The Armada has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Suburban doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Armada has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the Suburban’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Armada has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Suburban.
The Armada’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Suburban doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Armada and the Suburban have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Nissan Armada is safer than the Chevrolet Suburban:
|
Armada |
Suburban |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Abdominal Force |
81 G’s |
111 G’s |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
31 |
88 |
Spine Acceleration |
21 G’s |
24 G’s |
Hip Force |
151 lbs. |
248 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
684 lbs. |
764 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.