki says. "That means closer to something like the Prado by returning Pathfinder to its traditional SUV roots."

Whether the new Pathfinder is up to that we'll find out when it lobs in Australia about July this year. But after driving it for a couple of days at the vehicle's international launch in Portugal, in conditions a lot more like Australian roads than you might think possible, it's fair to say this is a tougher, more capable and user-friendly Pathfinder than what came before it.

If you didn't know already, Nissan has ditched the previous R50 model's unitary (or car-like) monocoque construction for a ladder-frame chassis with an all-new body bolted on top. It's an unusual move given most manufacturers have gone the soft-roader route in search of improved refinement, ride and handling but perhaps at the expense of off-road ability.

There are a couple of reasons for Nissan's decision. The major one is cost-saving. The new R51 Pathfinder will share its underpinnings and the front half of its cabin with the new Navara due out later this year, and the chassis is itself a cut-down version of the F-Alpha platform used on the larger Titan pick-up and closely related Armada wagon sold in the USA. The benefit comes in ruggedness and wheel articulation needed for off-road work and if it's something more suited to on-road use that the buyer is looking for, they might find it in the new Murano soft-roader due in Australia later this year.

If this sounds like the Pathfinder is nothing more than a re-bodied light truck, then think again. It has independent, double wishbone, coil-spring suspension on both ends, and a pair of new engines: a powerful 4.0-litre V6 (see 4X4 Australia March 2005) and a 2.5-litre turbo-diesel. The latter makes up for in power and torque what it lacks in engine capacity.

In fact, the oiler is the reason why we were in Portugal at all. The new Pathfinder isn't built in Japan, or even looks likely to go on sale there. Instead, it is built in the USA and in Spain, just near Barcelona. The American plant produces left-hand-drive, auto-only petrol vehicles for its market, and rest-of-world output comes from Spain.

At around 2200kg (depending on specification) it is a thumping 330kg porkier than the current ST. That's a worry for the YD25DDTi diesel, which doesn't have the power output of the V6. It isn't exactly deficient, however, with 128kW of power at 4000rpm, but it's the torque output of 403Nm from 2000rpm that is perhaps more telling. The double overhead cam, 16-valve unit with common rail fuel supply and a variable-nozzle turbocharger comfortably out-muscles even the Patrol's 3.0 or 4.2-litre diesels, and manages to do the same to both Prado and Pajero.

The new Pathfinder looks imposing despite being only a little longer and taller than its predecessor. At the front there's the new Nissan corporate face with lots of angles and chrome, and pronounced front wheel arches that curve into the bumper-airdam assembly. The rear end is tall and square; its lifting tailgate has separately hinged glass.

Inside there's quite a long cabin that accommodates three rows of seats and a big cargo bay that even leaves some luggage space with the third row in an upright position. The middle row folds in any number of ways with a three-way split, and can flip forward for a completely flat load-area that, combined with a fold-forward from passenger's seat, gives a 2.8-metre long load area.

Despite this there isn't a generous amount of legroom in either rear seat, especially for anyone who has sat in something like Ford's Territory. The assumption is there's a high floor to match the load area of the Pathfinder's light commercial vehicle cousins: the result isn't a lack of headroom in the second row of seats, but low seating that leaves nowhere for taller passengers to put their feet. The third row of seats suffers from paltry legroom and scant headroom for adults, so they're really only good for children, and not large ones either.

The dash fascia complements the exterior design after a fashion with its mix of angles and curves. It all looks classy, with a quality feel and plenty of storage including two glove boxes in front of the passenger and a compartment under the second row of seats.

The 4.0-litre V6 auto is something of a rocket ship. Despite the weight it has power to burn with hearty acceleration from standstill and the five-speed auto delivers crisp, virtually seamless shifts heading either up or down the ratios. Without having done the usual fuel consumption averages it would a great surprise if it didn't also burn through the unleaded at a fair old rate.

That's where the diesel comes in. Nissan claims the six-speed manual will hit 100km/h from standstill in 12.3 seconds, with the five-speed auto only a couple of tenths behind. The European combined fuel consumption figure is 9.0 L/100km for the manual, 10.1 L/100km for the auto. The one big area where the Prado wins friends especially in the outback is its massive 180-litre fuel tank capacity, but the Pathfinder only manages to carry 80 litres.

Still, this is one gutsy engine with lashings of bottom-end and mid-range torque, meaning it works especially well with the auto transmission. Despite those quite impressive acceleration figures it doesn't feel especially quick in the way any diesel quickly reaches its change-up point and, in the auto's case, goes looking for another ratio to compensate for a narrow band of operating revs. Neither is it especially quiet. There's a healthy diesel drone even at constant highway speeds, although back-to-back against noisier oil-burners, such as Pajero, it is probably above average for refinement, nothing more. If it's towing capacity you're after, the diesel is good for 3000kg with a braked trailer.

Away from Portugal's freeway system the roads are lumpy, unpredictably cambered and with rough gravel verges. In fact, just like in Australia, right down to a couple of million gum trees growing wild. Here you can feel the Pathfinder's somewhat prosaic underpinnings as the body struggles slightly to match the separate chassis' differing rates of movement, resulting in the ride showing neither the comfort nor composure of a good monocoque construction.

The good news is that handling and steering are well up to the task. Pathfinder isn't as tall as some off-roaders and makes the most of its lower roll centre. The steering has plenty of communication and a linear response, even if at 3.6 turns lock-to-lock it isn't exactly direct.

But there's also Nissan's excellent selectable, on-demand 4X4 system that allows for a nominal rear-drive attitude on the road: front traction kicks in only when really needed. It works well in the dirt giving a good combination of rear-drive handling adjustability with 4X4 traction when needed on looser surfaces or tighter corners. The ESP system that will likely be an option in Australia, doesn't interfere with cornering to a great degree, other than kick-in late in the piece if the vehicle has slewed sideways and needs retrieving.

The off-road performance also seems impressive, at least if Nissan's tailor-made, but relatively tough, course was any indicator. Consecutive, deep and diagonally spaced holes failed to reach the limits of articulation, the traction control system coped well with (admittedly dry) rutted uphill sections and the approach and departure angles seemed reasonably aggressive. Engine braking is not too shabby in the automatic version, brilliant in the diesel manual. The minimum ground clearance of 254mm should be enough to keep the Pathfinder being grounded on typical outback tracks, but we'll find that out definitively when it arrives in Australia.

So, is the Pathfinder getting back to its roots? Way back in 1986 the first version was remarkable for being compact, pretty stylish and with coil-sprung suspension, capable off-road as well. But it was also underpowered, and lacked practicality as well as performance, and the next one in the series was competent without being overly inspiring. The indications are that this much faster, tougher and plainly more useful new Pathfinder isn't just the evolution expected of its predecessor, but represents a move in a whole new direction.