Nissan maintains a longtime reputation as a dependable manufacturer of fun, lightweight, affordable autos. So, let’s see how they fare in the SUV game.
With about half a dozen SUVs in the lineup, Nissan has something for everyone, from the budget-priced Nissan Kicks to the full-size Armada.
As to which one is the best Nissan SUV, we could give you the standard “well it depends…” answer that you usually get from articles like these. And it’s true, each one is the best of the lineup “in its own way.” But that’s no fun, so let’s try to boil it down to a single answer.
Specifically, what we want to find out is if there’s a Nissan SUV that does what it does better than the nearest competitor. Is there something that really gives car buyers a reason to go with Nissan over Ford or Honda?
To figure that out, let’s go down the list and take a look at all the SUV options from the automaker.
Nissan Kicks
Nissan introduced the Kicks as the SUV answer to nimble little city cars like the Fiat 500 and the Mini Cooper. The automaker launched the Kicks claiming that it was built for the streets of Brazil, which was a clever way of saying that they wanted to test it in the Latin American market before taking it global.
- Engine: 1.6L DOHC 16V 4
- Horsepower: 122 hp
- MPG (City/Hwy): 31/36
- Cargo Capacity: 25.3 cu. ft. – 32.3 cu. ft.
The Kicks is Nissan’s attempt at competing with Kia, specifically the Kia Sportage. These are both nimble, affordable little SUVs designed more for city streets than back roads and dirt hills, and it’s hard to pick a clear winner between the two.
Nissan and Kia both earn high marks in reliability from Consumer Reports, and both SUVs are user-friendly. Favorites among suburban parents, but not that exciting for gear-heads or outdoorsy types.
A brand new Kicks starts at less than twenty thousand, while a Kia Sportage starts at around twenty-four. So if you’re considering a Nissan Kicks because it’s a reliable, affordable family car, it’s comparable to the Sportage on specs, but just edges it out on price. So we’re calling Nissan the winner here by a margin of a few thousand bucks.
Nissan Rogue
Selling around a quarter-million to a half-million units a year, the Nissan Rogue is the brand’s best-seller in the U.S. right now. Does that make it the best of the bunch, or just Nissan’s best all-arounder?
- Engine: 2.0L DOHC 16
- Horsepower: 141 hp
- MPG (City/Hwy): 25/32
- Cargo Capacity: 22.9 cu. ft. – 61.1 cu. ft.
The Rogue is about as safe as a compact crossover gets, as the Kelley Blue Book video below will show, holding the Top Safety Pick rating with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
But, near-competitors like the Hyundai Santa Fe, Subaru Forester, and the Ford Escape all hold Top Safety Pick status with the IIHS, too. Safe SUVs aren’t hard to come by.
In terms of physical dimensions, the Rogue and Santa Fe are only a few inches apart here and there, and fuel efficiency is comparable.
The biggest difference comes down to torque, where the Santa Fe has an edge over the Rogue, at 178 lb.-ft. over the Rogue’s 147 lb.-ft. for the 2020 models. This lends the Santa Fe a noticeable edge in towing capacity and climbing hills.
The Rogue Sport is a smaller, cheaper version of the Rogue, sold in other countries as Qashqai. We would recommend a Kicks over a Rogue Sport. If you’re going with a nimble, cost-efficient SUV, you might as well commit to Nissan’s nimblest, most cost-effective SUV.
Nissan Pathfinder
The Nissan Pathfinder dates back to the days when SUVs were big, chunky, truck-like beasts. The Pathfinder has gotten smaller, more fuel-efficient, and more comfortable since its debut in the mid-eighties, but it still retains its status as a rugged, versatile, adventure-capable family vehicle.
- Engine: 3.5L DI V6
- Horsepower: 284 hp
- MPG (City/Hwy): 20/27
- Cargo Capacity: 16 cu. ft. – 78.9 cu. ft.
The Pathfinder basically has two target demographics: people who live rural and need a family car that can handle broken roads as well as streets and highways, and people who love Jeeps and F-150 Raptors, but know that they need something a little more versatile as their primary vehicle.
Sounds awesome, but most drivers will tell you that the Toyota Highlander is the superior vehicle.
The Highlander gets a Safety Pick + rating from the IIHS, better mileage than the Pathfinder, complimentary maintenance, higher marks for reliability from Consumer Reports, and glowing reviews from owners and critics alike, with one driver on Vehicle History telling us that it “drives like a cloud.”
Nissan Murano
The coolest thing about the Nissan Murano has to be the convertible CrossCabriolet variant. The world’s first convertible crossover AWD vehicle. Unfortunately, this was dropped from the Murano lineup following the 2014 edition, leaving us with a solid, if basic, lineup of mid-size crossovers.
- Engine: 3.5L DOHC 24
- Horsepower: 260 hp
- MPG (City/Hwy): 20/28
- Cargo Capacity: 32.1 cu. ft. – 67 cu. ft.
The Murano is a fairly middle-of-the-road SUV. Neither compact nor full-size, neither economy nor luxury class. If the Rogue is the all-arounder and the Rogue Sport is the lite version, this is the all-arounder plus.
With AWD, 240 lb.-ft. of torque and seating for five, you could just as easily make the Murano your family carpools-and-road-trips ride as your back-roads camping-and-fishing-mobile.
Nearest competitors number too many to count. This is a general-purpose SUV with a little extra horsepower and legroom, every automaker in the industry is in that game. But the Chevy Equinox and Jeep Grand Cherokee make good counterpoints for comparison shopping.
The price range for both is about the same, but the Murano gives you a little extra oomph over the Equinox’s 170 horsepower, and the Equinox has no AWD option.
The Grand Cherokee offers similar performance, but with a super-safe unibody design, for about ten thousand bucks more than you’d spend on a comparable Murano by trim level. We’re calling this one for Nissan.
Nissan Armada
The Nissan Armada is sort of an odd fit on this list. The cheapest model starts at just under fifty thousand, but it’s not quite a luxury SUV. Or rather, it is a luxury SUV, but only under the Infiniti brand name, where it goes by QX80 and starts at almost seventy thousand.
- Engine: 5.6L Endurance V8
- Horsepower: 400 hp
- MPG (City/Hwy): 14/19
- Cargo Capacity: 16.5 cu. ft. – 95.4 cu. ft.
What do you make of an SUV like the Armada? At 400 horsepower with 413 lb.-ft. of torque and an 8,500 lb. towing capacity, this is basically a full-size truck with some extra legroom in place of a box.
If we’re just talking specs, this powerhouse is the strongest, roomiest, comfiest SUV under the Nissan brand name. If that’s all you care about, then this is the winner, hands down.
It’s also the most expensive, and the least fuel-efficient, and not quite as cushy as the Infiniti variant, let alone comparable luxury SUVs like the Audi Q7, BMW X5, or Lincoln Aviator, which all start at under sixty grand.
There’s a lot to love about the Armada from the muscle-car engine to the eight-seat interior with forty inches of headroom. But we can’t say that it’s the best luxury SUV on the market when Nissan themselves are selling a better version of this same car under a different name.
The Armada is awesome, make no mistake. But it’s not quite an F-150, and it’s not quite a QX80, so you can’t really call it the best in its class.
What’s the Best Nissan SUV?
So, what’s Nissan’s best overall SUV? To answer this question we’re considering what it is that Nissan does best, and that’s simple. Nissan makes affordable, fuel-efficient, fun-to-drive cars. The Kicks isn’t the most powerful or the roomiest vehicle on this list, but it is the quintessential Nissan SUV.
The bottom line is that you can get a better off-road SUV from Jeep or Ford, you can get a better luxury SUV from BMW or Porsche, but you’re not going to find a better lightweight city-car SUV than the Nissan Kicks.
Photos: Nissan
