Sunday Drive: 2023 Nissan Pathfinder gets a new Rock Creek 4×4 edition
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- Craig had the Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek edition out on pathways at Riverside Country Club in Provo as he and his business partner cleaned up from a Utah Valley Chamber golf event and had to tow the generator back to Sunbelt Rentals.
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- Towing the Sunbelt generator back, Craig stopped to take some photos of the Pathfinder Rock Creek while out at Riverside Country Club in Provo on a perfect fall day in September.
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- The Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek edition is presented to the media at the Rocky Mountain Driving Experience by Nissan communications representative Steve Parrett.
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- Inside the new 2023 Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek.
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- Inside the new 2023 Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek.
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- Inside the new 2023 Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek.
After spending only five minutes in the new Pathfinder and traveling a mere seven blocks from our home, Craig was already getting questions about the new 2023 Nissan Pathfinder and praise for its design.
2022 marked a new design in the Pathfinder hierarchy. Changes were made in the Pathfinder design that took it back to its true Pathfinder definition. Over the years, it had become more rounded and was given a softer look. Now, however, the manufacturer has returned it to the more “go anywhere” appeal it has had in the past.
This is especially true with the new Rock Creek Edition badging as it gets a 5/8-inch lift from the factory, an 18-inch beadlock-style wheel mounted with all-terrain tires, and tubular roof racks that will hold up to 220 pounds of load. It made us think back with fond memories about an Xterra we once owned.
The new Pathfinder definitely has a more rugged, conquering look to it. Its design gave it the appearance of wanting to explore and get out into nature where it was meant to be.
The new look is a tribute to the designers. This was proven as Craig pulled the new Rock Creek Pathfinder out of our garage where the delivery service had left it and headed out for a quick drive around Springville to get a feel and first impressions of the all-new SUV.
Seven blocks from our home, at a stop light on Main Street, an Acura pulled up alongside of him and the driver indicated he wanted Craig to roll down the window. This is not the usual outcome of our first drive attempts, especially when we’re in an SUV. Usually this happens when we’re out in some kind of exotically designed sports car or other very unique vehicle.
The Acura driver wanted to know where we had gotten the new Pathfinder and, more importantly, to tell Craig how cool he thought the design was. The whole event was kind of surreal as the Acura TLX is pretty aggressively charged up to be more of a street racer, making its driver’s attraction to the Pathfinder very interesting indeed.
So, from the very beginning, our hats were off to the new design. It continued to garner attention no matter where we landed during our test drive week.
After the design, the thing that impressed us the most was Nissan’s decision to change from a CVT transmission to a wonderful nine-speed gear box to power the Pathfinder. Don’t get us wrong — Nissan has done some great things with the CVT and bringing it forward in many of their vehicles, and it comes with some great gas mileage. However, having a regular transmission just seems different, especially if we are heading off-road.
The new Rock Creek Edition also got a horsepower lift from Nissan to 295 ponies (versus the normal 284) and a lift on torque up to 270 from 259. In fact, it will pull up to 6,000 pounds. Now, that is enough to accomplish pretty much any weekend adventure.
Craig experienced this power after participating in a golf tournament at Riverside Country Club with the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce. He helped his business partner Mike Duffin take down a video wall at the tournament and was then easily able to tow the rented generator back to Sunbelt Rentals. It weighed in at just over 2,600 pounds, so it was not even a struggle for the new Rock Creek Pathfinder!
During the course of the past few years, Nissan has added what they call ProPILOT Assist, which is now being included with most of their models. We love having this addition as it always includes lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control. There is nothing like letting the vehicle do all the heavy lifting when it comes to stopping and going while driving in heavy traffic.
This type of technology always makes the week even better. We have come to rely on these safety devices and would not be caught without them in our own vehicles. Other safety features included in the Pathfinder were blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning and avoidance with pedestrian detection, auto high beams, rear cross path detection and braking, and all-around view monitor when backing.
We found the new Pathfinder both overtly comfortable and loaded with all kinds of technology. There is now a 9-inch high-definition touch screen located high in the center dashboard that controls all the vital functions of the SUV.
We loved the fact that our phones connected wirelessly and Apple CarPlay worked without a tethering cord. The included wireless charger also made traveling much easier. These two features may not seem like much, but eliminating the cord makes using your phone so much easier while also reducing clutter.
For instance, if one of us was listening to a podcast while getting ready for work, that same audio would start playing as soon as we headed out for the day in the Pathfinder. Also, when a phone is hooked up this way, the infotainment screen looks just like the home screen of the phone, making navigating those features much easier.
The new Rock Creek Pathfinder is a very capable off-road contender while sporting looks that will keep the neighbors interested in this new SUV.
Pricing on the Rock Creek will start at $42,820, according to the Nissan Media Site. Our test ride was a pre-production model with no assigned price.
