The Nissan Path

Heh everyone -

I'm very glad to find a current generation Pathfinder specific website. I was getting ready to create one myself as I too had not been able to find a dedicated site. I've just seen PF related forums on bigger sites with sporatic postings, sometimes with several days between new messages.

At any rate, we also traded our 04 Murano in on a new fully loaded SE 4X4 Pathfinder a few weeks ago. It perfectly suits our needs for a more rough and tumble vehicle for camping, kayaking, biking, etc but still provides a nice place to spend time. I wanted an SE Offroad, but they are very difficult to find here, so we went with a fully optioned SE 4X4 with leather, SE comfort, SE Premium, etc. I added 265/75R16 Nitto Terra Grapplers and the SE Offroad skid plates immediately. The HDC and Hill Start were not specifically important as I've spent my whole life coming down hills with my foot on the brake anyway (it would have been nice to have, but not the end of the world). I also kind of lucked out in that I prefer the chunky 5-spoke wheel of the SE to the 6-spoke OR wheel, though it's good looking as well.

We've had the Pathfinder almost a month and absolutley love it. The size, power, styling, towing ability and third row seats combined into exactly what we were looking for. Ours is Storm Gray with Desert Leather. Its already proven its usefulness with the kiddos and will soon have a beach camping trip under its belt. And within a month, she'll have a 5000 mile round trip vacation from TX up through the Northwest and Montana and back with plenty of fishing, four wheeling and pictures to post.

Thanks again for building the site. I look at every bookmarked PF site I can daily just to get more information. I'm an avid auto enthusiast (an understatement if ever there were one) and look forward to contributing and learning where I can. I'm also happy to help wherever needed!

You're an ex-Murano driver too eh? hahahahaha...

I actually wanted the SE, the soft suspension on the OR and LE was definitly not to my liking. So much nose dive under heavy breaking and wallow with agressive lane changes, just not confidence inspiring to someone who's a sports car driver at heart, especially when switching from the wonderfully taught Murano SE suspension.

So have you noticed your fuel mileage is no worse than your Murano? That CVT transmission does wonders for 0-60 times and 'theoretical' MPG tests, but in the real world my Mo never came close to the advertized 20/24MPG.

Welcome to the forum, enjoy the ride!

We bought the Murano as a replacement for our 02 Tahoe Z71 (which was a replacement of an '00 Tahoe Z71,which replaced a Sierra Z71, which replaced one Jeep after another back in the day). My wife is an avid road cyclist, so we bought the Murano as a sporty, fuel efficient road bike and small family hauler. She really loved the MO, and we never had a problem with it in 31k miles.

It never got close to delivering the MPG as advertised tho. Its real world numbers were more like 17/21.5 and the Pathfinder is close to that with less than 1k on the clock. We'll know more about highway mpg the next few days.

Yep the wood interior and 6-spoke wheels killed the LE for me. I was okay with SE or SE Offroad. Although I was of the impression the SE OR was not any softer sprung than a standard SE. I believe the spring rates are identical, but it's Rancho shocks are less progressive. In fact it should ride just a tad firmer.

"Although I was of the impression the SE OR was not any softer sprung than a standard SE. I believe the spring rates are identical, but it's Rancho shocks are less progressive. In fact it should ride just a tad firmer."

I agree... The Rancho's are a bit firmer that the stock shocks... I wish they were a lot stiffer... Hope someone makes a Offroad shock soon........ Triffid