Nissan Armada SUV Report: Humongous Road Hog, But Very Comfortable

Hertz put a gargantuan Nissan Armada in my rental spot at LAX. The massive SUV is aptly named: It’s the size of the Spanish Armada. It is easily the biggest rental vehicle Hertz has ever given me. Its huge V8 engine has the oomph of a Ferrari, powering its multiple tons from zero to sixty in 8 seconds flat. Truth is, it was a guilty pleasure to drive it.

Seriously, the Armada handled beautifully, with little effort, a lot of zip, and excellent visibility. I actually enjoyed the experience. Too bad I only drove it 164.6 miles.

However, my trip to the local Union 76 station to refill the tank on the way back to LAX was an unpleasant experience. Not surprisingly, this dinosaur gulped down 15.56 gallons after just 164.6 miles! 10.58 MPG! That makes the range of this behemoth just over 200 miles. I think that’s as bad as—or perhaps worse than—a Hummer.

I have found the yang to the Toyota Prius ying!

Perhaps the Armada was also named for the year the Spanish Armada was defeated by Sir Francis Drake in the English Channel, 1588, because my guess is that the giant V8 under the hood must have 1588 cubic inches. That big internal combustion engine makes for a mighty smooth ride.

Even in today’s steeply rising gas price environment, occasionally it’s fun to throw off the shackles of green responsibility and live a little. Maybe I should have used the Armada to stop off at an L.A. multiplex to catch Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”