The world’s first smooth-UV
The folks in Nissan’s marketing department are at it again.
This time, the Murano crossover gets the treatment. Splashed across its window-sticker in big, bold letters is the legend “The World’s First Smooth-UV.”
Smooth-UV = SUV. Get it?
Does this stuff really sell cars?
They do make a valid point, though: The Murano uses a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which operates more smoothly than a normal automatic. CVT’s uses belts (or chains) and pulleys instead of gears, and transmission speed is constantly and infinitely matched to engine speed.
Voila! No need for shifts.
And while Nissan’s isn’t the only CVT on the market, it is the only found one in a 4,000-pound vehicle powered by a 3.5-liter, 245-horsepower V-6.
Nissan’s CVT is not only disarmingly silky, it also resolves a handful of niggling CVT issues: there’s almost no lag from a dead stop thanks in part, perhaps, to the six’s hefty 246 foot-pounds of torque – and the engine never feels as if it were riding too high in the rev range.
It’s efficient, too; an AWD version of the Murano delivers EPA ratings of 19 city/24 highway.
Nissan knew it needed to make a splash when it entered the Murano into the midsize crossover segment. Bracketed by the Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander on the low end and the Lexus RX330 and Acura MDX above, the segment is no place for weaklings.
In that crowd, a “me-too” rig would have sunk like a lead crankshaft, so Nissan dispatched with cookie-cutter design. The body is a wild combination of angles and arcs; during design testing, Nissan found that 30 percent of their respondents hated it, 30 percent could care less and 30 percent loved it.
Thirty percent seemed good enough and the decision-makers pulled the trigger.
If that weren’t brazen enough, they let the designers pile it on with an unusual color palette highlighted by a Can’t-Miss-It shade of copper called Rio Sunlight Copper. During our original test, that color alone was a showstopper for a few members of the peanut gallery.
The interior is not typical SUV fare, either. Its switchgear strategy is borrowed from the Infiniti G35 family, gauge and LED lights glow an unearthly orange and the instrument panel resides in a “floating pod” in the center of the dash.
The Murano is based on the front-wheel drive platform that underlies the Altima and Maxima sedans, and adds an optional AWD system Nissan calls its “small smart system.” Up to 50 percent of the torque can apportion to the rear wheels and at low speeds the split can be locked-in.
Slightly larger than a RX300 and just smaller than an Acura MDX, the Murano carts four in comfort and still offers a roomy cargo hold. To avoid compromising the sheet metal, designers passed on third-row seating.
Although the seats provide occupants that elevated feeling sport-ute drivers so love, the step-in is low and easily managed. Rear doors open wide for easy ingress and egress.
Second-row seats fold flat without flipping bottom cushions or removing headrests — the operation is performed by pulling a fabric tab at the base of the seatback. The rear hatch is made of made of a weight-saving, steel-reinforced plastic compound.
The Murano is available in three trims, base S ($28,205, including destination charges), luxurious SL ($29,755) and sporty SE ($32,305). All-wheel-drive adds $1,600.
As is expected in the near-luxury class, even the base S equipped with dual-zone automatic climate controls; power driver’s seat, windows, mirrors and door locks; remote keyless entry; AM/FM/CD stereo; trip computer; cruise control; leather-covered steering wheel; tilt-adjustable steering; and auto on-off headlamps.
The standard 18-inch wheel-and-tire package convincingly fills out the wheel wells.
Safety gear includes anti-lock brakes (tied to 12-inch discs all around) with brake assist and electronic brake-force distribution and front-, side-impact airbags and curtain-style airbags.
Independent suspension at all four corners provides a controlled ride and the sport-tuned suspension on the SE produces a flat, sedan-like response to high-speed corners.
It won’t rival BMW’s X5 for cornering power, but the Murano is nonetheless right at home on winding, country roads.
Much as I like the aggressive styling, I must admit the dramatic C-pillar creates quite a blind spot over the driver’s right shoulder. Caught for an instant in one’s peripheral vision, it can seem to be a truck hovering just off the right rear corner.
Disconcerting, but I assume you’d get over it.
Sometimes, even the marketing folks get it right. From the point of view of styling, the gulf separating the Murano from competitive vehicles has narrowed to something more like a large gap, and another competitive vehicle or two has entered the set.
Still, with its CVT, award-winning powerplant, full slate of luxury and convenience features, the Murano remains a smooth CUV three years after its launch.