Old friend Armada remains a big attraction

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California -- A big, gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicle is not a stylish thing to like these days, but I received a 2019 Nissan Armada Platinum 4WD tester like it was an old friend.

I've liked the big brute since it came on the scene in 2004.  I have warm memories of wheeling it through a tight, underground garage in Monterey way back when.  Any large-size SUV that could handle that well in close quarters won my heart.

The current version is decidedly better from bumper to bumper -- better equipped, safer, more tech-loaded, and yet, still surprisingly agile for its size.

And that jumbo size hits you right in the face just walking up to the vehicle.  It's a big-shouldered eight-seater with an imposing front end that all but shouts: "Get outta my way, I'm coming through."  That sort of thing will win you positive points in some driving situations.

The Armada needs a muscular power plant to move all that hardware down the road, and the tester had just that with the standard 5.6-liter V-8 with a max rating of 390 horsepower.  That engine was robust in all conditions, hill climbs in the Sierra Nevada included.

There was a deep, but not overbearing rumble when I asked the tester to dig in on steep uphill runs. Response was instant, and the big Armada motored around stragglers with no wiggle and a remarkably secure stick-to-the-road feel.

You want to talk fuel mileage?  The unvarnished truth: it's a wallet-smacking 13 miles per gallon in the city and 18 mpg on the open road.

Once fuel costs understood, most owners probably will talk up the myriad safety, security, comfort and convenience features on the 2019 Armada.

The long list of state-of-the-art safety systems on the tester included intelligent back-up intervention, around-view monitor, blind-spot warning, automatic emergency braking, intelligent cruise control and a lane-departure warning system. An even longer list of comfort/convenience perks included heated/cooled front seats, heated second-row outboard seats, leather surfaces throughout the cabin, a top-flight family entertainment system and enough communications/audio options to qualify the SUV as a rolling sound studio.

Other things that grabbed my attention: a max five-star side crash rating from the federal government and striking 20-inch, machine-finished alloy wheels

For all that, the bottom line on my ride was an eyebrow-raising $67,850.  Yes, it's a luxury liner -- a classy old friend that goes first class all the way.