Hey everyone. I just took delivery of a 05 Pathfinder SE. Fully loaded , but minus the leather and dvd console setup.
I have about 200 miles on her. One of my main about purchasing this SUV is will it really pull up to 6000 lbs? I traded in my 03 Tahoe w/ the 4.8L V8 which is rated at 270hp and 7000lbs towing. So I was like ok, this Pathfinder will do it but not as good. eeeekkkk!!
Well first thing this morning I had to go to my local trailer shop to get a 5 prong trailer wiring hooked up. The one that came on the Pathfinder was a 4 prong. At about noon time, I headed out to our boat storage, backed the Pathfinder to my 2004 FourWinns 194 Funship Deck boat. This is no small boat. I figure that the weight of the boat was :
Boat w/ motor 3600 lbs
Trailer: 960 lbs
Gas/ 50 gallon: 416 lbs ( 1 gallon= 8.328 lbs)
Water / 12 gallon: 99 lbs
Grand total weight is: 5075 lbs or very close. I did have a full tank of gas and water along with the tow test. I was told that fuel weighs less then water and these are math factors from weight of water per gallon, so it might be a little less but nothing to fight over.
Keep in mind I am not including weight on boat gear like tools, water sports gear, food, ice chest or anything like that.
But I hooked the boat up and the boat did weight down the rear end of the pathfinder some, but so did my Tahoe. So what!! It never bottomed out or anything during the ride.
Off I go. I was very amazed everyone!!! After about a 15 mile run down into the Texas Hill Country and Highway this Pathfinder did awesome. Highway running was quick and never lost speed. When I accelerated the gas pedal it would want to go even faster! I fell that there was really no loss in speed up hills as I expected. This SUV being a V6 has really shocked me what it really can compete against! I felt that my Tahoe accelerated a lot slower and shift from the Tahoe always had a clunky shift point in its weak tranny. The Tahoe took some time to get over 40mph versus the pathfinder getting there quicker!!! But hey that is Chevy for you.
So if I compare apple & oranges from my new 05 Pathfinder V6 vs my previous 03 Tahoe V8,, I prefer my Pathfinder to tow my boat. I now can get it to the lake faster! hahahaha.
Nissan did an awesome job w/ the pathfinders ability to do it all. The only thing I feel that the Pathfinder is not all up to was the room/size area (inside). It felt smaller, but I was aware of that since I was down sizing when I step off from our Tahoe.
I just wanted to say thank you Nissan for an awesome product and our family will be very happy with our purchase as years to come.
God Bless and thanks for looking everyone!
