Nissan Is Teasing What Looks Like A Nismo Armada

Nissan teased a new model for the American market on social media site X today, and it seems as though the Nismo family is about to get bigger – literally. The vehicle in question sported Armada badging, meaning Nissan’s largest U.S. offering is about to get a little bit sportier for 2026. The company will reveal the vehicle and some pre-sale details tomorrow, meaning the countdown is on for a Nismo-badged rival to the Chevrolet Tahoe RST and Ford Expedition Stealth Performance Package.

Nissan Is Hyping A Long History Of Armada/Patrol Performance

The teaser, embedded below, reveals little about the actual forthcoming SUV, but it does highlight that the Armada family has had more than a few sojourns into the performance realm – albeit indirectly. The Armada has shared almost everything with the global-market Nissan Patrol since the 2017 model year, and that vehicle has seen its fair share of motorsports, ranging from the Paris-Dakar rally in the 1990s and 2000s to an overseas-only Nismo model starting with the previous generation.

That said, expect the Armada Nismo to follow more closely in the footsteps of the latter than the former. We think the U.S.-market sporty Armada will feature the same bold front grille and aggressive aero doo-dads as the Patrol Nismo that leaked earlier this month. With a deep chin spoiler and side skirts tacked onto the bottom of the running boards, overall clearance looks like it takes a bit of a hit – and that’s before considering any suspension alterations Nissan may or may not have made to the big bruiser.

The Sporty SUV Segment Grows

Although most folks looking for a truly athletic crossover would eschew the body-on-frame Armada Nismo (and its RST and Stealth Edition counterparts), the more aggressive Nissan nonetheless brings back some memories of Lingenfelter’s 9.9-liter 1995 Chevrolet Suburban, which could sprint to 60 miles per hour in just 4.5 seconds – a blazing speed even today, much less when measured against the 5.3-second, 1993 GMC Typhoon or 6.8-second, 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited. The Nismo Armada, at least in name and styling, should be a throwback to the era when folks saw aggressive ground effects and thought “speed.”

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Not that the standard Armada is any slouch. Now powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 instead of its predecessor’s 5.6-liter V8, the Armada makes a healthy 425 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque, marginally more in both metrics than the Ford Expedition’s V6 of similar size. The Armada is also up quite a bit on the Chevrolet Tahoe’s 6.2-liter engine, which mades 420 hp and 460 lb-ft. We don’t expect much – if any – extra power from the Nismo version, but handling might get a boost by way of sport-tuned monotube dampers, stiffer sway bars, and a potential braking package.

The unconfirmed (but probably-an-Armada) Nismo debuts tomorrow, June 24, so hopefully we won’t have to wait long to find out more. Pricing will likely come quite a bit later, although we could get lucky and learn the performance-oriented Nissan sport-ute costs less than either its RST or Stealth rivals.

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