to get in. Don't worry, the kids will love it, and the Armada does come standard with side curtain airbags for all three rows of seats. Side curtain airbags have been proven to provide significant protection in side-impact collisions and rollovers. The second row is contoured for two passengers. Second-row captain's chairs are also available. Regardless, all seating positions have three-point belts for all rows.

The best seats in the house, wide comfy chairs, belong to the driver and front passenger. Adjustable pedals allow drivers of all statures to have a customized driving position. The front passenger seat folds flat allowing long cargo, up to 11 feet, to be carried inside.

Armada's interior has a masculine, hard-edged look, with large knobs and buttons. The dash will look familiar to anyone who's seen a Titan. The Armada gets it virtually intact, from the raised center stack topped by the navigation screen to the instrument panel. Even the three-spoke steering wheel is the same.

Pathfinder Armada will be offered in three versions: the well-equipped base version, the SE, and the LE. The SE Off-Road comes in two-wheel or four-wheel drive, with special shock absorbers, all-terrain tires on special 17-inch wheels, skid plates, and fog lights. LE comes with a chrome grille, second-row bucket seats and leather-trimmed seats. Options include Bose audio, sunroof and a ceiling-mounted DVD system for passengers in the rear cabin.

The Nissan Pathfinder Armada will turn a lot of heads when it sails into dealerships this fall. There will be no cheapie versions, every one loaded for bear with a powerful engine, strong and comfortable chassis, and lots of accoutrements even in the standard version. The Armada reckons to be one of the big guns in the big SUV field.

Despite the trend to smaller SUVs, car platform SUVs and crossover sorta-SUVs, sometimes nothing less than a full-size sport-utility will do. After all, Chevrolet hasn't been building the Suburban all these years for nothing. There are boat trailers and horse trailers to be towed and eight-up cargo-on-the-rooftop journeys to be taken. Nissan's entry into this competitive but lucrative market with a full-size SUV is big news.

This no crossover, but one HOT SUV.

Hot Truck.com