100% different 2017 Nissan Armada - FYI

[Losangeles]

Hi all

I'm sharing this, for anyone else who is shopping for a big SUV....

I have been researching a *possible * eventual * tug upgrade.

We would very likely want a big SUV (not a pickup) and our top preferred brands are Honda/Acura..... Toyota/Lexus.... then I guess Nissan, etc.

The big news in big SUVs was just announced - a 100% different 2017 Nissan Armada.

Towing capacity is 8,500 lbs, as stock.

It is based on a completely different than 2017 Armada platforms..... a platform that was not available in North America before. A quick web search will reveal all the details.... here are three links:

a well written and good initial review:

2017 Nissan Armada First Drive – Review – Car and Driver

And

2017 Nissan Armada First Drive - Autoblog

and

2017 Nissan Armada mega-SUV makes good use of its cameras | ExtremeTech

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Losangeles

The big news in big SUVs was just announced - a 100% different 2017 Nissan Armada.
...
It is based on a completely different than 2017 Armada platforms..... a platform that was not available in North America before.

But the platform was available in North America previously (for those with a sufficient budget)... as the Infinity QX56 starting in 2011 (renamed QX80 for 2014). I wasn't previously aware of this (only having known that the first QX56 was a rebadged Titan-based Armada), but it was is in the articles.

The Wikipedia page for the second-generation Armada is pretty good, too... more concise than the articles.

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

But the platform was available in North America previously (for those with a sufficient budget)... as the Infinity QX56 starting in 2011 (renamed QX80 for 2014). I wasn't previously aware of this (only having known that the first QX56 was a rebadged Titan-based Armada), but it was is in the articles.

The Wikipedia page for the second-generation Armada is pretty good, too... more concise than the articles.

Aha... my bad.

I think one of the many web pages that I have read about the 2017 Nissan Armada led me astray.

thanks
and

More cool info here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Patrol

and also here

10 Things You Need to Know About the All-New 2017 Nissan Armada

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Losangeles

I know these things (body parts) blend together over the years, tp varying degrees....

but it is my understanding that the Patrol chassis was never available in the USA.

Autoblog: 2017 Nissan Armada First Drive

This also isn't the first time we've seen this chassis or engine. Americans have been able to buy it since the 2011 model year as the Infiniti QX80 (née QX56)...

Car and Driver: 2017 Nissan Armada

Infiniti switched gears, dropping the Titan-derived behemoth and instead recruiting the international-market Nissan Patrol for Infiniti SUV duty. Leather-lined and re-engineered for a more pampered, pavement-oriented life, the Patrol-based QX56 arrived for the 2011 model year, shortly thereafter becoming the QX80.

Wikipedia: Infiniti QX80, Second generation (Z62; 2010–present)

On 31 March 2010, Infiniti debuted the 2011 QX56 at the New York International Auto Show. No longer sharing a platform with the Nissan Armada, the QX56 is now a luxury version of the Nissan Patrol, which also marks the first time that a Patrol-based vehicle is being sold in North America.

There is a lot of mix-and-match assembling of components to make vehicles, and the "platform" idea is fading into a fuzzier idea of "modules" that can work together... but it sounds like mechanically the QX56/80 and now the Armada are simply Patrols, in a basic version. The good thing about that is that the Patrol-based Infinitis will have built some history to indicate reliability, with roughly 70,000 on U.S. roads and probably less than a tenth of that in Canada.

Looking for more detail about the part which interests me, I stumbled across this: 2011 Infiniti QX56: Suspension Walkaround. Other than the hydraulic roll control systems (which is like one of the Toyota systems, optional on the 4Runner), the front suspension is typical modern large SUV and the light truck style, and the rear is very similar to a Sequoia... and the Titan-based Armada. Good stuff, but not particularly unique.

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

....... but it sounds like mechanically the QX56/80 and now the Armada are simply Patrols, in a basic version. The good thing about that is that the Patrol-based Infinitis will have built some history to indicate reliability, with roughly 70,000 on U.S. roads and probably less than a tenth of that in Canada.

Looking for more detail about the part which interests me, I stumbled across this: 2011 Infiniti QX56: Suspension Walkaround. Other than the hydraulic roll control systems (which is like one of the Toyota systems, optional on the 4Runner), the front suspension is typical modern large SUV and the light truck style, and the rear is very similar to a Sequoia... and the Titan-based Armada. Good stuff, but not particularly unique.

Thanks for the great info, and thanks for the awesome web page about the suspension info. Cool!!

[Losangeles]

Semi related update

Just happened to drive the Nissan Pathfinder (2016) for an hour today

Quite a nice SUV!

not perfect. But quite nice.

Very comfy seats.

Gives me hope that a 2017 Nissan Armada might be decent.



However my trusted mechanic says the similar to the Armada sized Toyota has a very tried and true engine

Plus more torque.

Plus Toyotas are generally more reliable that anything other than Hondas.

His words. Not mine.