The 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.
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.
