In a bid to conquer the premium SUV market, Nissan is setting sail in its latest variant of the Armada. The 2025 Nissan Armada is set to come in five different trims — SV, SL, PRO-4X, Platinum and Platinum Reserve. As with most manufacturers, there seems to be a good variation in both price and features between said trims — so you can go for luxury, practicality, or if you have the budget a solid combination of both.
One of the biggest changes has taken place under the Armada’s hood. The V8 which has powered previous years’ models has been replaced with a turbocharged, direct-injected, 3.5-liter, V6 engine. Despite dropping two cylinders, the new engine produces 25 additional horsepower and 103 lb-ft more torque than its predecessor. It’s also more efficient, thanks in part to the various bits of efficiency tech Nissan has added. All of that power goes through a nine-speed automatic gearbox.
I saw two flavors of the 2025 Armada — the offroad-focused PRO-4X trim and the ultra-premium Platinum Reserve trim. There are plenty of full-sized SUVs on the road, and the Armada may be floating in what is the most crowded price bracket. Despite this, I did spot a few things that could give Nissan’s flagship the edge.
It looks great on the inside and out
The premium SUV market is nearing a bit of a singularity. Luckily for SUV fans, it’s all converging on the quality side of things, which means if you buy pretty much any luxury or premium SUV, you’ll get something that looks very nice on the outside with an inside that’s pretty pleasant to sit in. This means high-end paint in vibrant colors with that kind of sparkly effect manufacturers get from mixing ground up ceramic or glass into it. Open the door, and your seats and panels will be covered in leather. High-quality leather at that. You may see some wood, and you’ll certainly see some plastic, but it’s the nice plastic. Not the awful stuff they make cheap Amazon egg timers out of.
Nissan’s new three-row SUV matches this description. Particularly the Platinum Reserve version, which features quilted high-grade leather, heated, cooled, and massaging seats in the front. The Pro-4X features a slightly different leather, which, when you look at it, seems slightly easier to clean. This makes sense when you consider the trim’s offroading pedigree. Features like heating and cooling are available across trims but may incur a premium if you’re not shelling out for the top option.
In terms of tech, expect dual 14.3-inch displays, plenty of cameras, Car Play, Android Auto, and a premium sound system. There’s also a dash of Level 2 self-driving in the form of ProPILOT Assist 2.1 — for those who like to go hands-off over long distances.
The Armada is as practical as you would hope
Having gotten up close with the 2025 Armada, a few things stood out. First is how spacious the third row is. You can fit a few fully grown adults in there, and their legs will still function at the end of your journey. While you would expect all three rows of a “three-row” SUV to be accommodating, there are several on the market that aim that third row at large families or groups shuttling children to various sports practices. Basically, you can cram a child or a double amputee back there, and that’s it.
As with all other three-row SUVs, you don’t need to be transporting over seven people for the extra length to prove useful. You can flip those seats down and make use of an overly spacious trunk if you have a lot of things to shift. Even with the back row up, the trunk is still very spacious and can handle all of the shopping or luggage you can reasonably throw at it. Despite some of Nissan’s competitors shying away from their SUVs’ sporting credentials, the Japanese carmaker has put some effort into adding a bit of extra practicality to the Armada.
Can it offroad?
Well, this is another question I can’t answer for certain. It was a walkaround, not a hands-on demonstration. That will come later in the year. I can relay the information Nissan has provided and make an educated guess based on that. If you want to go off the beaten path, the Armada PRO-4X is your go-to trim. It has 9.6 inches of ground clearance, an approach angle of 33.9 degrees, a 25.3 degree breakover angle and a 24.3 degree departure angle. It also has a little armor on the underside. There’s a 360-degree camera system which can help you navigate through the complex parts, and it also has parking sensors which aren’t strictly an off-roading feature but are very handy when you’re squeezing between boulders without a spotter.
Add in a, electronic locking rear differential, Adaptive Electronic Air Suspension and slap it all on a set of 20-inch wheels — and you have something that can likely handle most moderate trails. You aren’t going rock crawling in this, it isn’t a Jeep, but it did have a side-by-side on a trailer attached to it when I last saw it. And those things will scramble over rocks like nobody’s business.
