Auto review: Massive Nissan Armada trades fire with Detroit mega-utes

Miami Herald

20-06-2025

FARMINGTON HILLS, Michigan - Where Titan failed, the Armada might break through.
Nissan has sent big truck-based warriors with fierce names into battle against Detroit's formidable armies of full-size pickups and mega-utes. The Titan pickup finally waved the red flag after bashing its brains in against endless waves of Detroit 1500, 2500, 3500 and even bigger dually pickups with more technology than a NASA launch site and enough towing power to tow, well, a Titan ballistic missile.
Doing battle against the Ford Expedition and Expedition XL looks more feasible. Based on the same truck chassis as the expired Titan, the 2025 Armada has been remade into a state-of-the-art mega-ute matching Ford, Chevy Tahoe and Jeep Wagoneer weapon-for-weapon.
Heading onto I-696, I stomped the gas and the new twin-turbo V-6 awoke with a roar. WHAAAUUGGRH! I miss the V-8s Nanny State rules have suffocated, but turbo sixes like Titan, Toyota Sequoia and Wagoneer have character and make the ocean liners fun to drive.
More compelling is the tech.
Mega-ute land yachts must endure long hours on the road. Nissan has always prioritized comparable seating with its "zero-gravity seats," and Armada's no different with its plush thrones. But Nissan has also stepped up with state-of-the-art, hands-free autopilot like Chevy (Super Cruise) and Ford (Blue Cruse) peers. Nissan calls it Pro Pilot Assist 2.1.
Self-driving tech is freaky at first - especially in such a big ocean liner - and Ford and Tesla, for example, smartly offer subscription packages for their systems so you can try 'em out. Try it, you'll like it. Unfortunately, Nissan (like Chevy) requires an expensive, $3,375 leap-of-faith purchase.
I toggled the left steering button (nice, raised tabs like a Chevy) and I was hands-free, cruising I-75 with hands on my knees. Tug the left turn signal and Armada switched automatically into the left passing lane. Tug the right signal, and it moved back. Nissan calls such goo-gaws "super powers," and it will impress the kiddies sitting waaaay back in the third row.
The roomy third row (I could sit behind myself sitting behind myself) benefits from independent rear suspension technology that allowed for more legroom than the traditional, truck-based solid rear axle that Toyota Sequoia employs and that proved cramped on a trip north a couple of summers back. Nothing makes a trip more tiresome than knees in your chest.
Unfortunately, Nissan doesn't offer a panoramic roof - or split roof like the Expedition - to give third row travelers more light. Not does it attempt to compete with the Detroit utes with an extended-cab XL model like Ford and Jeep (or Suburban, in Chevy's case).
Such long cabs make up 40% of Chevy's business and came in handy when, for example, I towed a sailboat with the Wagoneer L last summer and fit the entire boom through the middle of the cabin so it didn't rattle around in the boat. Extended cabs are also useful for lots of baggage on, say, ski trips.
What Armada does offer is fold-flat seats so you can store big items (think TV screens or stacks of boxed books) when you aren't using all three seat rows.
Nissan also keeps up with the Joneses - er, Detroiters - with big, hoodless digital displays that are choked with content and ergonomically sound. While you can outfit Armada with premium trims like the Detroiters, I would recommend starting with the SL model, which offers tech goodies like Pro Pilot and standard Google Built-in.
Google Built-in is General Motors Co.'s new secret sauce - an operating system on par with your phone - and Nissan has embraced it as well.
"Google, tell me a joke," I barked and Armada chose from a library of dumb one-liners to lighten the trip.
More practical is the SL's standard surround-view that coordinates eight cameras so you can dock the big ship with precision. I turned into a cramped Walled Lake gas station and put the cameras to good use. Most impressive is the hood view, which allows you to look right through the hood to place the front wheels where you want them.
It helped me miss tall curbs as well as potholes opened up by Michigan's' long winter.
7Pro Pilot Assist package with a head-up display offers further ease of use on the highway. Ring it all up and Armada comes in at 73 grand, a healthy $4,000 cheaper than a comparable Tahoe LT. And with 70 more horsepower on tap from Armada's 425-horse turbo-6, you may not miss the Chevy's throaty 355-horse V-8. But the Ford's flexible subscription price for Blue Cruise is much more affordable (especially if you only use it during, say, summer trips) and Ford's Activ model clocks in at a more affordable $71,900. Oh.
Conservatively styled, the Nissan should age well, though it doesn't have the swagger of Motown's hunks - or even the nicely styled Toyota Sequioa. Nissan does offer a tough, armored off-road model called the Pro 4X.
Armada has come with big guns blazing so it can trade blows with the Detroit armada. It's a better battleship than the Titan and offers a legitimate alternative to the Detroit Three.
2025 Nissan Armada
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear- and-four-wheel-drive, six- to-seven passenger mega-ute
Price: $59,530, including $2,010 destination fee ($81,900 Platinum Reserve as tested)
Powerplant: 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6
Power: 425 horsepower, 516 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.1 seconds (Car and Driver); towing, 8,500 pounds
Weight: 5,886 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est., 16 mpg city/20 highway/18 combined (RWD); 16 mpg city/19 highway/17 combined (AWD); 472-mile range
Report card
Highs: Roomy in all three rows; tech-tastic features
Lows: Meh styling; lacks extended wheelbase model
Overall: 4 stars
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