Final time Nissan redesigned the Armada it was an enormous deal, and never only for the Nissan sellers who desperately wanted one thing that wasn’t greater than a decade outdated within the lineup. You see, for the 2017 mannequin yr, Nissan introduced over the SUV recognized in worldwide markets because the Patrol and gave it the Armada badge. Whereas the Patrol identify may not imply a lot right here, in different markets and amongst fanatics, it’s a legendary off-roader that offers the Toyota Land Cruiser an actual run for its cash.
Besides the 2017 Nissan Armada didn’t include a lot of the off-road goodies that made the Patrol right into a Land Cruiser rival. You possibly can all the time modify it and add these issues if you happen to actually wished to, however the Armada was way more targeted on getting a pile of youngsters round city than bashing sand dunes and crawling up rock faces.
For the brand new third-generation Armada, nevertheless, Nissan listened to the complaints, and now you can get an Armada Professional-4X that comes with an air suspension, steel skid plates and a locking rear differential identical to the remainder of the world will get with the Patrol. Clearly, Nissan isn’t messing round right here. For those who don’t plan to go off-roading in Moab anytime quickly, although, does the most recent redesign supply sufficient of an incentive for patrons to decide on the 2025 Armada over extra established rivals such because the Ford Expedition and Chevrolet Tahoe? And simply how good is that this factor off-road?
Full Disclosure: Nissan wished me to drive the brand new Armada so badly, it supplied to fly me to Nashville so I might drive it on the launch. I as a substitute elected to drive myself to avoid wasting time. Sadly, Nissan didn’t have a Z within the Atlanta fleet that I might use. Nissan additionally put me up in a really good room at a flowery resort in Franklin that grows its personal greens, purchased my meals and supplied loads of drinks.
From the skin, the 2025 Nissan Armada is what I might name generically good-looking. It seems to be good, however there additionally aren’t a whole lot of design components that basically stood out to me as notably distinctive or engaging. I even see a little bit Kia EV9 within the rear three-quarter view. All of it comes collectively in a reasonably cohesive design that, once more, I do like, no less than so far as three-row body-on-frame SUVs go. In addition to, whereas exterior design is vital, the cabin and the way the designers used the accessible house is way extra vital.
In that regard, I’m blissful to say Nissan positively succeeded. You don’t must take my phrase for it, both. Simply have a look at the photographs. To borrow a automobile author cliché, that cabin simply seems to be like a pleasant place to spend a while, and after spending a while behind the wheel I can affirm the Armada crew didn’t pull some type of bait-and-switch on us with inside supplies. It is good in there, particularly if you happen to spring for the highest trim ranges. A lot of the surfaces are coated in high quality supplies that each feel and look way more premium than you’d anticipate from an Expedition/Tahoe competitor. Plus, Nissan isn’t mendacity when it talks about how snug its so-called Zero Gravity seats are. These issues are incredible.
That mentioned, the brand new Armada doesn’t precisely make its Infiniti QX80 sibling irrelevant. Some patrons could have a look at a loaded Armada and resolve that it’s good sufficient, however whether or not we’re speaking in regards to the quilted leather-based seats or the supplies on the doorways and the sprint, you’ll be able to inform Nissan didn’t go all-out on luxurious. If that seems like a backhanded praise, it’s not alleged to be. I might argue it was an acceptable selection not solely to separate the Infiniti from the Nissan but in addition as a result of the Armada is more likely to tug household obligation, and youngsters destroy every thing they contact. Whereas loads good, the leather-based and different supplies really feel like they strike a pleasant steadiness of being sturdy and simple to scrub whereas additionally nonetheless feeling nicer than you most likely want.
Until you don’t like piano black. There’s a superb little bit of piano black within the heart console, and after I talked to considered one of Nissan’s staff about why that’s, they advised me designers like it, clients like it and because the fingerprints are comparatively simple to scrub off, the individuals who really don’t prefer it are a small minority. Personally, I feel all piano black plastic seems to be low-cost, however possibly that’s a part of why I failed at changing into a automobile designer, and the individuals who receives a commission to decide on inside supplies didn’t.
Fortunately, the Armada didn’t actually develop a lot between generations. It was already an enormous car and didn’t must get any larger, if solely from the attitude of the pedestrians who would take pleasure in not getting splattered all around the entrance finish like six-foot-tall grasshoppers. That mentioned, there actually is sufficient house to suit six adults, and the third row is broad sufficient that three adults might sit considerably comfortably in the event that they actually wanted to. After I piled into the Armada with a gaggle of different auto journalists, we match a 6-foot-4 journalist within the driver’s seat, my 5-foot-10 self within the second row, and a 6-foot journalist within the third row with out anybody’s knees banging in opposition to the seat in entrance of them. The third-row man’s head brushed the ceiling, but it surely was wonderful. He mentioned it was wonderful.
For those who do resolve to take 5 of your closest pals on a highway journey in your new Armada, although, they’re most likely going to want to pack mild. With the third row up, there’s actually solely room for 2 carryon baggage and some smaller objects. Then once more, that’s not a difficulty that’s distinctive to the Armada, and I don’t know if I need to drive an SUV that’s sufficiently big not just for six adults but in addition all of their baggage for a whole weekend. That’s what cargo packing containers are for.
Then once more, Nissan says the 20.4 cubic toes that you just do get behind the third row is about 25 p.c greater than you bought within the outgoing Armada, and with all three rows down, there’s a strong 97.1 cubic toes of house to your stuff. The Tahoe and Expedition do nonetheless have the sting on complete cargo quantity, though it’s value stating that the Armada has the Expedition beat with the third row in place. You may also decrease each the second and third row seats from the rear of the Armada, though solely the third row is power-operated, so that you’ll must manually carry the second-row seats again into place once you want them.
Underneath the hood you now not get a V8, which will probably be disappointing for individuals whose whole character is constructed round proudly owning a car with a V8, but it surely’s laborious to think about many different individuals will care. The dual-turbo 3.5-liter V6 makes 425 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, and the engine is type of associated to the V6 used within the venerable GT-R. It’s been up to date for truck obligation, so it’s not such as you’re getting the GT-R’s precise engine in your loved ones hauler, but when anybody provides you a tough time about driving a six-cylinder SUV, you don’t have to inform them that. Simply say it’s the GT-R engine and pressure them to determine how a lot of an exaggeration that’s.
In each on- and off-road driving, in addition to whereas towing, the engine and the nine-speed transmission it’s paired with make loads of energy. I wouldn’t name the Armada fast, but it surely will get out of its personal method with ease, and whereas it doesn’t sound fairly nearly as good because it most likely would with a V8, it ought to get higher gasoline mileage. The outgoing Armada acquired 15 mpg mixed, which formally Isn’t Nice even if you happen to’re the type of upper-middle-class household that may afford to drop $70,000 on a household car. The brakes, however, get the job executed however have the lengthy journey within the pedal that you just get in a whole lot of vans and SUVs, so that you’ll have to regulate your model if you happen to’re used to efficiency automobile brakes that seize laborious as quickly as you contact the brake pedal.
Talking of towing, each 2025 Armada comes with a tow score of 8,500 kilos and may be capable of deal with boat and journey trailer obligation with ease. With a shiny and scarily expensive Airstream hooked as much as the again, we weren’t precisely testing the boundaries of what the Armada might tow, but it surely was nonetheless a superb demonstration of how the SUV would behave whereas towing. I may affirm that whereas no quantity of expertise makes it so you’ll be able to’t really feel a trailer behind you, even dummies with restricted expertise ought to be capable of tow safely. Whether or not that needs to be allowed with out extra driver coaching is a wholly completely different query, but it surely’s not like Nissan wrote the legal guidelines that permit anybody who efficiently parallel parked a decade-old Toyota Corolla once they had been 16 to haul a ship or a journey trailer 20 years later.
Know-how is, after all, an enormous deal as of late, and Nissan has no plans to repeat the identical mistake Infiniti made when it launched the QX50 with an outdated infotainment system and no help for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. If you’d like tech options, the brand new Armada has them in spades. For instance, along with extra commonplace options — like help for wi-fi CarPlay and Android Auto, a surround-view digital camera system that helps make parking simpler, and heated, cooled and massaging entrance seats— the Armada additionally provides one thing that Nissan calls Biometric Cooling that makes use of infrared cameras to detect which passengers might have a little bit further air-con once they get in. Supposedly, it will assist your youngsters settle down once they get in after soccer observe, which is a neat concept, however I additionally drove the Armada on my own, so I do not know if it really works.
One notable characteristic that I used to be capable of take a look at was Nissan’s newest suite of superior driver-assistance applied sciences that it calls ProPilot Help 2.1. Solely supplied on SL, Platinum and Platinum Reserve trims, it permits for hands-free driving on mapped highways, and whereas I’d need to do extra intensive testing earlier than I say an excessive amount of, but it surely no less than dealt with to restricted freeway driving nicely sufficient that I wasn’t utterly freaked out after I took my arms off the wheel, and I get the sensation Tesla stans may have a tough time believing {that a} legacy automaker is even able to providing one thing like this. On Armadas with out ProPilot Help 2.1 or on roads that haven’t been mapped, you continue to get extra conventional ADAS options however must preserve your arms on the wheel whilst you’re driving.
I’m additionally an enormous fan of the optionally available head-up show which you can get on the brand new Armada. It’s shiny, simple to learn and most significantly, it shows turn-by-turn instructions even if you happen to’re utilizing Apple CarPlay or Android Auto for navigation. You possibly can most likely reside with out the HUD, however you’re already spending some huge cash on an enormous SUV, so why would you? It can make your life higher and in addition preserve you a little bit safer.
As for the precise screens, you get a 12.3-inch driver show and a 12.3-inch infotainment display commonplace, however if you happen to improve to the PRO-4X, Platinum or Platinum Reserve trims, these screens each develop to 14.3 inches. Perhaps that’s extra display than you need in your loved ones SUV, however Nissan skipped the development of tossing a mega-screen into the middle, and I recognize that. Consequently, you additionally get precise bodily controls, which makes me, a faithful knob-turner, very blissful. If solely Nissan had additionally taken my love of column shifters and distaste for push-button shifters into consideration when deciding how it’s best to put the transmission into gear.
Finally, it was time for my favourite a part of any press journey — the off-road course. As a automobile blogger, I’m robotically an out-of-touch coastal elite, however as somebody who grew up within the South all I actually need to do with any automobile I’m given is take it mudding. If solely it had been heat sufficient for me to put on my Budweiser tank high and American flag shorts. The frustration continued when Nissan’s crew advised us it had rained an excessive amount of to do a lot of the course they’d initially deliberate. Contemplating how slick the bottom was within the sections we had been nonetheless capable of drive, they had been most likely proper to name off the extra critical stuff, however that doesn’t imply I used to be blissful about it. I assume I’ll simply must plan an overlanding journey for when an Armada Professional-4X hits the Atlanta press fleet.
Whereas I wasn’t allowed to drive up the big hill that also seemed completely climbable, we had been no less than capable of do a number of issues that demonstrated simply how succesful the Professional-4X actually is. We’re speaking a few 6,000-pound, three-row SUV right here, so physics isn’t precisely your buddy, however locking the rear diff made simple work of what gave the impression to be a few 45-degree incline, and the front-facing digital camera made it simple to put the wheels even after I couldn’t see over the hood. In actual fact, you’ll be able to even activate an invisible hood mode that reveals the bottom underneath your automobile overlayed on a show that’s additionally sharp sufficient to actually see the place you’re going and what obstacles to keep away from.
One other part of the course concerned getting two wheels off the bottom, and even with all of the mud, the Armada barely even blinked. The air suspension additionally did a powerful job of smoothing out impacts and serving to the Armada really feel underneath management. I’m nicely conscious we had been in a fairly managed atmosphere driving over man-made obstacles that had been particularly designed with the Armada’s capabilities in thoughts, so it’s not like we had been pushing the boundaries of what it might do at any level, however I’m no less than snug saying the Armada will go far additional off-road than the overwhelming majority of Professional-4X patrons will ever want it to. Will it be capable of sort out Hell’s Revenge with the identical sense of ease? I don’t know, however possibly Nissan ought to help me find out.
If I needed to guess, although, the largest subject with off-roading the brand new Armada — apart from most house owners not wanting so as to add desert pinstripes to their paint — is solely going to be its dimension. This factor is huge, and whereas I didn’t hit something, a part of the path included a tree that I got here uncomfortably near scraping. Different drivers additionally got here inside a number of inches of that tree, too, so it wasn’t simply me. It is a lengthy, broad SUV, and whereas that might not be an issue within the desert, different trails are going to be a difficulty.
If solely Nissan had a smaller, narrower body-on-frame SUV in its lineup, maybe based mostly on the Frontier. You recognize, like a brand new Xterra. Since I couldn’t actually get a straight reply to why there’s no new Xterra, it most likely has to do with cash and inside politics, however come on, Nissan. A brand new Xterra would print cash, and I imply that severely, not tongue-in-cheek like my earlier plans for a Miata However Larger and the truck-like Challenger Rampage. Perhaps if sufficient individuals purchase Armadas, Nissan will lastly find the money for to offer us the Xterra we’ve been clamoring for. Both that, or it’s popping out quickly, and everybody who advised me they wished that was within the playing cards is only a rattling good liar has one heck of a poker face.
Contemplating how a lot nicer the brand new Armada is, you’d most likely anticipate it to be a superb bit costlier than the outgoing mannequin, however the base SV mannequin really has the identical beginning worth no matter whether or not you get rear ($56,520) or four-wheel drive ($59,520). Nevertheless, Nissan says it expects the SL model to be the quantity vendor, and that one begins at $62,970 plus an additional $3,000 if you need 4WD. The Professional-4X, however, begins at $73,740, whereas a 4WD Platinum Reserve will set you again $79,900.
These costs definitely aren’t precisely low, however they’re additionally in keeping with what you’d anticipate on this section. A base Tahoe is a number of thousand {dollars} extra, whereas the Expedition begins about $1,000 beneath the Armada. And in the end, I get the sensation Nissan goes to have a tougher time getting individuals to check drive the brand new Armada than it can convincing those that do to tug the set off. The advertising line about it being a extra reasonably priced Infiniti QX80 could have come instantly from Nissan, however I purchase it. The 2025 Nissan Armada simply feels nicer than its rivals, and that may most likely promote extra of them than the locking rear differential, underbody safety or the truth that it’s now only a Patrol with a special identify.
