Inside the Arizona testing facility where Nissan pushes cars to their limits

On a 3,050-acre facility in Stanfield, Arizona—just minutes from the busy metropolis of Phoenix—Nissan built an off-road playground. Here, the automaker pushes its vehicles to their limits at the edges of the hottest places in the country. Cars operate differently in extreme climates, and in Arizona the blazing heat is a factor just as much as any one mechanism.

Nissan just unleashed the first Pro-4X version of the Armada, the brand’s full-size SUV. The Pro-4X is Nissan’s off-road-ready trim, and the Armada is fitted with armor in the form of skid plates, a suspension made to smooth the roughest edges of the ride, rubber shoes made for all terrain, and an electronic locking rear differential. A machine like that is made for exploring and adventure, and Americans seem to be increasingly interested in both. But first, the Armada Pro-4X had to be tested as extensively as its Frontier Pro-4X truck was.

As the automaker puts its vehicles to the test in this harsh climate, it’s finding repeatable structure for both objective and subjective testing data. At the same time, Nissan is working with local experts to maintain the land and protect Arizona’s abundant natural resources in the desert. At the nearby Tonto National Forest, thousands of miles of trails beckon for a ride, and doing it responsibility is in Nissan’s sights, too. 

The non-profit group keeping trails safe for off-roaders

The Tonto Recreation Alliance (TRĀL, for short) is a non-profit volunteer group dedicated to keeping trails and roads in the Tonto National Forest open for OHV recreation. The group educates two-wheel and four-wheel riders on responsible OHV recreation. It also maintains trail signage and inspects and monitors all 3000+ miles of trails winding through 3 million areas of national forest land.

TRĀL president Rich Smith shows me a map of the massive area on his tablet, explaining how the Tonto ranges from the Sonoran Desert and stretches to the Ponderosa Pine forest. Animals and humans enjoy the area side by side, and it’s an important place to protect.

“The Tonto actually is one of the more biodiverse places in the Northern hemisphere,” Smith explains. “There are something like 400 vertebrate species and 2,600 plant species here.”

Smith, who has a background in engineering, developed an interest in Geographic Information Systems about a decade ago. He was so fascinated that he bought a license for Esri software and completed a two-year college certification course to get better at it, and he became a one-man GIS department for TRĀL. Now, the organization integrates Forest Services GIS data into a map that’s user-friendly for the public. Smith and the team installed 3,800 fiberglass route markers throughout the forest over the last few years, and TRĀL volunteers inspect the trails on a prescribed rotation. 

The maps of the Tonto can be used hand in hand with other mapping apps like onX Off-Road, which welcomes input from crowdsourcing to keep visitors up to date on road closings and new obstacles. 

“We kind of have a dual charter,” Smith says. “Part of it is to help the public have an exceptional experience off-roading in the Tonto, help them find great things to do, and have a good time and appreciate the forest. All while trying to help conserve resources and making sure people stay on the trails and don’t do foolish things.” 

Within the Tonto, terrain is varied and sometimes challenging. Occasional downpours dig divots in the dirt, and sand shifts in the wind. While an SUV like the Armada Pro-4X can handle quite a bit of adversity, it helps to have trails that are maintained. 

Testing by the seat of their pants

Nissan engineering manager Matt LaPaglia has a great deal of experience in the ride and handling segment, and now he helps develop the parameters for testing at the Arizona facility. As it relates to the new Armada Pro-4X, the team has been reviewing data for rival vehicles side by side with the Nissan SUV. 

“We easily review 300-plus metrics,” LaPaglia says. “We can measure those on the proving ground on very specific, repeatable inputs so that we can validate them 10 years later.” 

Those metrics are gathered both objectively and subjectively, and LaPaglia says his team has always tried to drive home the value of subjective testing. Subjectively, you can gather a ton of information whether or not you can verbalize it, he explains. Testing requires a balance, as his Nissan counterparts in Japan are most interested in objective measurements. However, the team can’t ignore subjective input, he states, because there’s so much that can be observed subjectively that can’t be captured or managed objectively.

Subjective vehicle testing sounds a lot like wine tasting with those who have a developed palate. They can identify the differences between notes of tobacco, plum, cherry, leather, and more, while an inexperienced taster isn’t ready to make those distinctions. 

“A lot of it is learned through training with a mentor, someone who’s been there and done that within the company,” La Paglia says. “They kind of take you under their wing, you go through the paces and you’re adding to your skillset as you go. Some of it we try to record in a standard way, but again, you can only get so much on that piece of paper. You just need to have someone kind of coaching you through it.”

Arizona has very fine particles of dirt, LaPaglia reveals, and Nissan developed a standard for a dust intrusion test, making sure that the door and window seals keep everything out. Because of its extreme heat, Arizona is also an ideal place for Nissan to test its heating and air conditioning units and powertrain cooling performance. As a result, the Armada Pro-4X is more capable and durable on the trails and on the pavement. 

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