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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