The Nissan Path

Hello all. First time post from a newbie with his first Pathfinder. It's a 2012 Silver edition 4x4 bought used with just 20k miles. I traded in my loved yet aging 2007 Expedition EL on this thing and except for having to get accustomed to the downsizing, my wife and I are truly enjoying the vehicle although mileage could be better but I didn't go into that blind.

Anyway, I noticed with the factory 265/65-17's, the speedo reads 3 mph under. I have read the Pathfinder was actually calibrated for 265/70-17's and replacing the tires with this size fixes the speedo, although I can't really confirm that. Can anyone shed a little light on the subject for me? I'm looking at getting some Grabber's or Toyo's so I need to resolve this issue. This is our family hauler/road trip vehicle and my DD so I'm not going to do any major modifications, although I did remove those shin-busting running boards. My 2006 F150 is my mod-toy vehicle and she's coming along nicely.

Yeah, that seems to be the common opinion. From what members have been posting, Nissan seems to have made one speedometer calibration for both the 265/65-17's and the 265/70-17's, which was used on the SE Off Road models. The thinking is that Nissan chose on the side of caution as it's better to have them off a little under the speedometer reading than over, where speeding tickets might be an issue and present potential legal issues for Nissan. Those who check their speed with their GPS tend to report accurate readings with the 265/70's.

Okay. Thanks for that. I did more research and math and came to the conclusion that was the solution. Now I'm debating with myself on 265/70-17's or 245/75-17's.

smj999smj wrote:Nissan seems to have made one speedometer calibration for both the 265/65-17's and the 265/70-17's, which was used on the SE Off Road models.

265/75/16 on the SE OR. Speedo is right on the money.

Barjrob1972 wrote:Okay. Thanks for that. I did more research and math and came to the conclusion that was the solution. Now I'm debating with myself on 265/70-17's or 245/75-17's.

Please post back if you go with the 245/75R17. I've been thinking of running that exact size. The tire that I was looking at was the Hankook ATM.
Its a passenger tire like the factory tire so it will ride better than the load range E tires that many other tires in that size are. That will also make it a lighter tire to help save gas mileage.

Fargo wrote:

Barjrob1972 wrote:Okay. Thanks for that. I did more research and math and came to the conclusion that was the solution. Now I'm debating with myself on 265/70-17's or 245/75-17's.

Please post back if you go with the 245/75R17. I've been thinking of running that exact size. The tire that I was looking at was the Hankook ATM.
Its a passenger tire like the factory tire so it will ride better than the load range E tires that many other tires in that size are. That will also make it a lighter tire to help save gas mileage.

Will do but it may be awhile. I'm leaning hard toward a 245/75-17 P tire and was going to with a Toyo Open Country AT2 but they don't have that size in a P rated tire so I'll probably look at the Grabbers. With only 22k miles on the little truck I still have a lot of life left in the factory Bridgestone's so I'm going to try and run them out first. I may do the switch as winter gets closer but in Texas, that may not be until January or so. After I got a quote of $1k on the Toyo's, suddenly the factory Bridgestone's looked a lot better.
I'm taking a road trip to Sedona AZ in September - probably about 3000 miles after it's all said and done - so it will be a good time to stretch the legs on the Pathy and see how she runs and get a good read on the mileage. I was expecting at least 20 on the highway but so far I'm hitting in the high 18's with the way I drive.

Are there aftermarket tools that can re-calibrate the spedo for larger (or smaller) tires?

I haven't heard of any yet. Many Jeeps have that ability by use of a scantool, but Nissan, unfortunately, does not.

Barjrob1972 wrote:Anyway, I noticed with the factory 265/65-17's, the speedo reads 3 mph under. I have read the Pathfinder was actually calibrated for 265/70-17's and replacing the tires with this size fixes the speedo, although I can't really confirm that. Can anyone shed a little light on the subject for me?

Sounds like speculation to me. Who knows if its accurate or not. I would guess not as most manufacturers read above actual. Here is some good info regarding speedometer accuracy. http://www.caranddriver.com/features/sp ... er-scandal