2016 Nissan Quest

Inside, the Quest keeps more to the standard minivan passenger-friendly and utilitarian themes, though it feels almost modern-retro Japanese with its plain-looking LCD displays and stacking of rectangles. There's a mix of wood and shiny gray plastic trim pieces throughout the interior, making the Quest feel a little upscale at times, and a little unfinished at others. The transmission lever lines up vertically on the center stack, and it blocks the driver's view of some knobs and buttons.

Atop these controls, Nissan parks an LCD screen. The screen offered on mid-level models is a 5.0-inch LCD. On top models the screen grows to 8.0 inches and incorporates more audio and navigation controls. A deck of buttons sits at the screens’ feet, piano-key style. If you're not accustomed to playing, you'll wish you'd studied as you figure out the Quest's audio controls.

That said, the Quest still a minivan, and as direct as its steering can be, and as well as it damps out road surfaces, it corners and accelerates with almost nothing but safety in mind. It doesn't bound over long bumps like the Chrysler minivans, though, and its near-equal curb weight seems to be damped more effectively.

The Quest is powered by Nissan's 3.5-liter V-6, which produces 260 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque. It's a little smoother and little quieter than most of the cars in the lineup with the same engine, and the minivan never feels strained for power.

Even the continuously variable transmission (CVT) works well here, thanks in part to Nissan's D-Step shift logic. While CVTs often feel sluggish to respond and amplify noise and vibration, the stepped "gears" help it feel fairly responsive in the Quest. Then again, minivans don't require, or even encourage, sporty driving, so sometimes slow CVT responses to throttle inputs aren't a concern.

In either the second or third rows, the seats themselves are nicely angled and supportive, but they don't move. The seatbacks just fold over when more cargo area is needed. That, plus a relatively high load floor, make the Quest feel small inside. The seats fold easily enough, thanks to levers and pull straps. However, if you order the power assist for the third-row seat, know that it stops short of raising the seat all the way. Oddly, it gives up at the vertical position, leaving owners to use a cloth strap to finish the job.

The seats don't store in the floor, and that cuts into cargo volume. In all, the Quest has 35 cubic feet behind its third-row seats, 64 cubic feet with the third row folded, and 108 cubic feet with the second row folded. The new Kia Sedona has folding second-row seats like the Quest, but still offers up 32/80/142 cubic feet of space, respectively. The Chryslers have their class-leading, fold-in-the-floor seats on some models, and with them, they can boast of 33/83/144 cubic feet. The humongous Sienna's numbers are 39/87/150 cubic feet of space with the second-row seats folded up and the third row tucked away. The Odyssey is almost as big, with 38/93/149 cubic feet of space behind the respective rows.

Other compromises are less noticeable, but they're there. There's no telescoping steering wheel, though the high seating position makes the most of the situation. The Quest offers up 16 cup and bottle holders, but the pop-out pair under the radio are big enough only for cans.

In terms of overall length and wheelbase, the Quest isn't that much smaller than the Chrysler minivans, the Toyota Sienna, or the Honda Odyssey. At 200.8 inches long, on a 118.1-inch wheelbase, it's reasonably close to those competitors in almost every dimension. Where it loses out is interior volume. Its fixed seats take up space where a good fold-away third-row seat would leave a flatter cargo floor, and where the Chrysler vans' fold-away second-row seats would win the functionality wars, every time.

The Quest has few other flaws. Up front, there's ample leg room and head room, and large adults will fit comfortably in its plushly upholstered buckets. The view ahead reminds us a lot of the first Japanese minivans that came to the U.S. in the 1980s, with a flat dash structure that makes for easy entry and exit, along with wide doors.

Tire-pressure monitors are standard as well, and Nissan's are unique in that they beep a warning at drivers when a tire is low.

The Quest SV is the most popular model and our recommendation, since it bundles the most convenient features at the lowest price. Starting from the low-$30,000s, this model has standard Bluetooth, a USB port, power sliding side doors, a rearview camera, automatic climate control, and a 4.3-inch LCD audio display. The audio system deserves some study before buying. It's split into two locations, with some controls clustered under the LCD screen, and the rest tucked away near the gear selector. It can be confusing to scroll through audio functions up top, and to select radio presets and volume levels below.

In the $35,000 range, the Quest SL verges on luxury territory, with standard 18-inch wheels, power tailgate, leather seating, a power front passenger seat, heated mirrors, heated front seats, and automatic headlights. At nearly $44,000, the Quest Platinum gains a standard navigation system, satellite radio, power assist for the third-row seat, a DVD entertainment system with a sharp 11-inch screen, blind-spot monitors, a surround-view camera system, and xenon headlights.

The Quest offers few options. The DVD player is available for the SV and SL, while a Bose speaker package is offered for the SL. Satellite radio is offered on mid-line Quests. Dual sunroofs are available on the SL and Platinum models. The Quest has mostly skipped other cutting-edge luxury features, like Chrysler's Uconnect wireless hotspot or Toyota's wide-screen DVD entertainment system.

Chrysler's newest Pacifica manages the same 23 combined mark, but will surpass the Quest when it releases a plug-in hybrid version of the Pacifica later this year.