Nissan Pathfinder loses weight, gets 30% more efficient

In brief: The 2013 Nissan Pathfinder is 500 pounds lighter and 30% more fuel efficient.

Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: 2013 Pathfinder
Manufacturer: Nissan

The word

Nissan's fourth generation of the popular Pathfinder SUV has seen several upgrades, including a new drive train, body style changes that include aerodynamic improvements, and chassis upgrades that lighten its overall vehicle weight.

The new Pathfinder has a more sleek, air-cutting look with a rounded rear hatch, steeper windshield slope, and curved roofline.

Under the hood, the new 6-cylinder power plant is a 3.5L DOHC mated to a next-generation Xtronic continuously variable transmission (CVT). This gives a 26/20 mpg city/highway rating for the front-wheel-drive model and a 25/19 mpg city/highway for the all-wheel-drive model. All with about the same horsepower and torque output as the previous, much larger 4.0L V6.

Chassis improvments come as unibody changes from the previous body-on-frame design, which lightened the weight of the Pathfinder considerably. Other materials improvements finished off the 500 pound weight loss overall.

And so ...

The SUV segment is still a very popular and contentious market and Nissan has done well to finally upgrade to meet today's standards in that field.

Photo credits: Nissan

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