Rugged Nissan Pathfinder gets V8, upgrades

It seems a vanishing act is underway for truck-like body-on-frame SUVs, especially since the heyday of the sport utility in the mid-90s. But Nissan is one company that still builds two tough SUVs: the com-pact Xterra and the more upscale mid-sized Pathfinder. The current Jekyll-and-Hyde transfor-mation of the Pathfinder is in the fourth year of its most recent configuration.

Nissan has slammed its 5.6-liter V8 into the endowed 4.0-liter V6 at 6,000.

Standard stuff includes full power accessories, air conditioning, 16-inch alloy wheels, cruise control, keyless entry and an audio system with CD player.

O p t i o n a l l y, there’s also an upgraded Bose sound system, a power moonroof, Bluetooth con-nectivity and a hard-drive-based navigation system that can also store music files.