Final time Nissan redesigned the Armada it was a giant deal, and never only for the Nissan sellers who desperately wanted one thing that wasn’t greater than a decade outdated within the lineup.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 many 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 when you actually needed to, however the Armada was way more targeted on getting a pile of children 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 similar to the remainder of the world will get with the Patrol. Clearly, Nissan isn’t messing round right here. Should you don’t plan to go off-roading in Moab anytime quickly, although, does the most recent redesign provide 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 needed 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 an alternative 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 elaborate 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 good, however there additionally aren’t a number of design components that actually stood out to me as notably distinctive or enticing. I even see a bit of Kia EV9 within the rear three-quarter view. All of it comes collectively in a reasonably cohesive design that, once more, I do like, a minimum of 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 much extra vital.
In that regard, I’m glad to say Nissan positively succeeded. You don’t should take my phrase for it, both. Simply have a look at the images. To borrow a automobile author cliché, that cabin simply seems like a pleasant place to spend a while, and after spending a while behind the wheel I can verify the Armada crew didn’t pull some type of bait-and-switch on us with inside supplies. It is good in there, particularly when you spring for the highest trim ranges. A lot of the surfaces are lined in high quality supplies that each feel and look much 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 improbable.
That stated, the brand new Armada doesn’t precisely make its Infiniti QX80 sibling irrelevant. Some patrons might have a look at a loaded Armada and resolve that it’s good sufficient, however whether or not we’re speaking concerning 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 appears like a backhanded praise, it’s not presupposed to be. I might argue it was an acceptable alternative not solely to separate the Infiniti from the Nissan but in addition as a result of the Armada is more likely to drag household responsibility, and youngsters destroy all the pieces they contact. Whereas lots 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.
Except you don’t like piano black. There’s a superb little bit of piano black within the middle console, and once I talked to one in every of Nissan’s staff about why that’s, they instructed me designers find it irresistible, prospects find it irresistible and for the reason that fingerprints are comparatively straightforward to scrub off, the individuals who actually don’t prefer it are a small minority. Personally, I believe all piano black plastic seems low cost, however perhaps that’s a part of why I failed at turning 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 a large automobile and didn’t have to get any greater, if solely from the angle of the pedestrians who would get pleasure from not getting splattered everywhere in the entrance finish like six-foot-tall grasshoppers. That stated, there actually is sufficient house to suit six adults, and the third row is large 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 positive. He stated it was positive.
Should you do resolve to take 5 of your closest associates on a highway journey in your new Armada, although, they’re most likely going to want to pack gentle. With the third row up, there’s actually solely room for 2 carryon baggage and some smaller gadgets. Then once more, that’s not a problem that’s distinctive to the Armada, and I don’t know if I need to drive an SUV that’s large enough not just for six adults but in addition all of their baggage for a complete weekend. That’s what cargo bins are for.
Then once more, Nissan says the 20.4 cubic toes that you simply do get behind the third row is about 25 % greater than you bought within the outgoing Armada, and with all three rows down, there’s a stable 97.1 cubic toes of house on your stuff. The Tahoe and Expedition do nonetheless have the sting on complete cargo quantity, though it’s value declaring that the Armada has the Expedition beat with the third row in place. It’s also possible to 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 should manually elevate the second-row seats again into place once you want them.
Below the hood you not get a V8, which shall be disappointing for individuals whose whole character is constructed round proudly owning a automobile with a V8, but it surely’s exhausting 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 responsibility, so it’s not such as you’re getting the GT-R’s actual engine in your loved ones hauler, but when anybody offers 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 power 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 manner with ease, and whereas it doesn’t sound fairly pretty much as good because it most likely would with a V8, it ought to get higher fuel mileage. The outgoing Armada obtained 15 mpg mixed, which formally Isn’t Nice even when you’re the type of upper-middle-class household that may afford to drop $70,000 on a household automobile. The brakes, however, get the job completed however have the lengthy journey within the pedal that you simply get in a number of vehicles and SUVs, so that you’ll have to regulate your type when you’re used to efficiency automobile brakes that seize exhausting 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 responsibility with ease. With a shiny and scarily dear 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 verify that whereas no quantity of know-how 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 further driver coaching is a completely 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.
Expertise is, in fact, a giant deal nowadays, and Nissan has no plans to repeat the identical mistake Infiniti made when it launched the QX50 with an outdated infotainment system and no assist for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. In order for you tech options, the brand new Armada has them in spades. For instance, along with extra normal options — like assist for wi-fi CarPlay and Android Auto, a surround-view digicam 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 bit of additional air-con once they get in. Supposedly, this can assist your youngsters quiet down once they get in after soccer apply, which is a neat thought, however I additionally drove the Armada on my own, so I don’t know if it really works.
One notable function 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 a minimum of dealt with to restricted freeway driving properly sufficient that I wasn’t fully freaked out once I took my palms 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 should preserve your palms on the wheel when you’re driving.
I’m additionally a giant fan of the non-compulsory head-up show you could get on the brand new Armada. It’s vibrant, straightforward to learn and most significantly, it shows turn-by-turn instructions even when you’re utilizing Apple CarPlay or Android Auto for navigation. You may most likely reside with out the HUD, however you’re already spending some huge cash on a giant SUV, so why would you? It is going to make your life higher and likewise preserve you a bit of safer.
As for the precise screens, you get a 12.3-inch driver show and a 12.3-inch infotainment display screen normal, however when you improve to the PRO-4X, Platinum or Platinum Reserve trims, these screens each develop to 14.3 inches. Perhaps that’s extra display screen than you need in your loved ones SUV, however Nissan skipped the development of tossing a mega-screen into the middle, and I admire that. Consequently, you additionally get precise bodily controls, which makes me, a loyal knob-turner, very glad. If solely Nissan had additionally taken my love of column shifters and distaste for push-button shifters under consideration when deciding how you must 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 prime and American flag shorts. The frustration continued when Nissan’s crew instructed us it had rained an excessive amount of to do many 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 severe stuff, however that doesn’t imply I used to be glad about it. I assume I’ll simply should 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 appeared completely climbable, we had been a minimum of capable of do just a few issues that demonstrated simply how succesful the Professional-4X actually is. We’re speaking a couple of 6,000-pound, three-row SUV right here, so physics isn’t precisely your pal, however locking the rear diff made straightforward work of what gave the impression to be a couple of 45-degree incline, and the front-facing digicam made it straightforward to put the wheels even once I couldn’t see over the hood. The truth is, you’ll be able to even activate an invisible hood mode that exhibits the bottom below 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 formidable job of smoothing out impacts and serving to the Armada really feel below management. I’m properly conscious we had been in a fairly managed setting 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 a minimum of 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 deal with Hell’s Revenge with the identical sense of ease? I don’t know, however perhaps Nissan ought to help me to find out.
If I needed to guess, although, the largest challenge with off-roading the brand new Armada — except for most house owners not wanting so as to add desert pinstripes to their paint — is just going to be its measurement. This factor is massive, 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 just a few inches of that tree, too, so it wasn’t simply me. This can be a lengthy, large SUV, and whereas that will not be an issue within the desert, different trails are going to be a problem.
If solely Nissan had a smaller, narrower body-on-frame SUV in its lineup, maybe primarily based on the Frontier. You already know, 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 critically, 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 come up with the money for to present us the Xterra we’ve been clamoring for. Both that, or it’s popping out quickly, and everybody who instructed 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). Nonetheless, Nissan says it expects the SL model to be the amount vendor, and that one begins at $62,970 plus an additional $3,000 in order for you 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 just a few thousand {dollars} extra, whereas the Expedition begins about $1,000 under the Armada. And finally, 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 drag the set off. The advertising line about it being a extra inexpensive Infiniti QX80 might have come immediately from Nissan, however I purchase it. The 2025 Nissan Armada simply feels nicer than its rivals, and that can 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 unique identify.
