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enormous deal, and never only for the Nissan sellers who desperately wanted one thing that wasn’t greater than a decade outdated within the lineup.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 12 months, Nissan introduced over the SUV identified 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 might all the time modify it and add these issues should you actually needed to, however the Armada was far more centered on getting a pile of youngsters round city than bashing sand dunes and crawling up rock faces.
For the brand new third-generation Armada, nonetheless, 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. When 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 opponents 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 provided to fly me to Nashville so I may 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 may use. Nissan additionally put me up in a really good room at a elaborate lodge in Franklin that grows its personal greens, purchased my meals and offered loads of drinks.
From the skin, the 2025 Nissan Armada is what I might name generically good-looking. It appears good, however there additionally aren’t a number of design parts that actually stood out to me as significantly distinctive or engaging. I even see slightly Kia EV9 within the rear three-quarter view. All of it comes collectively in a reasonably cohesive design that, once more, I do like, at the very least so far as three-row body-on-frame SUVs go. Moreover, whereas exterior design is essential, the cabin and the way the designers used the obtainable area is way extra essential.
In that regard, I’m completely happy to say Nissan undoubtedly succeeded. You don’t should take my phrase for it, both. Simply have a look at the photographs. To borrow a automotive author cliché, that cabin simply appears like a pleasant place to spend a while, and after spending a while behind the wheel I can affirm the Armada group didn’t pull some kind of bait-and-switch on us with inside supplies. It is good in there, particularly should you spring for the highest trim ranges. Many of the surfaces are coated in high quality supplies that each appear and feel way more premium than you’d count on 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 unbelievable.
That stated, 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 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 feels like a backhanded praise, it’s not imagined 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 tug household responsibility, and youngsters destroy every thing they contact. Whereas a lot good, the leather-based and different supplies really feel like they strike a pleasant stability 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 an excellent little bit of piano black within the heart console, and once I talked to one among Nissan’s workers about why that’s, they advised me designers adore it, clients adore it and because the 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 appears low-cost, however possibly that’s a part of why I failed at changing into a automotive 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 must get any greater, if solely from the angle of the pedestrians who would take pleasure in not getting splattered all around the entrance finish like six-foot-tall grasshoppers. That stated, there actually is sufficient area to suit six adults, and the third row is extensive sufficient that three adults may sit considerably comfortably in the event that they actually wanted to. Once I piled into the Armada with a bunch 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 high quality. He stated it was high quality.
When you do resolve to take 5 of your closest mates on a street journey in your new Armada, although, they’re most likely going to wish to pack mild. With the third row up, there’s actually solely room for 2 carryon luggage 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 wish to drive an SUV that’s sufficiently big 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 ft that you simply 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 stable 97.1 cubic ft of area in your stuff. The Tahoe and Expedition do nonetheless have the sting on whole cargo quantity, though it’s value mentioning 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 should manually raise the second-row seats again into place whenever you want them.
Beneath the hood you now not get a V8, which shall be disappointing for individuals whose complete persona is constructed round proudly owning a automobile with a V8, but it surely’s onerous 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 kind 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 precise 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 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 obtained 15 mpg mixed, which formally Isn’t Nice even should you’re the form of upper-middle-class household that may afford to drop $70,000 on a household automobile. The brakes, alternatively, get the job performed 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 should you’re used to efficiency automotive brakes that seize onerous as quickly as you contact the brake pedal.
Talking of towing, each 2025 Armada comes with a tow score of 8,500 kilos and will be capable to deal with boat and journey trailer responsibility 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 may tow, but it surely was nonetheless an excellent demonstration of how the SUV would behave whereas towing. I may affirm 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 to tow safely. Whether or not that must be allowed with out further driver coaching is a wholly totally different query, but it surely’s not like Nissan wrote the legal guidelines that enable anybody who efficiently parallel parked a decade-old Toyota Corolla after they had been 16 to haul a ship or a journey trailer 20 years later.
Expertise is, in fact, an enormous deal lately, 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. If you’d like tech options, the brand new Armada has them in spades. For instance, along with extra customary 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 affords one thing that Nissan calls Biometric Cooling that makes use of infrared cameras to detect which passengers may have slightly further air-con after they get in. Supposedly, this can assist your children settle down after they get in after soccer apply, which is a neat thought, 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 provided on SL, Platinum and Platinum Reserve trims, it permits for hands-free driving on mapped highways, and whereas I’d wish to do extra intensive testing earlier than I say an excessive amount of, but it surely at the very least dealt with to restricted freeway driving effectively sufficient that I wasn’t utterly freaked out once I took my palms off the wheel, and I get the sensation Tesla stans can 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 maintain your palms on the wheel when you’re driving.
I’m additionally an enormous fan of the non-obligatory head-up show that you would be able to get on the brand new Armada. It’s vivid, straightforward to learn and most significantly, it shows turn-by-turn instructions even should you’re utilizing Apple CarPlay or Android Auto for navigation. You possibly can most likely stay with out the HUD, however you’re already spending some huge cash on an enormous SUV, so why would you? It would make your life higher and in addition maintain you slightly safer.
As for the precise screens, you get a 12.3-inch driver show and a 12.3-inch infotainment display customary, however should you 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 pattern of tossing a mega-screen into the middle, and I recognize that. In consequence, you additionally get precise bodily controls, which makes me, a faithful knob-turner, very completely happy. If solely Nissan had additionally taken my love of column shifters and distaste for push-button shifters under consideration when deciding how you need 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 automotive blogger, I’m routinely an out-of-touch coastal elite, however as somebody who grew up within the South all I actually wish to do with any automotive 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 group advised 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 critical stuff, however that doesn’t imply I used to be completely happy about it. I suppose 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 seemed completely climbable, we had been at the very least capable of do a couple of 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 buddy, 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 position the wheels even once I couldn’t see over the hood. In truth, you’ll be able to even activate an invisible hood mode that exhibits the bottom underneath your automotive overlayed on a show that’s additionally sharp sufficient to essentially 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 effectively conscious we had been in a fairly managed surroundings 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 may do at any level, however I’m at the very least 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 to sort out Hell’s Revenge with the identical sense of ease? I don’t know, however possibly Nissan ought to help me to find out.
If I needed to guess, although, the largest problem with off-roading the brand new Armada — other than most house owners not wanting so as to add desert pinstripes to their paint — is solely going to be its measurement. This factor is large, 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 couple of inches of that tree, too, so it wasn’t simply me. It is a lengthy, extensive SUV, and whereas that is probably not 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 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 inner politics, however come on, Nissan. A brand new Xterra would print cash, and I imply that significantly, 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 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 count on it to be an excellent bit dearer than the outgoing mannequin, however the base SV mannequin truly has the identical beginning value 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 amount vendor, and that one begins at $62,970 plus an additional $3,000 if you would like 4WD. The Professional-4X, alternatively, 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 according to what you’d count on on this phase. A base Tahoe is a couple of thousand {dollars} extra, whereas the Expedition begins about $1,000 beneath 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’s going to convincing those that do to tug the set off. The advertising and marketing 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 opponents, 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.
