Nissan’s Murano SUV is now even more sporty
WHEN the Nissan Murano was first introduced to South Africa in 2004, it was the first SUV to put its emphasis on the S (Sports) part of the designation with coupé-like styling and good performance, even burdened as it was with an unsporty CVT transmission.
Now Nissan has revised its distinctive styling to make it even sportier, with a new grille made up of chunky chromed sections, a new, deeper bumper with a huge lower air-intake and LED tail lights. The updated Murano runs on more modern 18” rims, and the cabin has had a style makeover to go with the latest in-car technology.
Inside there’s a new doublepanel moon roof, leather seats have new design patterns, the instrumentation now has white backlighting (designed to reduce driver fatigue), and there’s keyless-go for easy entry, exit and start-up. Rear and side-view parking cameras are standard, as are power-operated seats, windows and mirrors, with the latter also heated.
Heatable front seats augment the dual-zone automatic climate control on cold mornings, and the rear seatbacks fold completely flat (power-operated) to extend the cargo area. The new infotainment centre gets a 40GB hard-disk drive satnav system and a 9.3GB hard- disk drive music server – all controlled via a touchscreen display, with Bluetooth, USB and iPod connectivity, and DVD playback functionality – fed through an 11speaker Bose sound system.
And the tailgate is now poweroperated, and can be operated using buttons on the key, the dashboard or the tailgate itself.
Under the bonnet there’s the same 191kW/336Nm, 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine, but the continuously variable transmission (CVT) has been revised with more advanced shift control logic, while retaining the six-step “manual” gearshift mode. And the underpinnings have new, better-insulated upper shockabsorber mounts for an even smoother ride.
The facelifted Murano retails for R554 925, an increase of less than two percent on the outgoing model, and includes a 3-year/100 000km warranty and 5-year/90 000km service plan.
- motoring.co.za