The 2026 Nissan Armada is the flagship of the Nissan fleet – the big one that has everything. A burly full-size SUV, it makes a capable 3-row family SUV, a reliable tow vehicle, and a grippy, confident ride when a historic snowstorm snarls the streets while you’re test-driving one (ask me how I know).
Nissan builds the Armada in many forms, letting shoppers choose rear-wheel drive (RWD) or 4-wheel drive (4WD), and opt for a family-friendly trim, an off-road-focused trim, or even a high-performance model.
The Armada hasn’t traditionally matched the sales numbers of its domestic rivals, but we think some shoppers considering one of those rivals should test its comfortable zero-gravity seats before they commit.
Here are our three favorite things about Nissan’s largest model.
1. It’s an IIHS Top Safety Pick
America has two crash testing agencies. The federal government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) performs crash tests, and so does the insurance industry.
Insurance companies fund their own safety lab, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Many in the automotive industry consider its tests the gold standard of safety because the IIHS can tighten its standards without much bureaucratic process, so it does so frequently.
The institute gives its Top Safety Pick award to just three large SUVs. They’re all expensive luxury models, except this one. The Armada is the only IIHS Top Safety Pick in its class available at non-luxury prices.
We should note that two large luxury SUVs won a higher award, Top Safety Pick+.
2. You Can Take Your Hands Off the Wheel Sometimes
The optional ProPILOT Assist 2.1 package allows you to take your hands off the wheel (but not your eyes off the road) on some pre-mapped highways.
It accelerates and brakes to maintain a safe gap from the car in front of you (you can adjust the gap), and steers to keep it centered in its lane. It can even change lanes on its own to find a faster route through traffic.
Nissan is constantly expanding the map of highways where it works, so you’ll likely be able to use it in more places the longer you own your car.
3. It Has Plenty of Thoughtful Design Touches
You can tell designers spent time refining this one and built it for many body types. The Armada has some uncommon small design touches.
There’s a grab handle to help you pull yourself in at every door, for instance. Some rivals have them for the back doors, and sometimes the passenger door. But it’s quite rare to find one for the driver. This is a large, tall vehicle, but you can easily pull yourself into it without having to grab an unstable steering wheel for support.
Some Armada trim levels have second-row captain’s chairs instead of a bench seat. Those always present designers with a dilemma – do they put a table between them to give passengers a place for drinks and phones, or leave the space open to give access to the second row? Nissan split the difference with a small half-width console. We found that it gave kids who are small enough to use the passage the functionality of both options.
The third row has vents and power outlets.
These are small touches, but they testify to good user testing.
Read More on the 2026 Nissan Armada
Read our full review of the Nissan Armada, or see Armada models for sale near you.
