Nissan NISMO-ized An Armada And It’s Deeply Strange

The full-sized sports utility market has no shortage of customers, and they tend to be of the well-heeled variety, allowing car companies to stack huge margins on top. Where there’s margin, there’s a niche, and where there’s a niche in the market, there’s a desire to expensively fill it. The “it’s maybe too big and definitely too fast” category ranges from the obscenely quick Lamborghini Urus to the imposing Cadillac Escalade V, with vehicles like the blue-blooded Alpina XB7 and GLS AMG in between.

While cars in this class offer quite the range in size, the one characteristic they share is a tax-bracket minimum. Even the Escalade V is a $150,000 proposition when you fire out of the dealership. Could Nissan do the same? Sure, they could. Within the wide range of possibilities in this universe, including a movie based on the musical based on the movie Mean Girls, it’s one of the outcomes. I’m not sure it’s a predictable one.

NISMO is the motorsports/in-house tuning arm of Nissan (think NISMO Z), an automaker that I want to continue to exist and continues, for unknown reasons, to make its own survival improbably difficult. Nissan is an automaker in the same way that the Cleveland Browns are a football team, if that makes sense to you.

The Armada has never been a top-of-mind player in this space, but with the underpinning of the globally popular Patrol, there’s been some indication that the newly redesigned Armada might be the value play. Here’s how Thomas described the non-NISMO models when the truck debuted:

With a potent boosted V6, promise of reasonable off-road chops, and seating for up to eight, the 2025 Nissan Armada certainly takes the approach that more is more. Moreover, it replaces a seriously aged SUV, so its arrival in Nissan’s lineup is wholeheartedly welcomed.

Even better for curious buyers and desperate dealers, the price is extremely competitive:

A base two-wheel-drive Armada SV starts at $58,415 including freight, which actually works out $105 less expensive than the outgoing base model, although all savings come out of the freight charge. Want four-wheel-drive? That’ll cost you an extra $3,000, but it’s optional on most competitors, so that’s fairly apples-to-apples.

Still, here’s a brand new vehicle that’s slightly less costly than the old one, and it comes at a time when almost every competitor is growing more expensive. A base model 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe LS starts at $60,495 including freight, a base model 2025 Ford Expedition Active starts at a whopping $63,695 including freight, and a base model 2025 Toyota Sequoia SR5 kicks things up another notch with a starting price of $64,120 including freight. The base model two-wheel-drive 2025 Jeep Wagoneer is less expensive than the equivalent 2024 model, but it still starts at $61,945 including freight.

The Nissan name has fallen a bit, so the company seems to be throwing what it can at the wall and seeing what sticks. Will a sport-tuned Armada stick?

Just Look At This Fucking Thing

I initially thought this was a one-off SEMA concept when I saw this photo of the truck out in front of a PRO-4X and Platinum Reserve. Nope. It’s the real thing. The 2026 Armada NISMO.

Let’s start with the obvious. This grille is large enough to cook a whole Carolina hog and still have space for some brisket. In the exclusive “Stealth Gray” the red accents and lower front fascia obviously stand out, as do the custom side-steps.

Wheels? You get Nismo-specific, 22-inch forged nine-spokes in black. The color pattern feels very Nissan, as does the fog light treatment on the outer bumper.

It’s strange. I don’t hate it, to be clear. There’s something Dekotora about the whole thing. It’s so overdone that it becomes its own thing, like a Charburger. BTW, have you ever had a Charburger from Habit Burger? We did the giant family Charbox thing last night for David’s birthday, and it was surprisingly good. Tempura green beans? Genius!

Maybe this is good. The interior looks like Kylo Ren’s sex dungeon, but not in a bad way, if that makes sense. Almost nothing about this car makes sense.

It’s Not Just For Show

One of the features that separates the Armada from the rest of its chonky ilk is that air suspension tends to come cheaply, and NISMO’s engineers have tuned SUVs adapative electronic air suspension and steering for “more engaging and direct handling.” I find that most automakers try to make their big SUVs feel small, overboosting the power steering and otherwise deadening the experience.

It sounds like NISMO engineers are going in another direction. On the power side, the new twin-turbo V6 offers 460 horsepower, which is an improvement of about 35 horsepower over the non-NISMO versions. There’s also a louder and less restrictive exhaust.

This is at least more than an appearance package.

But Why Tho?

Don’t expect it to offer the earth-shaking boom of the Escalade’s V8, nor the corner-carving precision of an Urus. But also don’t expect it to offer the six-figure price of either of those. A NISMO starts at $79,530, with a $2,190 delivery charge. That makes it roughly half the price of a well-equipped Escalade V, and nowhere in the same universe as an Urus.

Are those vehicles better? Maybe. Probably. I haven’t driven it yet, so I don’t know. Lets’ see what Nissan has to say:

“The new Armada NISMO brings a bold, sporty edge to the lineup, joining the tough PRO-4X and the upscale Platinum Reserve. It’s all about giving drivers more of what they’re looking for,” said Vinay Shahani, senior vice president of U.S. Marketing and Sales at Nissan. “No matter where you’re headed—on the highway, off the beaten path, or way off the grid—there’s an Armada built for the journey.”

So now there’s an Armada for way off the grid, which I assume is a reference to the racing grid. You can tow your Z to the track, but you’ll probably not want to race it.

Do I want to race it, though? Sort of, yeah. I’m going to see if I can get one of these for Lime Rock’s Autocross. It’s entirely the wrong place for it, which is why it feels so right.