Click here for the Ride&Drive Index!

Not since the Sixteenth-Century Spanish Fleet has there been an “Armada” so aptly named. Nissan’s offering is an enormous and intimidating machine from almost every angle. And if you like that kind of thing, the Armada comes with a great bunch of eye candy both under the hood and inside the truck.

Truck? Well, Armada buyers may not think of it that way, but it sure feels like one. It even has many of the amenities you would see in one. Front Tow Hooks, for example. Add on the tow package and I defy you to tell me it’s not a truck. Yeah, right. Not that it isn’t the right vehicle for those of you with boats and sporting equipment to stow or tow. Whether you’re going to the lake, the ocean or the mountains it has enough power to carry the whole family, the luggage, and an RV or boat. (9,100-pound maximum towing capacity.)

The exterior styling of the Armada is nothing to shout “stop the presses” over. Not that it’s bad, in fact, much of it is quite good. I’ve never liked the front bumper design with the chrome (only on the LE model.) Then again, I don’t like that front-end treatment on any other Nissan product. The roofline is arched slightly to give more passenger headroom. It is slight, but it is there and doesn’t mesh well as it merges with the roof over the cargo area. But they are minor quibbles.

Other exterior features include a standard body-color grille (SE model, chrome grille on LE model) and chrome front door handles, dual power-adjustable heated chrome side mirrors (with power folding, auto dimming and integrated turn signal on LE models), standard running boards, privacy glass for the second and third rows and available power rear lift gate, manual flip-out rear quarter windows (power-operated on LE models) and halogen headlights. All models are also offered with a standard rear proximity sensor system (back-up obstacle warning) in the rear bumper.

The interior of this massive behemoth is versatile, roomy and flexible. The seating is very comfortable and can easily hold seven to eight passengers. (Although the third row-legroom is only comfortable for children.) The second and third rows fold fully flat. It has a large amount of second-row legroom, which is unusual in this full-size, light duty SUV class, and ample cargo space behind the third row seat. There a plethora of map lights, vents, power outlets and cupholders at each seating area. And an optional DVD Family Entertainment System can be had.

We were impressed with the number of cubby-holes to stuff things in, from cell phones to CDs—it all just had a perfect spot. A big deal for us is a place to store a standard Kleenex tissue box. Put it on the dash and it usually slides off into the passenger’s lap. Totally annoying. Not so with the Armada as it seemed to have the perfect spot set into the dash.

The Armada doesn’t look like a vehicle that might handle well through suburban or urban traffic but we found it to be surprisingly agile. Whether we were on pavement or off, the truck kept to the road, tautly, while refusing to sacrifice any of the smoothness of ride.

We roadtested the Armada SE 4x4 with tow package and all. Total including destination charges of our test vehicle was $41,180. We were a little surprised that a car that has no NAV system, is humongous, and is a gas guzzler (13mpg city/18mpg highway) could command that kind of price tag. If you’re looking for an economical vehicle to use as a second car, this isn’t it. If you don’t need to tow something or haul a cord of wood or something to that effect then you might be happier with something smaller that won’t cause you so much pain at the pump. R&D