Compare the2024 Nissan PathfinderVS 2022 Honda Pilot

Safety
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
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 Honda Pilot 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 Pilot 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 Pilot doesn’t offer knee airbags.

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 Pilot 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 Pilot 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 Pilot doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

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 Pilot 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 Pilot doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

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

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Nissan Pathfinder is safer than the Honda Pilot:

	Pathfinder	Pilot
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.6 inches	.6 inches
Neck Compression	93 lbs.	478 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	236/309 lbs.	478/436 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Nissan Pathfinder is safer than the Honda Pilot:

	Pathfinder	Pilot
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	84	109
Hip Force	244 lbs.	269 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	88	233
Spine Acceleration	33 G’s	42 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	14 inches	15 inches
HIC	234	406
Spine Acceleration	37 G’s	45 G’s
Hip Force	466 lbs.	838 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

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 much safer than the Pilot:

	Pathfinder	Pilot
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Structure	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	125	206
Neck Tension	268 lbs.	335 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Deflection	.63 in	.67 in
Torso Max Deflection	.94 in	1.22 in
Torso Deflection Rate	5 MPH	5 MPH
Pelvis Force	1160 lbs.	1339 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	65	206
Neck Tension	89 lbs.	178 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	MARGINAL
Shoulder Deflection	.55 in	.94 in
Shoulder Force	178 lbs.	335 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.75 in	2.05 in
Torso Deflection Rate	4 MPH	12 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	580 lbs.	759 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 Pilot last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2019.

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Pathfinder’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Pilot’s camshafts. If the Pilot’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Pathfinder has a standard 150-amp alternator. The Pilot’s 130-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 10 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated lower.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are more reliable than Honda With 25 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Nissan higher than Honda.

Engine

The Pathfinder’s standard 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 4 more horsepower (284 vs. 280) than the Pilot’s 3.5 SOHC V6. The Pathfinder Rock Creek’s standard 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 15 more horsepower (295 vs. 280) and 8 lbs.-ft. more torque (270 vs. 262) than the Pilot’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Pathfinder 4WD with its standard engine gets better fuel mileage than the Pilot 4WD (21 city/27 hwy vs. 19 city/26 hwy).

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Nissan Pathfinder higher (5 out of 10) than the Honda Pilot (3). This means the Pathfinder produces up to 16.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Pilot every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Pathfinder	Pilot
Front Rotors	13.8 inches	12.6 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 Pilot are solid, not vented.

The Pathfinder stops shorter than the Pilot:

	Pathfinder	Pilot
70 to 0 MPH	179 feet	183 feet	Car and Driver

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Pathfinder has larger tires than the Pilot (255/60R18 vs. 245/60R18).

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Pathfinder’s wheelbase is 3.2 inches longer than on the Pilot (114.2 inches vs. 111 inches).

For better maneuverability, the Pathfinder’s turning circle is .7 feet tighter than the Pilot’s (38.7 feet vs. 39.4 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Pathfinder Rock Creek has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Pilot (7.7 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the Pathfinder to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Passenger Space

The Pathfinder has 2.8 inches more front headroom, 3.4 inches more front legroom, 2.1 inches more third row hip room and .8 inches more third row shoulder room than the Pilot.

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Honda Pilot is limited to 5000 pounds. The Pathfinder offers up to a 6000 lbs. towing capacity.

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 Pilot 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 Pilot’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Pathfinder and the Pilot have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Pathfinder is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Pilot prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

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

The Pathfinder’s power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The Pilot’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.