Murano (named after the Italian island near Venice) was designed for the United States where it has been on sale for a couple of years. Despite some 300 changes for the European market Murano has a typical American soft ride that is comfy but not exactly thrilling on the twisty bits.
Available in just one specification, Murano isn’t cheap at €60,665 (plus delivery and related charges) but it is loaded with kit like satellite navigation, colour reversing camera, privacy glass, cruise and climate control, 225 watt Bose stereo etc.
The sculpted exterior is fresh and modern while inside the cabin Nissan has plenty of family touches that unfortunately include some nasty plastics. There is seating is for five adults, in soft, comfortable big leather chairs.
The automatic gearbox is in fact a CVT/Manual box that is nice and smooth. You can use the gearlever to go through six preset changes or leave the car in ‘D’ and let it do the work.
The car’s proportions are well thought out with nice meaty 18 inch alloys standard giving the car a planted muscular look so loved by SUV buyers. Colour coded bumpers add to the quality look.
The only downside with the lovely big alloys is their tendency to unsettle the ride a bit when presented with anything other than billiard smooth surfaces. They crash over speed humps and other road imperfections when luxury cars should just waft along.
Otherwise the Murano likes gobbling up kilometers thanks to a meaty petrol engine that has plenty of guts. In fact, Murano has more power than either of its 3 litre rivals, producing 234 bhp and 318 NM of torque.
The car drives in everyday conditions well within itself. The engine which first saw light in 1994 is well proven - it’s the same unit found in the Nissan 350Z sportscar.
Murano is easy to use and makes effortless progress like all luxury cars should. While it is available in the States in two wheel drive only form for less than $30,000, Murano uses a part time four-wheel drive setup that automatically switches from front wheel drive to all four when needed.
You can press a four-wheel drive ‘Lock’ button if required. The All-Mode electronically controlled four by four system was first seen in the still excellent Nissan X Trail.
Suspension is conventional McPherson struts up front and a multilink setup at the rear. Murano has a few impressive acronyms like Active Brake LSD and ESP+ so it will do its best to keep you on the road in adverse conditions.
I like the Murano a lot but there are only two downsides with the big 3.5 litre, the first is its a thirsty beast using 12.3 litres to travel 100 kilometers on the combined cycle.
The second and perhaps more significant is that it is a Nissan competing against luxury makers like BMW and Lexus. Nissan is bringing its luxury ‘Infinity’ brand to Ireland in the next few years and this might help sales in the future.
Michael Sheridan
