RE: Nissan Murano

Wednesday 26th November 2003

Nissan Murano

The 4x4 that wants to be a sports car. Nauman Farooq tests a 'crossover' vehicle


Nissan Murano Car buyers are confused. No longer do middle aged family men go to a show room and buy the latest four door saloon with a newer radio. These days they are presented with an array of confusing choices and pressure to buy the latest fad - the SUV, the 4x4, the MPV or if they're lucky one of those old fashioned saloons.

The market has gone bonkers if you ask me. The increased choice and ever stronger 'lifestyle' links that are made in marketing are leaving people confused about what they really need or want.

A lot of people are buying a lot of SUV's when they don't really want an SUV. These people had owned nothing but cars, and what they really want are just big versatile cars, that drive like cars.

Problem is, if you make an SUV as steady and easy to drive as a car, it won't be any good when you need to go off road. Ask any Jeep owner when was the last time he or she, took their expensive sport ute through a desert, mountain range or muddy field, and we all know what the answer will be.

The manufacturers are getting wise to this and are introducing 'Soft Roaders' and 'cross-overs'.

Cross Overs

A cross-over vehicle is designed to achieve many things. It can drive like a car, look like an SUV, perform the necessary people carrying duties and show some ability to cope with weather extremes better than a standard saloon - useful for those of us in Canada.

The latest in this breed is obviously the Cayenne. It's a brutish and large vehicle that has great road manners yet is more versatile than a car. Most importantly it can provide on road thrills in a Porsche style as well as show competence off road.

Nissan Murano

For a lot less money, you can take the latest offering from Nissan. It's called the Murano, and it looks like a cross between a sports hatch and an SUV. It uses the same engine as the Nissan 350Z sports car. A cross-over with the soul of a sports car, can it really be a bargain priced alternative to a Cayenne?

Sadly, the answer is no. This might have the heart from a sports car, but it has been detuned to produce a - still respectable - 245 hp. Couple that with the vehicles all-wheel drive system, and its hefty 1800kg kerb weight and you'll appreciate that this is no speed demon.

CVT

Making matters worse is the gearbox. Unusually for a car of this size, it uses a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). A nice piece of engineering but one which leaves the driver a little unsure of what is occuring down below.  It feels a lot like breathing, but only the inhaling! The CVT feels very unnatural, and not particularly quick either. There is a sport mode on the transmission which does help, but still, you're looking at a 0-60 mph time of 8.8 seconds, and top speed is limited to 115 mph due to its high profile tyres.

So, speed isn't its thing, but for a vehicle that looks like an SUV, it handles pretty well. Yes, there is lots of body roll, but there is tons of grip too. The Murano can really take corners like a simple sports car. It's all wheel drive system, variying power front to back, and it reacts fast, giving you exit speeds from a corner that you just wouldn't expect from a vehicle of this type.

On a rain soaked morning, I hurled it around a wet slip road. It gripped its way around the curve admirably - unlike any SUV I've driven previously.

The interior in the Murano looks like its out of a concept car, the fact that my test car had an 'interesting' orange interior made it look even more like a show car. All the interior bits and pieces are recognizable from other current Nissan products.

Nissan Murano

Things I really liked about the interior include the power adjustable pedals, easy fold rear seats, and a truly fab navigation system. Things I don't like about the interior, well, despite being a big vehicle, the interior feels a bit small and narrow, the steering wheel only tilts not telescopes, and the rim of the steering wheel is too fat! Other than that, the interior is just fine, with fit and finish scoring big points here.

Styling

If you think the interior looked like a show car, then the exterior certainly looks like a show car. It's hard to think how to describe its looks. Love them or hate them, people do seem to look and point. From the large number of Murano's you see on the roads here, I guess most people approve of its styling.

So, what do you pay for one? A base Murano SL will start from CAN$39,500 and a fully equipped Murano SE model with the navigation system option included will set you back CAN$49,900 (~£22,500).

Verdict? It's a fine vehicle for hauling your family about in. It handles particularly well and is good to look at. If only they would ditch that awful gearbox it would win a lot more fans.

Nissan Murano

Author
Discussion

sagalout

Original Poster:

17,620 posts

281 months

Wednesday 26th November 2003
quotequote all
Liked the look from the side but then saw the front & rear views.....'orrid
The reason everyone is buying Off roaders and SUv or whatever is 'cos the roads are crap and sports car suspension can't cope with the un maintained road network

jazzybee

3,056 posts

248 months

Wednesday 26th November 2003
quotequote all
I saw this car in the states earlier in the year when my sis-in-law was asked me what car she should get. Although I did not drive it, I was struck by the quality of the interior and how right the car 'felt'. I like it. I agree with the looks at the front, however, Infiniti (Nissan's Lexus) has the FX which is based on the same car, and I think looks much better.

www.infiniti.com/m/cma/i/gal/gal_fx45_med05.jpg
www.infiniti.com/m/cma/i/veh/veh_gal_fx45_10.jpg


>> Edited by jazzybee on Wednesday 26th November 13:42

>> Edited by jazzybee on Wednesday 26th November 13:43

thirsty

726 posts

263 months

Wednesday 26th November 2003
quotequote all
Moving back to the USA, and still realing from having to unload my TVR, we found ourselves looking at buying two cars.

I looked at the Infinity version of this, but really did not want to shell our 45K+ for it. Insead, we bought a "real" car and then shopped around for a good clean SUV on the used car market. (we really did need a utility vehicle of some type).

For the price of one SUV, I got a great car, and great second hand SUV. Now if I can just find a TVR over here....

TMD_Drummer

2 posts

239 months

Thursday 22nd April 2004
quotequote all
ARE YOU ON CRACK?!?!

SLOW?
BODY ROLL?
UNNATURAL TRANNY FEEL?

I have had my Murano for almost a year now, and I have taken on and BURNED numerous euro imports, and one SHO Taurus.

Also I've seen almost 125 Mph before backing off.

I have the Dynamic Control Package, and this thing will corner with almost no roll as it will level itself in tight turn.

I don't want anyone to be fooled by this write-up.

BUY ONE!

>> Edited by TMD_Drummer on Thursday 22 April 22:27

Mr E

21,572 posts

258 months

Thursday 22nd April 2004
quotequote all
Well I'm sure we're all glad you like it.

We don't get them over here. And if we did, and it was the last car on earth, quite frankly I'd walk.

shadowninja

76,213 posts

281 months

Friday 23rd April 2004
quotequote all
One day I might look at a tossroader and think 'that looks nice'... but I think I still need more mental conditioning.

On the plus side this new nissan looks just as ugly as that Porsche Cayenne (which looks like a scaled up Mazda3 from side on) and that Lexus RX300...

dejongj

198 posts

225 months

Wednesday 29th June 2005
quotequote all
I can't make up my mind whether this review is hilarious or just ridiculous...Reviewed in 2003 for a car that is only was released in March 2005!!!! Yes I know it was the american version reviewed, but that is very, very different to the UK version...For example there is no such thing as a sport mode...The gearbox is still CVT but the best most responsive automatic I have ever come across...The suspension is totally different, in total there have been more than 1500 changes compared to the US version....

I actually own this car in the UK, done 5000 miles in thanks to a trip to Italy...It is seriously fast when compared to similary specced car...

gemini

11,352 posts

263 months

Wednesday 29th June 2005
quotequote all
Love it - for a 4x4!

Fidgits

17,202 posts

228 months

Wednesday 29th June 2005
quotequote all
A guy around here has one (in that colour incidently), now I'm not normally a fan of SUV's, or any sort of soft-roader, but this appeals, that said, i wouldnt buy one..

Andy Mac

73,668 posts

254 months

Wednesday 29th June 2005
quotequote all
45K for infinity version? You can buy an LR3 for that! (My sis has just got one!!)

tuttle

3,427 posts

236 months

Wednesday 29th June 2005
quotequote all
My Dad has recently swapped his Merc CLK 320 Kompressor for a Murano ,no really.
He hates the 'metal teeth' front end,but is really pretty impressed with it.
He likes: engine,plenty gutsy enough,very smooth & quiet.G/box is auto/triptronic with decent kick down.Loads of space for the grandkids & golf clubs (good leather seats).Good sat nav,actually loads of toys as standard.Apparently you do need the reversing camera,as rear vis is pretty bad.
Not driven it myself yet.
Really quite odd as he's always hated Jap cars in the past & never misses a chance to pour scorn on my*Datsun Sunny* .
Go figure