we're outside of Baltimore with
motorWeek to figure out what's the best
three-row SUV of 2016
we spent a week putting eight
competitors to the test here's how they
did the contenders are the dodge durango
ford explorer GMC acadia on the pilot
hyundai santafe kia sorento mazda cx-9
and nissan pathfinder the pathfinder has
a lot of potential
it's got some things going for it very
comfortable seats are comfortable
interior is very bright and airy but on
the downside of that comfortableness
because it really kind of roly-poly
flimsy feel on the road and the cbt well
it's much better than it used to be is
still very droney when it comes to
engine noise coming out of that the
pathfinder has been refreshed for 2017
however they dipped it in a bucket of
bland it has a boring exterior the
inside is somehow even more boring
looking and it just doesn't stand out
from the crowd the Pathfinders dashboard
is filled with buttons and knobs and the
busy interface wasn't that easy to use
the hyundai santa fe doesn't feel quite
as refined as some of the other ones in
this group but it does make up for it
with a boatload of features for the
price for just over 43,000 dollars the
Santa Fe comes with adaptive cruise
control and lane departure warning
these are great safety features to help
keep you safe on the road
typical hyundai with the Saturday you
get a lot of features for the money but
the material quality maybe not the best
quality certainly not the best and is
for me anyway the seats by far the least
comfortable in the Explorer it's a
multi-step process to fold the third row
seats into the floor you have to pull
the straps in a certain sequence to get
it to flip and tumble the design of the
Explorers folding third row is different
than the competition and it gives it a
deeper cargo space when all seats are up
the new sink system really nails it
it took what had been a deal breaker and
makes it potentially a dealmaker the
Explorer only has USB ports in the first
row so that leaves the second and third
row passengers fighting to get some time
with that charger the Durango's more
truck like appearance and a macho brass
monkey package that it had on it clearly
made it 23 row with attitude in this
group one of things I didn't like about
the Drago's it feels large and the most
truck like of the models we tested the
Durango's you connect touchscreen
multimedia system remains one of the
easier ones to use in this class in the
dodge durango there's a great button in
the multimedia system and what it does
is it allows you to fold down the third
row head restraints while you're sitting
in the front row
that's great because it really improves
rear visibility with its latest redesign
there's a lot to like about the cx-9 the
interior materials very nice and as
always it has one of the best mix of
ride and handling of the group the CX
nights turbo-4 and tight chassis make it
the driver's choice among these three
rows but it does so at the expense of
small cabin noise and kind of a busy
ride on the downside of the cx-9 the
dash layout doesn't really work for me
looks very awkward screen kind of
sticking up out of nowhere controller
hard to use the cx-9 doesn't give you as
many amenities for the money there's a
small sunroof there's no vented front
seats it doesn't have apple carplay or
Android auto while the sorrento shares
the mechanicals with its corporate
cousin hyundai santafe i think it may
have beaten it in terms of better ride
and a quieter cabin longer road trips
will be a breeze in the sorrento with
its supportive comfortable front-row
seats that are heated and cooled limited
legroom and Nehru made the Sorrento's
third row one of the least comfortable
in our tests in the sorrento you'll need
to pack light
there's only 11.3 cubic feet of cargo
space behind the third row acadia has
pretty much all of the attack and safety
features you could want and probably one
of the best ride quality hear what I
don't like about it is they've made a
lot smaller now and so there's a lot
less room especially for cargo and i
feel like i'm paying just as much for a
lot
kitty is about 600 pounds lighter and
little more than seven inches shorter
and overall length it finally gives GM a
direct competitor to the market leaders
in this segment in the acadia there's a
button that allows parents to lock out
the rear climate controls its for those
times when the kids can't stop pushing
the buttons and they're driving you
crazy while legroom in the second row is
plentiful in the acadia in the third row
it's really tight so you better hope
that the person in the second row is
willing to share
I'm six feet tall and I couldn't find a
good spot the kitty a steering wheel
that didn't block the instrument panel
the pilot wasn't necessarily the most
fun to drive in this group but excels at
what I think are the factors that
probably will be most important to
buyers in this segment it has really
smartly designed family features
throughout the vehicle
it also has lots of space for people to
spread out lots of cargo room and you
get a receipt entertainment system at
this price I like tell the pilot
second-row seat moves out of the way
easily just by pushing a button in the
pilot there's a one-touch button that
allows the person in the third row to
push it and slide the second-row seats
forward creating an easy path way out of
the car to see the complete results go
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