Category: Large 4x4s 
Price Range: £23,395 to £28,995
Great looks, loads of kit, seven-seat practicality, feels tough enough for anything.
Suspension struggles to iron out poor road surfaces, engine sounds cruder than it is.
A go-anywhere, do-anything tough nut along the lines of the Mitsubishi Shogun and Toyota Land Cruiser. Just don't go expecting a Land Rover Discovery.
The idea remains the same, but the detail keeps changing - and always in the right direction. Nissan's Pathfinder - bigger than the X-Trail, Terrano and new Qashqai, smaller than the Patrol, and more rugged than the Murano - now comes with an engine that meets Euro 4 emissions standards. The interior has also been upgraded, with more kit and better-quality leather. But neither of these moves towards better refinement in the 2007 model is at the expense of the rugged functionality that makes the Pathfinder so appealing to people who do need to go off road.
It's not just for farmers and builders, though. Nissan is aiming the Pathfinder at the seemingly ubiquitous family with an active lifestyle, who demand a vehicle that's as comfortable cruising up the motorway as it is effective at ripping through the countryside.
It's available with five or seven seats, in three specification levels, but there is only one engine - It's a 2.5-litre common-rail turbodiesel four, available with a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic gearbox. The auto comes with Hill Descent Control, to keep the car in check during tricky downhill manoeuvres, and Hill Start Assist, for easier uphill getaways. At launch, a 4.0-litre V6 petrol was available, but has since been dropped as it was deemed too thirsty for our tastes.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Nissan Pathfinder
wrote on 02 09 2007
wrote on 10 07 2007