One of our family traditions is a big year-end crab feed. Equipped with an ice chest, mom and I loaded ourselves into the 2012 Nissan Quest LE and set off downhill to the fish market in nearby Gold Beach to pick up some fresh Dungeness crab.
The Quest makes the trip down the narrow and twisting Carpenterville Road a piece of cake, thanks to ample suspension travel to soak up the slumping asphalt. The ride is admirably smooth and comfortable thanks to springs and dampers that are neither too firm nor too soft.
But none of this means the Quest handles like a soggy fish. All the while it carves through the numerous tight corners with reassuring accuracy, if not speed -- this is, after all, a minivan, not a 370Z.. The direct and well-weighted steering that felt good on the open road on the trip up from California proves to be just as well suited to this sort of terrain.
And the CVT transmission remains impressive over the rollercoaster of tight corners, short uphill bursts and longer grades. The very seamlessness of the thing only adds to the impression that the Quest is effortlessly gliding along.
The only thing this CVT seems to lack is something akin to a first gear hold for the ultra-steep twisting downhill that is my parents half-mile driveway; the provided "O/D off" and "L" settings don't cut it, leaving me no choice but to ride the brakes instead.
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Categories: 2012 Nissan Quest LE
Yeah, we've been out and about in our 2012 Nissan Quest for more than three days, but the last couple don't count because we sat planted in one place, exchanging gifts and stuffing our faces. That we were doing so in Bend, Oregon was a huge plus.
Today we got back on the road and headed for Christmas II at my folks place on the Oregon coast just north of Brookings near a place called Pistol River.
Between here and there sits Crater Lake National Park, but with no time to stop we skirted along its northern flank on our way over the Cascade range. The steady climb up highway 138 started out dry enough, but it quickly turned to slush, patchy ice and, near the 5,400-foot summit, snow. That we got through without a cracked windshield from scattered patches of pumice laid down by ODOT snowplows was something of a minor miracle.
This was by no means a severe test, and there was certainly less snow than we found the last time we came through in our long-term Ford Flex. But the front-drive Quest and its all-season tires did manage to make the Bend-area locals and their studded tires look a little silly. (Actually, long-time Bend natives scoff at the studded rubber, too, attributing their popularity to Southern California transplants that have never heard of Blizzaks, apparently.)
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Categories: 2012 Nissan Quest LE
We have arrived in Bend, Oregon, the first of two holiday stops on this trip. The 2012 Nissan Quest cruised uneventfully up Oregon's highway 97, deposting us at our destination with nary a sore butt or wrenched back.
This is far from the usual result. My wife and I almost never find the same seats comfortable, but that's the case here. They're supportive, well-bolstered and are just soft enough. Each has its own adjustable inside armrests and the front pair are toasted by excellent two-stage seat heaters.
Before we hit the road for this last leg, however, we made a brief stop to pick up a little something for our hosts.
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Categories: 2012 Nissan Quest LE
Day one of our Oregon holiday trip saw the 2012 Nissan Quest make it 650 miles up the road to Mt. Shasta, California. The night chill certainly makes it feel like December up here, but the weak coating of snow on this southernmost member of the Cascade range looks more like late spring.
Nearly all of the trip took place on the I-5 freeway, save for a self-imposed 100-mile detour we took onto the northern stretch of highway 99 to avoid construction delays on the interstate. Strong head- and crosswinds belted us wherever we went all day, but the Nissan Quest didn't seem to notice and tracked straight and true.
In fact the Quest's steering is emerging as a strong suit. It's nicely weighted, precise (but not to a nervous and over-sensitive degree) and the on-center position is well-defined. And the steering wheel rim has a nice heft to it. All day I was reminded of the Infiniti QX-56, a big SUV I enjoyed far more than I expected on the way to Mammoth a couple summers ago.
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Categories: 2012 Nissan Quest LE
It's that time of year again. Time to pick a vehicle to head north to Oregon for the holidays. The recent arrival of our new 2012 Nissan Quest LE made the choice easy.
How well does it go down the road? Will the seats be comfy over the long haul? And what about the Quest's atypical (for a minivan) seat folding strategy?
In loading our stuff, I've already begun to form an opinion on that last point. The second and third rows fold forward, on top of themselves, which eliminates the "where to store them?" question for the second row while creating a level floor. Thing is, that floor is higher than other minivans by the approximate thickness of those folded seats.
My daughters are of course sitting in the second row seats on this trip, so this middle row strategy doesn't help me any, as the Quest's higher load floor extends all the way to the back, where the highish liftover comes across a bit like a crossover. That said, the tall, boxy Quest has plenty of usable space in the cargo area (and in a hidden underfloor compartment) for what we're carrying this time out.
TIme to close the hatch and hit the road. Should be interesting.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehilce Testing @ 1,067 miles
Categories: 2012 Nissan Quest LE
We've added another minivan to our long-term test fleet, the 2012 Nissan Quest. Our time with the Toyota Sienna is almost up, which will quickly be followed by the departure of our Honda Odyssey.
We opted for the LE top-of-the-line trim level which includes a blind-spot warning system, navigation, rear-seat entertainment and more.
Read the full introduction of the 2012 Nissan Quest LE on Inside Line.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2012 Nissan Quest LE
