Compare the2023 Nissan PathfinderVS 2023 Chevrolet Traverse

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Pathfinder have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Chevrolet Traverse doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Pathfinder are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Chevrolet Traverse doesn’t offer height-adjustable front seat belts.

The Nissan Pathfinder has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Traverse doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Pathfinder has standard Rear Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Traverse doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Pathfinder has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Traverse’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Pathfinder has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Traverse.

The Pathfinder’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Traverse doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Pathfinder and the Traverse have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, front seat center airbag, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Nissan Pathfinder is safer than the Traverse:

	Pathfinder	Traverse
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Structure	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	125	141
Neck Tension	268 lbs.	446 lbs.
Neck Compression	22 lbs.	45 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	.63 in	1.3 in
Shoulder Force	156 lbs.	312 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.94 in	1.5 in
Torso Deflection Rate	5 MPH	6 MPH
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	65	189
Neck Tension	89 lbs.	134 lbs.
Neck Compression	67 lbs.	201 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Deflection	.55 in	1.02 in
Shoulder Force	178 lbs.	290 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.75 in	1.22 in
Torso Deflection Rate	4 MPH	10 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	580 lbs.	848 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Pathfinder its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Traverse last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

Warranty

The Pathfinder’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Traverse’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

Reliability

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Pathfinder has a standard 760-amp battery. The Traverse’s 600-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Nissan vehicles are more reliable than Chevrolet vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Nissan 5 places higher in reliability than Chevrolet.

Engine

As tested in Car and Driver the Nissan Pathfinder (base engine) is faster than the Chevrolet Traverse:

	Pathfinder	Traverse
Zero to 60 MPH	6.7 sec	6.8 sec

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Pathfinder gets better mileage than the Traverse:

			MPG
Pathfinder
	FWD	3.5 DOHC V6	20 city/27 hwy
	AWD	3.5 DOHC V6	21 city/27 hwy
		SL/Platinum 3.5 DOHC V6	20 city/25 hwy
		3.5 DOHC V6	20 city/23 hwy
Traverse
	FWD	3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/27 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	17 city/25 hwy

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Pathfinder’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Traverse:

	Pathfinder	Traverse
Front Rotors	13.8 inches	12.6 inches
Rear Rotors	13 inches	12.4 inches

The Pathfinder’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Traverse are solid, not vented.

The Pathfinder stops shorter than the Traverse:

	Pathfinder	Traverse
70 to 0 MPH	179 feet	183 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	130 feet	135 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

The Pathfinder’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Traverse’s standard 65 series tires. The Pathfinder’s optional tires have a lower 50 series profile than the Traverse’s optional 55 series tires.

Suspension and Handling

For greater off-road capability the Pathfinder Rock Creek has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Traverse (7.7 vs. 7.5 inches), allowing the Pathfinder to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The Pathfinder is 8.2 inches shorter than the Traverse, making the Pathfinder easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Pathfinder has 3.3 inches more front legroom, .2 inches more front hip room and .9 inches more third row shoulder room than the Traverse.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Pathfinder’s middle and third row seats recline. The Traverse’s third row seats don’t recline.

Cargo Capacity

The Pathfinder has a standard third row seat which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The Traverse doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Pathfinder. The Traverse doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

Towing

The Pathfinder’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Traverse’s (3500 vs. 1500 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the Chevrolet Traverse is only 5000 pounds. The Pathfinder offers up to a 6000 lbs. towing capacity.

Standard Trailer Sway Control on the Pathfinder uses the Vehicle Dynamic Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Traverse doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Ergonomics

The Pathfinder Platinum has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, navigation instruction and incoming text message readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Traverse doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Pathfinder’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Traverse’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open them fully. Only its driver’s window closes automatically.

The Pathfinder’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Traverse’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Pathfinder Platinum’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Pathfinder’s headlights were rated “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Traverse’s headlights are rated “Poor.”

The Pathfinder SV/Rock Creek/SL/Platinum has a standard center folding armrest for the middle row passengers. A center armrest helps make middle row passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The Traverse doesn’t offer a middle row seat center armrest.

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