Jan 28, 2005 03:18 PM
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(Updated Jan 28, 2005 04:46 PM)
Hats off to Carlos, CEO of Nissan, for turning the fate of Nissan from bankrupcy to great profitablilty. A lot of credit goes to Nissan's ever-present kickass V6 engine which has become a benchmark engine. This engine is so versatile that Nissan has stuffed it into new Xterra, Pathfinder, Altima, Maxima, Z, Frontier. This 3500 cc, 250 BHP engine made 2001 Pathfinder really popular and it was more powerful than most V8 engines offered by Land Rover, Jeep, Dodge and GM in 2001.
I have had the sweet pleasure of owning second generation 2002 Pathfinder LE, top of the line model with Leather seats, Automatic temperature control, Heated Seats, 6 CD changer and dozens of other features. So far no problem at all, this truck really rocks!
Alright, let's get down to business of comparing third generation 2005 Pathfinder to 2nd generation 2001 pathfinder.
1 ] 2005 Pathfinder is bigger than previous model by 5 inches and now it offers 3rd row seat in the rear good for kids only. 05 model can seat 7 passengers whereas 01 model could seat 5 passengers.
2 ] Making the truck bigger and heavier takes away some of its sportiness, to offset that now it comes with 4000cc V6, 271 BHP ( 21 more ponies than previous model).
Nissan engineers made the cylinder bigger of the previous 3500cc engine. Rest of the Double Over Head CAM (DOHC) technology is same, with Titanium tipped plugs and Aluminium block engine.
This is where you have to give it to ingenuity of Nissan engineers. They have increased fuel efficiency from 7km/L to 8 km/L (21 miles/gallon) on highway driving and at the same time they have increased horse power by about 10% and torque by 20%.
In city it gives almost same mileage as previous model 6.5 km/L ( 15 miles/gallon). This is what I get on my daily driving. That is a dismal number but hey, that's what you get for driving a truck! Believe me that many SUVs in its class are worse.
3 ] I am not sure about the styling. Although the truck looks tough from front as it sports new grill that all new Nissan trucks have, yet from the back it looks like a big box. I am hoping new styling will grow on me.
4 ] The biggest change in 2005 model is that it is based upon fully boxed ladder type chassis shared by its bigger sibling pick-up truck called Titan. 2002 model was based on monocoque frame. This gives 05 model towing capacity of 2.7 tonnes about half a ton more than previous model.
5 ] Here is another twist, it has independent rear suspension unlike solid (or live) axle of the previous generation. Independent suspension is good for on-road comfort but off-road it does not perform as well as good old solid axle.
Nissan engineers gave it a sophisticated traction control system which actively brakes the tires that loses traction. Pathfinder also comes with optional off-road BGgoodrich tires, special shocks, Hill-Start, Down Hill control system. It comes with all the necessary skid plates to protect the underbody of truck on those rocky trails.
I don't like the fact that it departure and breaking-over angle has decreased but its ground clearance has been increased to 9.2 inches from 8.3 inches.
Off-road capability should be a tad better than previous model.
Conclusion: It is a bigger SUV with more practical features and a bigger engine. Its V6 is stronger than that of Toyota, Honda or GM and that of rest of the bunch.
New 2005 Pathfinders are selling like hot cakes!
I would highly recommend it over Toyota's well regarded 4Runner or Honda's bland pseudo-SUV called Pilot.
This is a true story, I was on an off-road trip with a friend on 4th of July, 2003 in thick of Mohave Desert in Arizona and temperature was in excess of 50 degrees C (120 degrees F). Our truck got stuck on a rock in a way that the belly of truck was resting on rocks and the tires were not making full contact with the ground. We were miles away from civilization in an area full of rattle snakes and poisonous spiders. In those temperatures one loses 7 litres of water in one hour if one tries to walk. We had three days supplies of food and water.
We had two options:
1 ] Take a hike to the nearest city. ( cellphones were obviously not working)
2 ] Try to drive the vehicle off the rocks by accelerating harder. Since the truck's underbody was making contact with the rocks, it could have damaged moving components or it could have broken something and then we would be stranded again.
After examining the underbody more carefully I concluded if we tried to drive the truck it should be alright because thick steel skid-plates would protect the components. I started the truck and accelerated in controlled way. I could hear all kind of noises caused by metal scraping the rocks. After some dreadful clunking noises, next thing I knew we were out of it.
You could see the picture in my profile taken just before we got stuck.
It was only because Nissan engineers designed the truck for even this kind of situations that we walked away from a potential life-threatening situation with no damage to vehicle. Since that day I have become a huge fan of Nissan vehicles. No wonder Nissan has become No 2 company in Japan, they recently overtook Honda!
Happy trucking! :)
