2022 Nissan Pathfinder Is All About Plushness And Utility

Nissan pulled the wraps off the fifth-generation Pathfinder Thursday afternoon along with the 2022 Nissan Frontier mid-size pickup truck. Set to arrive by the summer of 2021, the 2022 Pathfinder is all set to stir up some serious interest among potential buyers.

To call this crossover butch would be a gross understatement. Nissan claims it has gone back to the roots for this one. Though that is evident in the upright stance and the squared-off traditional SUV design, the face itself is more Armada than Pathfinder. Speaking of square, the boxed out liftgate coupled with the squared-off arches and a flat roof give the Pathfinder a rugged look and the much-needed road presence, something that was missing from the previous generation.

Keeping up with the new SUV design language, a massive chrome VMotion grille dominates the face flanked by all-LED headlamps with a new DRL brow a lá 2021 Nissan Rogue.

Nissan’s new crop of interiors have been quite impressive and the Pathfinder is no exception. The cabin is built of high-quality materials. There is liberal use of soft-feel materials, piano black finishes, and leather. There’s a lot of leather. The seats, the center armrest with Pathfinder branding, the dash, all adorn a high-quality semi-aniline leather.

While the design and the “inspired by adventure gear” layout might be bespoke to the Pathfinder, the instrumentation is not. The optional 12.3-inch customizable digital dashboard is from the 2021 Rogue and so is the color 10.8-inch head-up display. The optional 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system seen here too debuted with the Rogue. While an 8.0-inch screen is standard, both come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Wireless Apple CarPlay is also available. In Canada, customers will get Nissan Connect with SiriusXM radio and Wi-Fi as standard. The Navi Link, however, is not standard in either market. Other premium features available on the Pathfinder include wireless Apple CarPlay, Bose 13-speaker system, and the 360 degree camera.

Other standard features include a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s perch, a tri-zone climate control system, and climate-controlled front seats. Optional heated rear seats are also available. Heated wiper nozzles, heated front seats, leather steering wheel, and wing mirrors are also standard but in Canada only.

Nissan has also put special emphasis on utility in SUV. The Pathfinder can, on paper, seat eight. If its the captain seats you require, you can simply remove the middle seat without tools and viola. According to Nissan, the Pathfinder can accommodate four golf bags or a 120-quart cooler. Folding the rear bench down via one-touch EZ FLEX, can free up enough space to accommodate 4×8 plywood sheets with ease. Nissan also claims a quieter cabin thanks to thicker rear windows.

As for safety, the Pathfinder will come with Nissan’s Safety Shield 360 as standard but for the Canadian market only. Apart from the usual auto emergency braking, lane departure warning, and blind-spot detection, it will also feature rear auto braking–a segment-first–and rear cross-traffic alert along with blind-spot monitoring. Intelligent cruise control is also standard for the Canadian market only.

As for suspension, it features a strut setup at the front and a multi-link suspension at the rear. It also boasts of a 6,000 lbs towing capacity and also comes with a tow hitch and harness as standard on SV trim and above in Canada. In the US however, it is standard only on the top Platinum trim but also optional on the SV and SL trims. There will be four trims in total and the gradewalk will be the same in US and Canada. The S will be the base trim followed by the SV, SL and finally the top-of-the-line Platinum trim.