2025 Nissan Armada Pro-4X First Test: Good News Bad News

We like to imagine the march of progress making everything better as time and technology advance, but forward progress is occasionally paired with a backward step or two, as is the case with the 2025 Nissan Armada. It swaps an old-school V-8 dating back to 2002 that was mated to a Jatco seven-speed born in 2008 with a decidedly new-school twin-turbo V-6 and nine-speed automatic. Power and torque increase by enough to cover the mass increase that almost inevitably comes with every new vehicle, and city fuel economy jumps by a notable 15 percent. So, where’s the sad trombone? 

New V-6 Slower Than Old V-8 

It honestly doesn’t add up, but now both the new Infiniti QX80 and Nissan Armada have failed to outrun their predecessors—though the Nissan came damned close. The weight-to-power ratio improves in both cases—by 6.3 percent for the Nissan and 12.5 percent for the Infiniti, and two additional gear ratios provide 15 to 21 percent more leverage in the quarter-mile-accelerating gears (first through third). These new SUVs should run rings around the old ones as a result, but the Infiniti is a half second slower to 60 mph, and the Armada is 0.1 second behind (6.3 vs. 6.2 seconds). Both close the gap by the quarter mile, with the Nissan tying at 14.8 seconds (traveling 1.3 mph faster) and the Infiniti 0.3 second behind but 1.5 mph faster.  

With a brake-torque launch from 2,200 rpm, the Armada pulls away quickly but without feeling overly strong. Perhaps there’s some serious torque management happening at launch or maybe losing full-throttle fuel enrichment is kneecapping this GT-R–based engine. We also noted that every successive run resulted in slower performance, suggesting heat buildup may be an issue. 

See All 26 Photos26

Granted, nobody buys a full-size three-row SUVs to drag-race it, so maybe it’s fine that the Armada runs midpack in acceleration amongst its competition (roughly even with rival Toyota’s twin-turbo V-6 hybrid Sequoia TRD Pro). Speed-freak customers should test-drive Ford’s 440-hp/510-lb-ft Expedition (5.3 to 60 mph, 14.0 at 96.6 in the quarter) or the twin-turbo I-6 Jeep Wagoneer (5.4 to 60 mph, 14.2 at 94.7) and steer clear of the V-8 competitors from Chevy and GMC, which bring up the rear in the mid-7s and 15s.  

Another minor head-scratcher: The nine-speed’s 14 percent taller ninth gear might have been expected to help boost highway fuel economy—especially when combined with an air suspension that can lower the body at speed—and yet EPA highway economy is unchanged at 18 mpg (while steel-sprung 2025s get 19 mpg).  

But Oh, Those Brakes!  

Epic rain during our first drive of the Armada rendered the off-road exercises a muddy mess that essentially turned the off-road-focused Armada Pro-4X’s Yokohama Geolandar tires into greasy donuts. But they more than redeemed themselves on pavement during our testing, where this 6,106-pound beast stopped on a 112-foot dime. That’s 12 feet shorter than its 5,956-pound predecessor—the previous class leader.  

Scanning our database, any shorter-stopping SUVs are either compacts, offerings by high-performance brands, or other sport-oriented variants. Only two similarly sized large SUVs—the Mazda CX-70 and Buick Enclave—stop shorter, and both weigh a half ton less. One slight downside is the Armada’s brake-by-wire system, with a pedal feel during panic stops that can be disconcerting—wooden at the top, spongy at the bottom, and no real sense of connection in between. That said, during normal driving they feel fine.  

Not Bad When You Turn the Wheel, Either  

Among its wilderness-oriented competition, the Armada Pro-4X on those 275/60R20 Geolandar A/Ts laid down a 28.1-second, 0.63-g average lap time on our parking-lot figure-eight course, with lateral acceleration maxing out at 0.77 g. Here again, the Ford Expedition (on 265/75R18 Goodyear Wrangler Territory AT/S tires) is the champ with a 27.6-second 0.64-g lap time, but as that truck’s 0.74-g max-lat figure suggests, Ford wins by accelerating harder on the straights while the Armada nearly catches up by braking and cornering harder. The Toyota TRD Pro’s a half second slower, and the GMC Yukon AT4 brings up the rear at 30.6 seconds and just 0.66 g max. Here again, nobody campaigns their three-row jumbotron in gymkhana, but drivers will keenly appreciate that agility if they’re ever surprised by a moose or deer on a dark highway. 

See All 26 Photos26

Living With the Armada Pro-4X  

Here the news is mostly good, with terrific seat comfort in all rows and easy access to the third row thanks to a single lever that tilts and slides the seat forward, opening a wide path rearward. (We also like that when pulled back from the rear seat, it stops at the seat track’s furthest forward point to preserve legroom, but when pushed back from the outside it can slide all the way back.) Roof-rail-mounted A/C vents keep the third-row occupants cool, and power-reclining seat backs help keep the tallest way-back riders’ heads off the ceiling. The Klipsch audio system also makes 15 speakers sound as good or better than 20-plus in similar rigs.  

Vehicle electronics occasionally elicited expletives. When retrieving the Armada from our photographer, our phone connected to Bluetooth automatically but not Apple CarPlay, forcing us to park and go menu diving. Only two phones were paired, both to CarPlay—as might logically be the case in most homes—and the other one was 40 miles away. On the plus side, when navigating and playing music via CarPlay, the driver-information screen can display the navigation directions and album art, freeing the infotainment screen to display other content.  

Armada Pro-4X models must make do with Nissan ProPilot Assist 1.1, which provides adaptive cruise with steering support (SL, Platinum, and Platinum Reserve models offer 2.1, which works like Blue Cruise or SuperCruise). The steering support proved unable to follow the smallest bends, beeping frequently, and it once even actively steered the Armada over a line and then beeped. Perhaps these were early-build teething pains, but we disabled the steering assist to quell the beeps.  

Bottom Line  

Extended exposure to the new 2025 Armada has reinforced most of our first impressions: It’s a much-improved, three-row jumbo SUV that we suspect will be a killer deal at its base pricing levels. (Note that $2,450 of our test truck’s steep $80,980 total was light-up doodads, mats, and umbrella-holder accessory stuff you can easily live without.) It tows great, stops amazingly well (perhaps even better on tires with no pretense of off-road capability?), handles adroitly, and offers a decent roster of comfort and convenience gear.  

We wish it performed as well in the real world as it seemingly does on paper, and we hope our electronic hiccups represented early teething problems or anecdotal bad luck. But despite the minor downsides, the Armada in its Pro-4X trim to us is a legit Chevy Z71/Ford Tremor competitor and may be just a rung down the capability ladder from the TRD Pro. 

See All 26 Photos26