The Garage has had a rough weekend with holiday travel. The new Pathfinder had to sit at the airport garage for two days but the ride out to the airport and back revealed a few things. Most importantly the Pathfinder's ride is very solid, eliminates most road and wind noise and provides lots of comfort in the front seats.
However, the engine is very loud and has trouble finding gears at highway speeds. It felt like after 50 mph the car couldn?t find that final gear for cruising unless you revved really hard. But if you rev too hard you?re usually not cruising at a constant rate. It?s a frustrating aspect to an otherwise capable large SUV.
The handling is surprisingly stiff and I like that. When steering such a huge vehicle you don?t want a disconnected feel when turning or changing lanes. There?s also plenty of visibility with huge side view mirrors and lots of glass all around.
Getting luggage in the back was no problem. When I first opened up the rear hatch I saw this tiny cargo area. I took a double take realizing the third row seats were still up. A quick button push and both folded flat in a jiff revealing a hard plastic cargo floor with plenty of room for whatever we had. The floor is a little higher than I?d like, especially if lifting really heavy loads, but it wasn?t as bad as other SUVs we?ve tested like the Cadillac SRX.
I?ll make sure to get some more images for the next post and while you wait check out Day 1.
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