Compare the2023 Nissan PathfinderVS 2023 Dodge Durango

Safety
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Recommendations

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 Dodge Durango doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Pathfinder are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Durango doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 Durango doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The Pathfinder Platinum has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Durango doesn’t offer front seat center 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 Durango doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Pathfinder 4WD’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Durango doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

The Pathfinder’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Durango and is not available with SXT.

The Pathfinder Rock Creek/SL/Platinum has a standard Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Durango only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

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 Durango doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Pathfinder and the Durango have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Nissan Pathfinder is safer than the Durango:

	Pathfinder	Durango
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Restraints	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Head injury index	109	119
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Steering Column Movement Rearward	0 cm	9 cm
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Max Chest Compression	25 cm	26 cm
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Femur Force R/L	.7/.3 kN	5.3/2.5 kN
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	6%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	GOOD	POOR
Tibia index R/L	.54/.36	1.53/.59
Tibia forces R/L	1.8/.8 kN	1.9/1.4 kN

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 Durango is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick.”

Reliability

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the Pathfinder have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Durango.

Engine

As tested in Car and Driver the Nissan Pathfinder (base engine) is faster than the Dodge Durango V6:

	Pathfinder	Durango
Zero to 60 MPH	6.7 sec	7.8 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	17.7 sec	20.9 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	7.1 sec	8.3 sec
Passing 30 to 50 MPH	3.5 sec	4.2 sec
Passing 50 to 70 MPH	4.8 sec	5.7 sec
Quarter Mile	15.3 sec	16 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	94 MPH	88 MPH
Top Speed	119 MPH	117 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

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

			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
Durango
	RWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy
		5.7 OHV V8	14 city/22 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/25 hwy
		5.7 OHV V8	14 city/22 hwy

Regardless of its engine, the Pathfinder’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. Dodge only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the Durango V6.

The Pathfinder has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Durango doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Transmission

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Nissan Pathfinder, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Durango.

Tires and Wheels

The Pathfinder has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Durango doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

The Pathfinder has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Pathfinder flat and controlled during cornering. The Durango’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Pathfinder is 2.9 inches wider in the front and 2.7 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Durango.

The Pathfinder SL handles at .80 G’s, while the Durango GT pulls only .75 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Pathfinder Platinum executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Durango GT 4x4 (28.4 seconds @ .59 average G’s vs. 28.8 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Pathfinder’s turning circle is 2.3 feet tighter than the Durango’s (38.7 feet vs. 41 feet).

Chassis

The Nissan Pathfinder may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 450 to 750 pounds less than the Dodge Durango.

The Pathfinder is 3.1 inches shorter than the Durango, making the Pathfinder easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Pathfinder has standard seating for 8 passengers; the Durango can only carry 7.

The Pathfinder has 6.6 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Durango (148 vs. 141.4).

The Pathfinder has 2.4 inches more front headroom, 4 inches more front legroom, 1.3 inches more front hip room, 2.3 inches more front shoulder room, .8 inches more rear hip room, 1.9 inches more rear shoulder room, 4.3 inches more third row hip room and 8 inches more third row shoulder room than the Durango.

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

Cargo Capacity

The Pathfinder’s cargo area provides more volume than the Durango.

	Pathfinder	Durango
Third Seat Folded	45 cubic feet	43.3 cubic feet

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

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Pathfinder Platinum’s liftgate can be opened just by waving your foot, leaving your hands completely free. The Durango doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

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 Durango doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Pathfinder’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Durango’s parking brake has to be released manually.

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 Durango’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

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 Durango’s headlights are rated “Marginal.”

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Pathfinder to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Durango doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Nissan Pathfinder SL/Platinum has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Durango doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Recommendations

The Nissan Pathfinder outsold the Dodge Durango by 2429 units during 2022.

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