Thursday 17th May 2018

Nissan Armada 'Mountain Patrol' concept

Nissan mines the knowledge bank of overlanding enthusiasts on social media, returns with this...

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Do you know what 'overlanding' is? Nope, us neither. Handily, Nissan provides an explanation with this new Armada Mountain Patrol, specifically designed for the task. "For those family adventure fans who aren't familiar with the term 'overlanding', all they need to do is look at the Armada Mountain Patrol to understand that this is not glamping, not a day trip to the local forest - it's adventure taken to new heights", says Brandon White, Nissan USA Chief Marketing Manager.

So if you can think of nothing better than heading off to explore the wilderness with seven other people, the Mountain Patrol has you covered. It has been developed with help from Nissan's followers on Instagram and Facebook, with those users directly able influence the modifications made to this Armada.

As you can see, they are fairly extensive. The four-person roof-mounted tent was one of the changes chosen via social media, and is accompanied by a Rhino Racks custom awning, another tent, chairs and additional sleeping bags - so yes, all eight of you will be camping. Overlanding may be all about outdoor adventure, but the Mountain Patrol features equipment that means you needn't leave any of your creature comforts behind. There are storage drawers, cases, a fridge freezer and additional coolers, plus an off-road radio system from Rugged Radios in case somebody forgot their iPod.

Of course all those storage possibilities would be of no use if the Armada couldn't get you anywhere worth adventuring to. Handily Nissan has thought of that as well, equipping the 390hp, V8 truck with tougher suspension, 17-inch Icon Rebound wheels and perhaps the best named off-road tyres ever - the Nitto Ridge Grappler. It gets even more serious than that, though, with light bars, a 12,000lb winch, an uprated jack, Calmini rock sliders, Rhino Rack shovels and even an auxiliary fuel storage. That latter option may come in handy more often than you think, with a Magnaflow exhaust helping the 5.6-litre engine "breathe easier in high-mountain air", you may well end up using rather a lot of fuel.

Brandon White said Nissan "couldn't be more pleased" with how the Mountain Patrol has turned out, and it's hard to disagree. Taking the path less travelled certainly looks a whole lot more appealing in something like this. Nissan will first exhibit the Armada at the Overland Expo West in Flagstaff, Arizona, this weekend, before taking it on a nationwide tour to other outdoor events during 2018. If this is what social media can create with a truck, what could it do with other Nissans? Bring on the Instagram-influenced GT-R... on second thought, perhaps not.

 

[Fury1630]

You'd have thought they'd give it a ladder long enough to reach the tent.

[louiebaby]

"There are storage drawers, cases, a fridge freezer and additional coolers, plus an off-road radio system from Rugged Radios in case somebody forgot their iPod."

All that and seating for the 8 people it can sleep? No?

Needs more axles...



http://www.expedition-trucks.com/brokers/iveco-ast...

[richs2891]

I do like that !

[CS Garth]

Makes a strong case for the total abolishment of social media in my book.

[Bill]

Fury1630 said:

You'd have thought they'd give it a ladder long enough to reach the tent.

Howling Moon do a ladder extension.

Surely that's a two man tent though?

[caelite]

Looks nice, would argue the wheel offset is a bit aggressive for an overland build, it's very 'American', more looks less practical, door handles get covered in road st from the tyre poke.

Speaking of which, I wonder if that American 'RT' style tyre will ever make it over here, it's an interesting concept. Basically taking a 50/50 AT tyre and trying to make it look like an MT tyre without changing its road handling characteristics.

[JamesMK]

I look forward to seeing them cruising round Knightsbridge wrapped in gold

[unsprung]

CS Garth said:

Makes a strong case for the total abolishment of social media in my book.

I did laugh aloud.

Give this comment a gold star for being delightfully curmudgeonly.

[unsprung]

co-creation

the use of social media by Nissan is a classical example of a form of co-creation

in the past, BMW ran more structured online events with this very purpose; for example:

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/deta...

however... the greatest opportunity for co-creation today, IMHO, is not with the selection of features but with the examination of how consumers use the product and the hacks or work-arounds they (consumers) create to get uses / jobs done

[Utterpiffle]

We had this model Armada as a rental on a recent 2800 mile jaunt around the states. OK, it was a standard version, but they are huge! It stood out high above the sea of other SUV's in the car park and it dwarfed our friends Escalade. It seated 7 adults in leg-stretched-out comfort.
Best rental we've ever had by a long shot, and will certainly be requesting one again on our next visit.

[loveice]

Never understood why Nissan US doesn’t simply call it Nissan Patrol like the rest of world. I mean there’s a reason for LR to change the Discovery 3/4 names to LR3/4 due to the poor quality and realisability reputation related to the old Dicovery 1/2. But, Nissan Patrol has always been a solid 4x4 from start...

[unsprung]

loveice said:

Never understood why Nissan US doesn’t simply call it Nissan Patrol like the rest of world. I mean there’s a reason for LR to change the Discovery 3/4 names to LR3/4 due to the poor quality and realisability reputation related to the old Dicovery 1/2. But, Nissan Patrol has always been a solid 4x4 from start...

because they are distinct vehicles

the Armada chassis is optimised for on-road use in the US; no locking differentials; most off-road kit and tuning are not present

Armada is about family activities, after-school activities, weekend family getwaways, family holidays

think of Armada and Patrol as fraternal twins

[K2iss]

Fury1630 said:

You'd have thought they'd give it a ladder long enough to reach the tent.

They probably did the tent with the ladder first, and then added the lift kit second. Fortunately, the guy who took the picture had this brilliant idea to add the rocks to support the ladder... nobody will notice

[mariscalcus]

8 people. Roaming cross-country in a large 4x4. Which 4 are lucky enough to squeeze into the roof-top tent? Utter madness. If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, this is what happens when "social media" design a 4x4. I have been "overlanding" as they quaintly call it in the Middle East and Africa with 2 people in a mildly converted Land Cruiser. That was crowded enough. Only in America!

[mariscalcus]

8 people. Roaming cross-country in a large 4x4. Which 4 are lucky enough to squeeze into the roof-top tent? Utter madness. If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, this is what happens when "social media" design a 4x4. I have been "overlanding" as they quaintly call it in the Middle East and Africa with 2 people in a mildly converted Land Cruiser. That was crowded enough. Only in America!

[unsprung]

mariscalcus said:

8 people. Roaming cross-country in a large 4x4. Which 4 are lucky enough to squeeze into the roof-top tent? Utter madness. If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, this is what happens when "social media" design a 4x4. I have been "overlanding" as they quaintly call it in the Middle East and Africa with 2 people in a mildly converted Land Cruiser. That was crowded enough. Only in America!

this is not a vehicle offered for sale

it's a concept that is used to engage / build Armada's fan base

if you're the product manager of Armada and you inform your boss that you've used social media to promote your eight-passenger SUV as a four-passenger SUV, you won't have your job for very long

most SUVs are not eight passenger; eight-passenger is a competitive segment with big profits for OEMs

[loveice]

unsprung said:

because they are distinct vehicles

the Armada chassis is optimised for on-road use in the US; no locking differentials; most off-road kit and tuning are not present

Armada is about family activities, after-school activities, weekend family getwaways, family holidays

think of Armada and Patrol as fraternal twins

Diff-lock may not be standard on Armada, but it's an option, surely. I mean what Armada can do that a standard Patrol can't? I mean a LWB Range Rover is still called a Range Rover, right? Specialy the current Y62 is already one of the most comfortable full size SUVs. Does Armada really have that much more comfort than a standard Patrol? And doesn't Nissan also call Armada Y62? Talking about LR Dicos, most basic 4-pot ones don't have any diff-locks and third row seats, either. In fact, they don't even have a low-range transfer box! But, LR doesn't give those Discos a different name...

[unsprung]

loveice said:

Diff-lock may not be standard on Armada, but it's an option, surely.

No, it's not an option.

"You can't get locking front and rear differentials, you can't get the trick sway bar disconnects..."

article here:
https://www.autoblog.com/2016/08/01/2017-nissan-ar...

The US market is more competitive than most. And this, in turn, requires greater use of segmentation by feature and by price.

That's why Lexus was required (and not just a more posh Toyota). Same with Infiniti (which is also mentioned at my link above). The US gets two distinct interpretations of Patrol -- neither of which is intended for off-road duty. And, of course, Acura.

I understand, however, almost exactly how you feel about all of this. For Americans, the momentary sense of confusion is manifested in the opposite direction: "How can so many brands here (in Europe) attempt to be all things to all people?"

[RRG]

Nah. You're better off starting with more aristocratic stock.

This was my approach to overlanding:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/raymondgreaves/sets/...

Got us from London to Cape Town in style, staggering comfort and total reliability. You can read about it here: http://www.lilongwedown.com/LilongweDown/Home.html

[unsprung]

RRG said:

Nah. You're better off starting with more aristocratic stock.

this could be the strapline for PistonHeads itself

a large percentage of the positions taken on this site are class conscious and keen on posh or select attributes

ps: as an aside, the RRG trip looks great fun