2021 Nissan Armada

Now roughly halfway into this generation's lifespan, the 2021 Nissan Armada receives a few key updates that Nissan hopes will keep the Armada competitive against the likes of the Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Expedition. On the outside, a new grille, redesigned bumpers, and reworked headlights and taillights differentiate the 2021 Armada from the outgoing model. Buyers looking for something a little different can now spec the Midnight Edition trim, which treats the exterior to an under-the-radar, blacked-out color scheme. The biggest changes, however, are in store once you open the door.

Acceleration is immediate and authoritative. In prior testing, a 2019 Armada reached 60 mph in 6.7 seconds, which is quick for this class of SUV. We expect the same result from the 2021 model.

The brakes are up to the task of getting the Armada slowed too. The pedal is on the soft side, but it feels appropriate for an SUV. Handling is typical for a big SUV. The suspension is rather soft, so you'll feel the Armada rolling into turns, but it's stable enough to handle drives along mountain roads. More disappointing is the Armada's steering. It has a vague feel and lacks any appreciable feedback. As such, it's hard to really have confidence in knowing how much grip there is when going around turns. Altogether, the Armada meets expectations but doesn't encourage the driver to drive with any sporty intent.

On the plus side, the ride quality is smooth, especially for a body-on-frame SUV that is based on a pickup truck. Small and moderate road imperfections are glossed over with barely any notice, but larger undulations tend to cause some jostling. At highway speeds, the cabin is blissfully devoid of road or wind noise no matter how coarse the pavement is.

These are all welcome additions and help improve overall impressions of the Armada. Unfortunately, plenty of drawbacks remain. Accessing the third row requires an awkward crawl over a large hump in the floor, for example, and the interior materials could also stand some improvement. As it is, there's plenty of hard and flimsy plastics in the center, console and many of the upholstered panels look and feel like a cheaper vinyl substitute. We expect much better from a vehicle costing more than $60,000.

You'll likely be using these smartphone integration systems a lot because the native infotainment system is otherwise disappointing. It takes a while to boot up, and the graphics are dated. Voice activation is also very last-generation. It distinctly lacks natural speech recognition and requires several voice prompts to get to the function you want. We also experienced a glitch with wireless CarPlay in our test Armada — it stopped working after the first use. After that, we had to use a USB cord to make it work.

On the safety front, all 2021 Armadas will come with the Nissan Safety Shield 360 suite. That means previously optional features such as blind-spot monitoring, lane departure warning and rear automatic braking are now standard on every model. A blind-spot intervention system debuts this year, automatically steering the Armada back into its lane if the driver attempts a lane change and a vehicle is in its blind spot. The digital rearview mirror has a higher resolution for 2021, giving you a clearer picture of the road behind when luggage in the cargo area is stacked to the ceiling.

The advanced safety features are well tuned to eliminate false alarms, but the adaptive cruise control tends to accelerate too slowly when vehicles ahead begin to move. In order to avoid unkind sneers from fellow motorists, we added a lot more power through the pedal to get the Armada up to speed.

Folding the rear seatbacks flat greatly increases capacity, but the lack of pull straps makes getting them back up an ordeal. Taller adults will have to wrestle them back up with a very long reach inside. And shorter people will likely have to crawl inside past the middle row to access them. Folding the second row flat is much easier, but the tall center console extends above the captain's chairs, preventing you from sliding large items past.

Cargo limitation aside, the Armada has plenty of space for your personal items. The center armrest bin between the front seats is large and features a secondary front hinge to allow second-row passenger access. In all likelihood, they won't need to since there's a similarly large center bin between the captain's chairs.

One of the Armada's greatest advantages is its towing capability. It has a generous maximum tow rating of 8,500 pounds, which is enough to handle small to medium-size boats and travel trailers. It also comes standard with a prewired hitch receiver and integrated trailer brake controller. And trailer sway control, which can help control trailer movement if a trailer begins to sway back and forth, is included in midgrade trims and above.