2026 Nissan Armada Nismo Looks So Cool It’s Not Really Sporty – Jalopnik

I’m as tired of hearing about cars costing more than my annual salary as you are, and I’ve been trying to focus on reviewing more affordable and accessible cars, so you can’t really be mad at me. I say that because I recently had the chance to drive the 2026 Nissan Armada Nismo, which starts at $81,270 before options, and I completely fell in love with it. I’ve said that the Volkswagen ID Buzz has the best vibe of any car on sale in the US, but now I think the Armada Nismo has the most in-your-face, striking, and impressive vibe of any new car today.

Full disclosure: Nissan flew me to Tennessee, fed me, and let me sleep overnight so I could test drive the 2026 Rogue Plug-In Hybrid and the facelifted 2026 Pathfinder. I also got to sample some of Nissan’s other offerings, including the 2026 Armada Nismo.

The Nismo isn’t that different from the rest of the 2026 Armada lineup, but it does gain 35 hp over all other Armada trim levels, so the 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 sends 460 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels through a nine-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. That sounds like a lot of power, because it is, but remember that all that power is under the extremely tall and upright grille of a full-size, body-on-frame SUV that weighs 6,102 pounds and can tow up to 8,500 pounds.

Nismo used a handful of components to transform the Armada into a performance-flavored SUV, including reprogramming the engine and revising the valve clearances to give it those extra horses over the standard truck. It also reworked the exhaust, steering and standard air suspension. The Nismo also gets Active Sound Enhancement, which sends fake engine noise through the speakers to liven things up, and it’s actually convincingly effective.

So Nismo has touched on a few powertrain parts, which is great. What really matters are the changes on the outside, with the Armada getting a great makeover. At the front, Nismo has enlarged the Armada’s already large grille and extended it all the way to the new front splitter. That splitter extends around the car like a full-width skirt with a contrasting red accent, all the way to the rear, featuring a Nismo logo diffuser to complete the bold vibe. The exterior renovation is completed by the 22-inch Nismo wheels, which may require some spacers to fit under the bodywork the way you really want.

The car I drove was painted in $450 Nismo-specific Stealth Gray with the $1,450 two-tone Super Black upgrade, but it’s also offered in Black Diamond Pearl (the only standard no-cost color) and $750 Everest White, which is also available as a two-tone paint job for $1,750. I don’t know about you, but I think the Armada Nismo looks totally badass.

Nissan

The interior is only available in Charcoal leather with red quilted Ultrasuede inserts on the seat base and backrest, finished with Nismo stitched headrests. There are other nice touches like a steering wheel with a red Ultrasuede straight ahead marker and a red stripe on the center armrest. The interior provides a luxurious, sporty feel with extremely comfortable seats and, above all, plenty of space, apart from headroom, which is a bit tight in the second and third rows due to the standard panoramic sliding roof.

Unfortunately, behind the wheel, the Armada Nismo isn’t as successful as an SUV with sporting ambitions as the exterior styling convinces you it should be. It’s not bad, but it’s not close to the Cadillac Escalade V. However, it’s also about half the price. The Armada’s best asset is its straight-line performance; it will not break a neck, but it will never lack power. The V6 offers good entry, but when the going gets twisty, this 6,100-pound, body-on-frame SUV with a whopping 8.9 inches of ground clearance doesn’t feel nimble. I know, stop the presses.

The Armada’s steering has quite a heft to it, and the behemoth never feels like it’s going to surprise you with a few impromptu somersaults, but during my very short drive I couldn’t build up enough confidence in the vehicle and the unfamiliar roads to really push its limits. It’s capable, but don’t expect to be overwhelmed by its responsiveness.

When the Armada was redesigned for 2025, it gained Nissan’s dual 14.3-inch digital displays with built-in Google and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as the availability of Nissan’s ProPilot Assist 2.1 hands-free, eyes-on Level 2 automated driver assistance system. There’s enough technology in the Armada Nismo to keep people happy, including a good Klipsch audio system with 12 speakers of 600 watts.

Fortunately, the Armada has full physical controls for the climate control system, as well as the 4WD system and some radio controls, so most day-to-day interactions can be handled without much fuss. However, the buttons on the steering wheel are all capacitive and not super intuitively labeled, so they caused me some confusion during my 30-minute test drive.

Logan K. Carter/Jalopnik

The 2026 Nissan Armada Nismo is, in the venerable words of Peter Griffin, incredibly sweet. It doesn’t make any sense, but it looks cooler than a gigantic three-row body-on-frame family wagon has any right to. Beyond its distinctive looks, it packs plenty of power, a luxurious and user-friendly interior, plenty of desirable standard features, and technically it qualifies as a performance SUV, which is cool. Everything about the Armada Nismo is cool, and if you don’t agree with it, you’re clearly not cool.