Compare the2026 Hyundai PalisadeVS 2025 Nissan Pathfinder

For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Palisade 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 Nissan Pathfinder doesn’t offer height-adjustable middle seat belts.

Both the Palisade and Pathfinder have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Palisade has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Pathfinder’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Hyundai Palisade achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Nissan Pathfinder has not been tested.

The Hyundai Palisade’s rear backup camera has a standard washer for maintaining a clear view under various conditions. In contrast, the Nissan Pathfinder does not offer a rear camera washer, meaning its effectiveness relies on manual cleaning by the user when necessary.

Both the Palisade and Pathfinder have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Palisade has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Pathfinder’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Palisade and the Pathfinder have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, front seat center airbag, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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, driver alert monitors, 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 Hyundai Palisade is safer than the Pathfinder:

The Palisade comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Pathfinder’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Palisade 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Nissan covers the Pathfinder. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Pathfinder ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Palisade’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Pathfinder’s (7 vs. 5 years).

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 2 places higher in reliability than Nissan.

The Palisade’s standard 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 3 more horsepower (287 vs. 284) and 1 lbs.-ft. more torque (260 vs. 259) than the Pathfinder’s standard 3.5 DOHC V6. The Palisade’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 34 more horsepower (329 vs. 295) and 69 lbs.-ft. more torque (339 vs. 270) than the Pathfinder Rock Creek’s standard 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Motor Trend the Hyundai Palisade Hybrid is faster than the Nissan Pathfinder (standard engine):

Regenerative brakes improve the Palisade Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Pathfinder doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Palisade uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Pathfinder Rock Creek requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Palisade has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Pathfinder. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Palisade higher (6 out of 10) than the Nissan Pathfinder (4). This means the Palisade produces up to 12.1 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Pathfinder every 15,000 miles.

The Palisade stops shorter than the Pathfinder:

For better traction, the Palisade Calligraphy’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Pathfinder (265/45R21 vs. 255/60R18).

The Palisade Calligraphy’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Pathfinder’s optional 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Palisade Calligraphy has standard 21-inch wheels. The Pathfinder’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

The Palisade has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Pathfinder’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Palisade has a standard automatic rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The Pathfinder doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

The Palisade’s drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Pathfinder doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Palisade’s wheelbase is 2.7 inches longer than on the Pathfinder (116.9 inches vs. 114.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Palisade is .7 inches wider in the front and 1.1 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Pathfinder.

The Palisade Calligraphy HTRAC handles at .83 G’s, while the Pathfinder SL pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Palisade Calligraphy HTRAC executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.2 seconds quicker than the Pathfinder Platinum (27.2 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Palisade has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Pathfinder (7.4 vs. 7.1 inches), allowing the Palisade to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Palisade XRT PRO’s minimum ground clearance is .7 inch higher than on the Pathfinder Rock Creek (8.4 vs. 7.7 inches).

The design of the Hyundai Palisade amounts to more than styling. The Palisade offers aerodynamic coefficients of drag from .31 to .35 Cd (depending on bodystyle and options). That is lower than the Pathfinder (.34 to .355) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Palisade get better fuel mileage.

The front grille of the Palisade uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Pathfinder doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Palisade has 13.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Pathfinder (161.9 vs. 148.5).

The Palisade has .5 inches more front hip room, .6 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear headroom, 7.5 inches more rear legroom, .4 inches more rear hip room, 1.4 inches more rear shoulder room and 4.1 inches more third row legroom than the Pathfinder.

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

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Palisade’s second row seats and pressing a button automatically lowers or raises the Palisade Limited/Calligraphy’s third row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Pathfinder doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Palisade’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Pathfinder’s (5000 vs. 3500 pounds).

The Palisade uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Pathfinder uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

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 Palisade’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Pathfinder’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The Palisade’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Nissan only offers heated mirrors on the Pathfinder SV/Rock Creek/SL/Platinum.

The Palisade SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy/Hybrid’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Pathfinder offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Palisade SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy/Hybrid has standard heated front seats and second and third row heated seats also available, which keep the driver and passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Nissan doesn’t offer heated seats in the third row of the Pathfinder.

The Palisade SEL Premium/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy/Hybrid has standard front air conditioned seats and the Palisade SEL Premium/Limited/Calligraphy/Hybrid also has them in the second row. This keeps the passengers comfortable and takes the sting out of hot seats in summer. The Pathfinder doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats for the second row.

The Palisade Calligraphy has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Pathfinder.

The Palisade Calligraphy’s Remote Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Pathfinder doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Palisade as the 2026 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. The Pathfinder has never been chosen.

The Hyundai Palisade outsold the Nissan Pathfinder by 39% during 2024.