2025 Nissan Armada Review: More Luxury, More Power, More Thirst, And More Competitive

Every brand has its own respective interpretation of "huge SUV." For mainstays of the genre like GMC and Cadillac, that means a gothic cathedral on wheels with enough optional power to violate every HOA rule in the state. For a brand like BMW, it's an exercise in style and a chance to stretch creative muscles and push the boundaries of what luxury is like. For Nissan and the 2025 Armada, it's a chance to retool and rethink.

The 2025 Nissan Armada Platinum Reserve that arrived in my driveway was giant. There's no getting around it. It's 209.7 inches long, 83.3 inches wide, and 76.5 inches tall. It weighs 5,891 pounds. Those measurements, while gargantuan, make it actually slightly smaller than a Cadillac Escalade. Still, it feels big and the two-tone "Deep Ocean Blue Pearl" paint scheme makes the naval comparisons a lot easier. I live around the Chesapeake Bay, so I am no stranger to large maritime vehicles.

The 2025 Armada is completely new for this generation. It rides on a body-on-frame chassis like its truck-based competitors, and some internet-sleuthing reveals that it's built on the underpinnings of the Nissan Patrol, an SUV that North America doesn't get to enjoy. Under the hood is a new powertrain, too. It enjoys a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 that makes a beefy 425 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. A 9-speed automatic transmission completes the picture. Additionally, it employs air ride suspension to ensure that you don't have to acknowledge the road surface. 

Towing capacity is rated at a fairly stout 8,500 pounds (400 pounds more than the Escalade). Keeping with the Armada's naval name scheme, the towing capacity is more than enough to tow a World War II-era 40-millimeter Bofors anti-aircraft gun which weighs in at 5,500 pounds.

As one would expect with a luxury SUV with air-ride suspension that's the size of a house, it's a dream to drive. In naval terminology, an "armada" is a group of ships that's going to war. The Armada doesn't feel like it's going to war, it glides along without a care in the world, meaning that it's technically just a "fleet." It's not the USS Missouri, it's more of a yacht. Warship nomenclature aside, the Armada is definitely an attempt at a luxury vehicle. It's not competing against other family vehicles like a Chevy Traverse or base-spec Toyota Grand Highlander. It's gunning for Cadillac and Mercedes (more on the price later, but the options list makes that more evident).

The Armada I drove was in the 7-seat configuration, but it's also available as an 8-seater. Driving the Armada around reminded me of the time I sailed around the Chesapeake Bay in my old roommate's dad's Pursuit sport boat. It's comfortable and imparts a somewhat carefree feeling when captaining. It's a genuinely nice-riding vehicle. Nissan worked wonders with the suspension and the engine, while undoubtedly powerful doesn't feel unwieldy. It wafts you forward, and doesn't punch you in the face.

My passengers enjoyed the Armada too. It's not exactly a Herculean task to drive around to different record stores in a huge SUV, but it never felt taxing to drive or manage, despite its heft. Parking was a little bit of a pain, but that's not an attribute that's unique to the Armada. 

The Armada's cabin was clearly the result of a lot of effort on Nissan's part. The center console and infotainment screen setup was thoughtfully laid out and actually utilized physical buttons for the drive mode selections and HVAC controls. I was very much delighted at this decision.

There's leather everywhere; the front seats are heated, ventilated, and massaging. In fact, a thought was lodged in the back of brain all week. This doesn't feel like a contemporary Nissan. While the Nissan Altima, Kicks, and Sentra I reviewed in the past were perfectly fine cars, not one of them were particularly innovating or surprising in any way. They were well equipped for the price, sure, but didn't stand out in any way. 

The Armada, on the other hand, stands out as a genuinely great SUV. It's stylish — Nissan always nails the paint colors — and comfortable, capable, nimble when it needs to be, and fairly uncomplicated to drive. The infotainment doesn't try to catch you attention with some useless feature you'll never use, and every pertinent control is well with reach and easy to find.

I am absolutely not the demographic for an 8-seater luxury SUV that costs over $80,000, but I can absolutely see this as a tempting choice over the more famous Caddys and Beemers. It's a compelling SUV and clearly a show of effort that Nissan hasn't given up entirely or stayed content in making rental car fleets until all the money dries up. There's a team at Nissan trying hard to make a luxury SUV that people actually want to buy. Whether or not this will save Nissan from the financial pit-hole it has found itself in is another story entirely, but the fight definitely isn't over.

Now there's the question of cost. The Armada is expensive. The base model two-wheel drive SV trim starts at a somewhat more believable $57,520. However, the four-wheel drive Platinum Reserve trim I tested starts at a much more ridiculous (for a Nissan) $79,990. The standard features list is fairly extensive, so bear with me. 

The 2025 Nissan Armada Platinum Reserve comes with three-zone climate control, 12-way power front seats, heated captain's chairs for the second row, a panoramic sunroof, 64-color ambient lighting, leather absolutely everywhere, a 12-speaker Klipsch sound system, a 14.3-inch infotainment screen, an array of camera for parking and forward visibility, a heads-up display, 22-inch wheels, a two-speed 4x4 gearbox, and heated mirrors. 

The only options the Armada I drove consisted of Nissan's ProPilot Assist 2.1 driver assistance package for $2,900, two-tone paint for $990, $400 splash guards, and $550 floor mats. The $2,010 destination charge brings the total to a very European luxury SUV price of $86,840. It's a nice car, but you're definitely paying for it.

What were my problems with the Armada? Really, not much comes to mind. But no vehicle is perfect: Fuel economy, as seems logical for the vehicle's size, is atrocious at 18 combined miles per gallon. I found, while milling around different shops, that it could drop as low as 14 miles per gallon. A hybrid drivetrain might work better in this application, but I can see why Nissan went with the (likely cheaper to produce) twin-turbo V6. The drivetrain isn't really the Armada's main selling point.

Yet the 2025 Armada was nothing short of great. It fits right in with the other luxury SUVs I have driven and I see it as a compelling option if you have nearly 90 grand to burn. You'll still save some money over a similar Escalade (which starts at $90,095) or BMW; even the Armada's sibling, the new Infiniti QX80, might be feeling the heat. Most people aren't going to be in that decision making position, but it's nice to have another option. It's decidedly un-Nissan in its current execution and that's not a bad thing. It takes a lot of effort to make a car that this effortless to drive.