Nissan is using the 2012 Detroit auto show to display a version of its next-generation Pathfinder that the company refers to as a “concept”—but what you see here is largely what you’ll see when the production version arrives this fall as a 2013 model. As we noted when we ran spy shots last month, the first Pathfinder was a body-on-frame SUV, the second a unibody crossover, and the third once more a frame-totin’ SUV. The fourth Pathfinder will again ditch the frame, as it shares its D architecture with the Infiniti JX35.
Like the boxy, trucky, third-gen Pathfinder, the concept is able to seat seven passengers in three rows, but the similarities appear to end there. This new model, for one, appears as if it actually will be aerodynamic. That’s right: Goodbye, rugged boulder-basher. Hello, slippery soft-roader. We can’t say we mind much, since the flared fenders, angled front fascia, and overall contours are handsome if a touch conservative.
 |
But if you think the exterior is cautious, steel yourself for what’s inside—it’s even more nondescript. The company isn’t releasing any specific information about the Pathfinder’s seating configurations or its comfort, entertainment, and convenience features, but it does go way out on a limb and promise plenty of space within the Pathfinder’s manageably sized exterior dimensions. (We’d love to read just onepress release that said, “Yeah, this thing is large, but it’s going to have, like, nointerior room. Sorry.”) There is one more thing: The concept has a dual-pane panoramic sunroof. This probably will show up on the final options list.
The Pathfinder concept features a “refined” V-6 under its hood, and the engine is paired with a continuously variable transmission. The JX likely points the way to more specifics: It features Nissan’s VQ35DE 3.5-liter six making 265 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque. Expect the same displacement and similar—if not slightly lower—output in the Pathfinder. Nissan claims the setup achieves a 25 percent increase in fuel economy versus the previous-gen V-6 model, which was rated at 15 mpg city and 22 highway in rear-drive form and 14/20 with all-wheel drive. The concept features all-wheel drive, but that will be an extra-cost upgrade from the standard front-wheel drive when the production Pathfinder arrives. Towing capacity, Nissan says, will be comparable to the leaders in the segment.
While it’s unusual to see a model switch from a frame-type construction to unibody and back again—much less going back again—it makes perfect sense here. Nissan’s U.S. offerings lack a large, relatively fuel-efficient family hauler that doesn’t look like Geordi La Forge in a samurai helmet (looking at you, Quest), and the company says that Pathfinder is the brand’s most recognizable nameplate in the U.S. Applying that sort of brand equity to an unfilled—and generally profitable—hole in your lineup ought to equal success, but, as always, the proof will be in the production pudding. Expect full details on the less conceptual fourth-gen Pathfinder soon. View Photo Gallery
No comments:
Post a Comment