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Nissan has advised us earlier than that it guards the NISMO badge fastidiously. It doesn’t simply get slapped on something with 4 wheels and a advertising and marketing price range. Historically, it’s meant sharper responses, tighter suspension tuning, and a real nod towards efficiency credibility. That’s why seeing it stitched into the flank of the biggest, heaviest SUV within the lineup stopped us mid-scroll.
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This is the Armada NISMO. A 3-row, body-on-frame SUV that weighs practically three tons and exists primarily to haul households, boats, and Costco runs. On paper, pairing that mission with Nissan’s motorsports sub-brand feels a bit of like giving a sumo wrestler racing flats and calling it a marathoner. The badge guarantees precision. The platform recommend presence.
And but, right here we’re. More energy. Stiffer suspension tuning. Red accents all over the place. Nissan says that is probably the most performance-focused Armada ever constructed. The actual query isn’t whether or not it seems to be the half. It completely does. The query is whether or not a 460-horsepower (343 kW) Armada can ever really dwell as much as the NISMO title, or if that is only a very fashionable train in wishful considering.
Quick Facts
SWIPE
Styling
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Honestly, Nissan couldn’t have actually knocked the design train right here out of the park any additional. The paint you see here’s what Nissan calls Stealth Gray, a NISMO trim unique. That’s hilarious as a result of 1. this factor is the scale of a small moon and a pair of. the automaker clearly needs to show heads right here, not fly below the radar. How else might one clarify the brilliant pink accents far and wide?
More: We Put The Nissan Armada Pro-4X To The Ultimate Off-Road Test
The brakes get their very own coat of pink paint regardless of being no totally different from these of the traditional Armada lineup. The entrance grille encompasses a waterfall aesthetic and extra pink combined with black. A stark white NISMO badge sits proudly above the start of pink facet skirts. That’s proper. We have facet skirts and get this, a chin spoiler on this body-on-frame SUV. The rear will get a bit of extra pink and black as a part of a really non-functional all-show, no-go diffuser remedy.
Stephen Rivers for Carscoops
If you’re like me, you kinda hate pretend vents and faux diffusers and the entire stuff that makes a sluggish automobile look quick, but it surely’s powerful to argue with outcomes. Everywhere I drove this SUV, individuals couldn’t assist however remark about how a lot they preferred the way in which it seemed. It didn’t matter if the Armada was parked in a grocery-store parking zone, sitting in site visitors, or simply parked in my driveway. Passersby and mates alike all liked it.
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Not a single individual complained about it trying overdone or foolish. Frankly, as a complete package deal, it’s arduous to not see what they’re speaking about. Do I want the components right here have been genuinely enhancing the real-world efficiency of the Armada NISMO? Absolutely. Do they improve its means to enchantment to patrons? Also, sure, and understandably, that’s in all probability the efficiency Nissan cares most about proper now.
Interior
Stephen Rivers for Carscoops
The Armada and its badge-engineered sibling, the Infiniti QX80, are SUVs that we’ve examined extensively. They’re large enhancements on the era they took over for, they usually share a cabin that we’re now fairly accustomed to. The Armada NISMO throws a bunch of pink and a few stellar entrance seats to that recipe.
The new entrance seats are simply as plush as just about anything within the lineup, however they add the most effective lateral bolstering we’ve present in a Nissan product in years. It’s not that they’re tight, however they’re so adjustable that even very small people can get help. They additionally characteristic a massaging operate, which is a bonus.
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The sprint and door playing cards characteristic suede with a fake carbon cloth weave and extra pink stitching. It seems to be genuinely good. We solely want Nissan had used flat or matte black relatively than piano black for the central command stack and the infotainment bezels. As we’ve famous in previous evaluations, the Armada advantages from loads of bodily HVAC controls, however the structure can really feel like a missed alternative given how a lot area is offered.
The infotainment system is mostly good to cope with. A number of days of use will get most drivers on top of things, and the Klipsch sound system is unbelievable. It’s inferior to the one within the Infiniti QX8, as it’s lacking the headrest audio system, however in any other case it’s very shut. Notably, we had one journey the place the infotainment system simply didn’t boot up. A fast energy cycle fastened the difficulty.
Sadly, it wasn’t the one downside we skilled with know-how right here. For no matter motive, our automobile’s seat reminiscence settings completely by no means labored. No matter what we tried, from resetting the automobile’s profile to resetting particular person reminiscence seat buttons again and again, it at all times wished to return to the identical (cramped for me) setting on startup. Hopefully, that’s a bug that solely our instance had. We haven’t had it on different Armadas or QX80s previously.
The second row will get its personal bodily local weather controls and equally posh captain’s chairs. There’s no therapeutic massage or lateral bolstering, however the pink and gray upholstery stays and helps elevate the expertise. That mentioned, taller occupants will want they’d extra headroom. For as massive as this SUV is, it’s not very spacious inside for second and third row riders.
Speaking of the third row, ingress and egress are fairly easy. Nissan does rear-seat mobility effectively, and on this case, easy bodily buttons transfer the center seats up and out of the way in which for third row occupants.
Drivers may management this characteristic to assist smaller youngsters get out and in. There are extra buttons for seat controls within the very again as effectively. Behind the third row, you’ll discover simply over 20 cubic ft of area. It’s sufficient for possibly a day’s price of actions, however not if each seat is full they usually all have to carry their very own stuff.
Drive Impressions
This is the a part of this evaluate the place issues take a sluggish flip towards the disappointing. We say sluggish as a result of the Armada is a bit cumbersome in corners and with noticeable physique roll. It doesn’t shrink round you the way in which so many different trendy three-row SUVs do. Those nice entrance seats would possibly maintain you within the corners effectively, however they’re overkill right here as a result of the restrict is really easy to search out.
On paper, energy rises from 425 hp to 460 hp (343 kW), with torque holding regular at 516 lb-ft (700 Nm). In follow, it seems like a numbers recreation. With a curb weight hovering round 5,800–6,000 kilos, 35 further ponies barely transfer the power-to-weight needle. If the Pro-4X’s 425 hp works out to roughly 14.1 lb/hp, the NISMO drops that to about 12.8–13.0 lb/hp.
Yes, it’s objectively higher. Slightly. The steering is marginally sharper. The entrance finish follows inputs with a contact extra cohesion. But the transformation you’re hoping for? It by no means arrives. On high of that, the brakes now really feel a bit underpowered, particularly after bouts of harder-than-average use. The pedal begins to really feel spongy, and that’s not enjoyable in one thing this heavy and this susceptible to physique roll.
When we drove the off-road-focused Armada Pro-4X, it was genuinely spectacular contemplating every thing else. It over-delivered. The NISMO trim does the other. Treat this like a standard Armada, and also you’ll be tremendous. Realistically, we anticipate that’s what Nissan had in thoughts anyway. The suspension isn’t overly harsh, visibility is okay contemplating the scale and driver seating place, and the additional energy on board does make overtaking and merging less complicated.
While we didn’t tow something with it, the car is able to hauling as much as 8,500 kilos and has its personal built-in trailer brake controller, which is a bonus. Fuel economic system figures are available in at 16 metropolis, 19 freeway, and 17 mixed. We achieved 16.3 mpg throughout our week with the SUV.
Competition
From each angle, the Nissan Armada NISMO struggles to justify its worth over opponents. Take, for instance, simply three choices: the Dodge Durango, BMW X7, and Jeep Grand Wagoneer. The Dodge is offered for below $50,000 with a significantly better chassis to drive on the street and a V8 growl, whereas it offers up nearly nothing by way of inside consolation.
Sure, it gained’t have massaging seats and the chassis is someplace within the neighborhood of 80 years previous, however if you would like the Armada NISMO, efficiency issues, and the Durango performs. That’s to say nothing of the SRT Hellcat, priced nearly identically to this Nissan. It’s the undisputed king of foolish efficiency SUVs.
More: V6s Be Damned, Durango Goes Hemi-Only For 2026
The BMW X7 can also be sooner and higher to drive, and positive, it begins at $87,500, however let’s be actual; select a few choices on the Armada NISMO and we’re capturing over that determine. So why wouldn’t one get the extra luxurious, extra athletic automobile with higher model cache?
Finally, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer defies all logic as a result of it’s greater than the Armada but additionally faster whereas dealing with higher. Don’t neglect that it’s additionally cheaper! For $82,000, patrons can get a Summit Reserve trim, which outclasses the Armada in each means and is just two steps from the highest of the Grand Wagoneer lineup.
Final Thoughts
The Nissan Armada NISMO isn’t a nasty SUV. It’s daring. It’s snug. It tows effectively. It seems to be unbelievable. And for the fitting purchaser, the one who grew up idolizing NISMO badges and needs one thing that stands out in a sea of conservative household haulers, it would completely hit the mark.
But purchase it for the fitting causes. Don’t purchase it anticipating a full-size SUV that out of the blue drives like a sports activities sedan. Don’t purchase it since you assume 35 additional horsepower modifications the equation. And don’t purchase it believing the badge transforms the basics.
Buy it since you love the way in which it seems to be. Because you like the model. Because you need to be the good father or mother within the pickup line with pink accents and a white NISMO badge saying your allegiance. If you care extra about how one thing drives than the way it seems to be? There are higher methods to spend $80,000.
Stephen Rivers for Carscoops
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