Nissan Armada is a luxury SUV in a practical package

Nissan Armada is a luxury SUV in a practical package

When established brands branch off a luxury division, like Honda with Acura and Nissan’s Infiniti, they tend to use parts and designs from the original company for the basis of their more upscale cars.

Sometimes this works, but often leaves a bad taste in the mouths of people who want only the best a brand has to offer rather than a parts bin special of shared buttons and underpinnings of car. With the new Nissan Armada, this seems to be flipped.

Walking up to the Armada, you can tell that it shares some body panels with the Infiniti QX80, however I think the Infiniti looks fantastic and this is only a plus in my mind.

Upon jumping into this full-size SUV, it is apparent that it is made of much more upscale materials than many others in this segment for the same price. The interior feel like that of an Infiniti, but with the convenience and price of a Nissan. Leather is seen throughout the spacious cabin from the heated and ventilated seats to the door panels designed for the kind of abuse a large family may wreck on the interior of this car. This also was kept in mind when designing the interior layout of the Armada.

One option when building your own Armada is that you can opt for either the middle row to be a bench seat or two captains chairs much like the front seats. Interior storage is plenty large enough. It’s larger than many of its rivals but not excessive like a few others.

Once the Armada begins moving, it is easy to forget this is a large and imposing full-size SUV as the steering is very well done and feels perfect. This is another similarity between the QX80 and the Armada. The steering is so smooth, thanks to a speed-sensitive system that changed the responsiveness of the steering wheel at lower speeds so you don’t have to wrestle the 20-inch wheels in tight parking lots.

Parking the Armada, even in the most basic trim level, is a breeze thanks to standard parking sensors and optional Around View Monitor, a 360-degree camera system. Another really cool feature is that the rear view mirror in my Armada was equipped with an option that allowed it to stream a constant feed from the backup camera — making sure nothing is in the way is very easy.

The sole engine for the Armada is a 5.6 litre V8 making 390 horsepower and 394 pound-feet of torque. This is capable of propelling the almost three ton SUV to 60 miles per hour in about 6 seconds. While this is very impressive, average MPG suffers and only gets 14 city and 19 highway.

You will be able to tow 8,500 pounds behind you with the tow package and that is no small feat.

Driving at speeds with the Armada is surprisingly engaging, much more so than the main rivals, the Ford Expedition and the Chevy Tahoe. It really feels like Nissan did just take the premium Infiniti QX80 and make it into the Armada without compromising many of the feature that made it feel like a luxury car.

My Nissan Armada was the Platinum Reserve trim and certainly felt like a lot of car for the money. Starting at just a hair over $46,000, the base SV trim comes with a lot of great features as standard while the SL trim, starting at $50,850, comes with even more. The Platinum and Platinum Reserve trim, $59,190 and $62,190 respectively, are the full packages with the Platinum Reserve adding dark chrome on the exterior body panels, rims, and real wood finished on the interior. Each trim is available with optional all-wheel drive for about $3,000 more depending on the level of trim.

Grant Miller is the publisher of Miami’s Community Newspapers. He may be contacted by calling 305-662-2277 or via email at Grant@CommunityNewspapers.com.


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