Nissan South Africa's light commercial vehicles that have been providing the company's bread and butter in recent times with its under-appreciated Almera and Micra cars languishing outside the list of Top10 best-selling list.
The Hardbody pick-up has become a favourite with the bakkie brigade while X-Trail soft-roader SUVs are seen everywhere.
I loved the X-Trail - it isn't that great off-road but on the hard stuff it's a fun car with a sweet engine, super-smooth gearbox and light and easy controls.
Which is why, when Nissan launched their Pathfinder sport utility vehicle, I expected the car would be just a bigger and more spacious version of the X-Trail. It isn't.
To be blunt, the Pathfinder is a beast, albeit a handsome one. It's 4.7m long, 1.8m high and almost 1.9m wide. It's intimidating to park and having one arrive in your mirrors is likely to have you scuttling quickly out of its way.
A minibus taxi driver who tried to overtake me round the outside of a corner backed off when he saw the road narrow and realised we would both be competing for the same piece of road. Now that's respect!
It's an interesting take on the sport utility vehicle concept in that Nissan's engineers have made a genuine attempt to create a vehicle that's as good on gravel as it is on tar.
Most SUVs are biased towards highway driving but the Pathfinder is something you could use on a farm trail as well as the N1.
The problem is that in creating that versatility Nissan has had to make some compromises that spoil an otherwise impressive vehicle. The body has been bolted to a fully-boxed ladder chassis; in effect, it's a bakkie with a seven-seater body.
The ride is a little choppy on tar although it has independent suspension all round. The steering wheel shook so fiercely on some surfaces that I wondered whether the front wheels were properly balanced.
QV motor
Ironically, the second major issue I had with the car was the engine - a four-litre, quad-cam V6 producing 198kW at 5600rpm and 385Nm.
It's a version of the famed QV motor that's also used in the 350Z and the much maligned Maxima, to my mind one of the world's great production engines. So why the problem?
In the Pathfinder it has to lug around more than two tons of metal. Add air-conditioning and an automatic transmission and you're looking at fuel consumption of 17-18 litres/100km.
Limited range
The Pathfinder has a range of less than 500km, despite its 80-litre fuel tank, which is going to be a problem for anybody who wants to do seriously long distances, especially off-road.
It sounds like I hated the Pathfinder. To the contrary - it's a wonderfully comfortable and quiet vehicle, easy to drive, and with a high seating position that allows an excellent view of the road ahead. You can also fold flat the second and third rows of seats to create acres of luggage space.
The Pathfinder really comes into its own off the tar. Nissan has developed what it calls an all-mode 4x4 electronic drive system controlled by a rotary switch on the central console that allows access to all the driving modes the Pathfinder offers.
Traction control
Choosing two-wheel drive sends the power to the rear wheels - essentially for highway cruising. 4H provides a 50/50 torque spread to front and rear wheels while 4Lo offers a low-range ratio for serious off-roading.
The car's traction control avoids wheelspin by controlling the torque applied to each wheel. In extreme conditions it completely stops a spinning wheel using ABLS (active brake limited-slip ).
Other safety systems include anti-lockbrakes, electronic brake pressure distribution and brake-assist.
If you need to make an evasive manoeuvre the VDC (vehicle dynamic control) system uses sensors to control the brake pressure to each wheel and maintains engine output to enhance stability.
It's got all the technical bells and whistles - which is why you are looking at a price of R424 200.
SUMMARY
If you like the idea of owning an SUV but will only use it to drive to work on the highway then stay away from the Pathfinder, especially the four-litre V6.
If, however, you regularly travel off-road but want something more stylish, spacious and comfortable than a double-cab bakkie then the Pathfinder could be perfect for you.
But try the 2.5-litre turbodiesel version first - it'll be easier on your fuel bill. - Pretoria News