To achieve this, the Pathfinder's underpinnings have been dramatically altered. Its predecessor's car-like unibody, where the various body panels and connectives give the chassis its form and rigidity, has been replaced by truck-like body-on-frame construction based on a ladder-type frame adapted from the car maker's full-size Armada SUV and Titan pickup. Thus, if the new Pathfinder looks larger, that's because it is, by six inches in overall length, and by five inches in wheelbase. It's an inch wider, too, and almost five inches taller.

Similarly, the bloodlines of the bold, brash front end draw directly on the Armada and Titan, closely mirroring as well the new midsize Frontier pickup. Angular chrome verticals bracket the familiar Nissan logo centered in the grille. Crisply outlined headlight lenses fold around the edges of the fenders. A strong, chin-like bumper houses a wide, low air intake, with small, round sockets for the optional fog lights just inboard of the fender blister creases.

From the side, those fender blisters encircle substantial tires and give substance to the mostly smooth body panels. The trademark sloping C-pillars with high-mounted rear door handles are angled less severely. The roof line, mimicking the Armada's, bows slightly over the forward passenger compartment then flattens aft of the C-pillar. A vertical track carried over from the previous generation splits the rear side door windows allowing the forward two-thirds of the glass to lower fully into the door, a nice feature. Short overhangs front and rear spotlight the new Pathfinder's off-road promise. Openings in the ends of the roof rails at first seem mere styling exercises, but actually offer convenient hand-holds when loading and offloading sport gear.

The rear bumper copies the larger Armada's, with a low lift-over between upturns at each end tying into the large taillights. The backlight's (or rear windscreen's) bottom edge tracks the bumper's geometry as part of an elongated pentagonal outline, picking up on the geometric theme first appearing on the company's more assertive off-roader, the Xterra.