But the Armada, with its distinctive North American Nissan sheetmetal, doesn’t quite share that image, even though production is shifting from Canton, Mississippi, where the 2003-’15 model was built, to Kyushu, Japan. Nissan will ship its new V-8 built in Canton to the Kyushu assembly plant for use in both the Armada and Patrol.
The 2017 Nissan Armada is again available in SV, SL, and Platinum trim levels. It comes with wider, fully boxed frame rails, increased from 60 mm to 100 mm, contributing to what Nissan says is a 20 percent improvement in twisted body stiffness. For the U.S. market, the Armada’s multilink suspension is tuned for comfort rather than off-road capability, though Nissan says it’s competent in many off-road situations. Nissan sells about 40,000 Patrols globally every year, with the Middle East by far its largest market.
Though there are ties between the Patrol and Land Cruiser, the new Armada will again be priced against the less expensive Toyota Sequoia and targets the segment-leading Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban as its chief competitor. The 2017 Nissan Armada goes on sale in late summer.
For ’17, the seven- or eight-passenger, body-on-frame Nissan Armada gets an all-new exterior and interior, plus a new 5.6-liter Endurance V-8 with 390 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque and a new seven-speed automatic transmission, with Adaptive Shift Control and Downshift Rev-Matching. That’s 73 more horses than the output from Nissan’s old 5.6-liter engine. The new engine features variable valve timing and lift, direct injection, and a new piston design making an 11.2:1 compression ratio possible, up from 9.8:1.
Standard features accessible from its 8-inch color monitor are Nissan Navigation with NavTraffic and NavWeather (though you must buy a separate SiriusXM subscription for it to work), heated front seats, and a Bose 13-speaker audio system.
Nissan also offers many active-safety features: Predictive Forward Collision Warning, blind-spot warning, Backup Collision Intervention, and Around View Monitor with moving object detection. In addition, Nissan offers optional adaptive cruise control, Distance Control Assist with Forward Emergency Braking, and lane-departure warning and prevention systems. LED low-beam headlamps and daytime running lamps are standard. A puddle-light system turns on automatically when the driver approaches the Armada.
So the new 2017 Nissan Armada leaves the rugged simplicity of the venerable Patrol behind, while retaining its attitude and its place in the brand’s lineup. It’s a recipe for a big, low-volume though high-profit model that should serve Nissan as well as it has served Land Rover with its Range Rover and Toyota with its Land Cruiser.
