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2008 Nissan Pathfinder – Comfort
Front Comfort
When SUVs like the Pathfinder first debuted, interior comfort was secondary. Now there’s an expectation of the creature comforts found in sedans, and Nissan meets that expectation with generously sized seats. They’re supportive and comfortable and the driver’s adjusts eight ways. As expected in a truck, there’s good head and leg room. There’s a nicely padded center armrest, but it sits too far back. Door armrests are soft-touch and slightly padded. The steering wheel is covered in smooth and perforated leather and feels good in your hands. Getting in and out is fairly easy thanks to assist handles.
Second Row Comfort
Outboard seats are comfortable, and there’s adequate room for adults with good head, leg and shoulder room. However, foot space under the front seats is negligible. An adult probably shouldn’t sit in the middle position because the headrest doesn’t extend far enough to be safe, and it’s not very comfortable because it’s harder. A nice, plush center armrest folds down for when only two people are in the second row, and the outboard seats tilt back. It’s fairly easy to get in and out, but children might find the exterior handles hard to reach. There are assist handles above the doors and on the B-pillars.
Third Row Comfort
Adults will have a hard time getting in and out of the third row seats. The second row headrests must be lowered for the seat to move out of the way enough for ingress or egress. Once back there, adults won’t be comfortable. Head room is good, but leg room is cramped for anyone other than small children. Not too small, though; there aren’t any anchors for child seats. But the seats are easy to stow and raise from the back of the vehicle. Middle row seats do need to be upright, however, in order to stow the third row.
Interior Noise
While the days of spartan interiors of rubber and vinyl are gone, there’s one thing that SUV’s have a tough time avoiding: wind noise. There’s some of that audible in the Pathfinder off the mirrors and roof rack, but otherwise it’s quiet, with road and tire noise subdued. You can hear the engine under acceleration, but it’s not muscle-car loud, and just enough to make V-8 fans happy. Cruising in Drive, the engine and transmission noise is nicely muffled.
Visibility
For the most part visibility is good to the sides and rear. Not as good out of the front because of the high dashboard and hood, and the rear seat assist handle on the door pillar is distracting at first. Visibility to the rear gets more cluttered with the all the headrests raised, especially the third row headrests, which raise higher than those in the middle row. Outside mirrors are big enough and the rear monitor makes backing up easier, with a bright image and helpful trajectory overlay.
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