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| Road Test: Nissan Murano (2005-) |
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| Sporting 4x4s |
by: Farah AlKhalisi |
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Murano is very simple to drive
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| DRIVING RATING: |
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Very simple to drive, with an excellent driving position and great view of the road all round bar a little blind spot to the rear each side. Just in case you have problems reversing, there are Nissan's rear-view cameras, complete with dash-mounted colour monitor. The cabin is well laid-out (bar the irritating foot-operated parking brake) and all the controls are intuitive - shame there's no touch-screen operation for the sat-nav, as in the Toyota Land Cruiser, though. The CVT gearbox is easy to use and absolutely seamlessly smooth when left to shift itself, though there are six artificially-created 'gears' you can select manually if you do fancy some involvement. These are selected via the shift lever, sequential-style, and are well-placed and fast-responding. Handling has been much-improved over the rolling, wallowing American-market version - so much so that the US cars are going to get these same chassis modifications next year too - though the steering remains rather light and remote. In the unlikely event that a Murano does go off-road, drive can be sent to the rear axle until traction is regained up front; it has an active limited-slip differential which can lock for a 50:50 torque distribution. File under 'nice to know you've got it there if you need it' or 'good in case it snows in Surrey.'
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Introduction Named after an expensive brand of Venetian glassware, the Murano is Nissan's... |
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