2005 Nissan Murano

The Murano is available in front-drive or an automatically engaged all-wheel drive form, and the driver can lock it into all-wheel drive for more serious conditions. Optionally available is a Dynamic Control Package, which includes Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), a stability control system; Traction Control System (TCS), which enhances driving traction in slippery conditions; and the Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS), which keeps tabs on tire pressures.


Down the road the Murano feels great; good feedback through the steering, a solid structure, and a suspension tuned to the sporty side of comfortable combine to deliver a far more secure feel than that associated with many larger and taller sport utility vehicles. If the new buyer is coming out of, say, a four-year-old sport ute with some miles on it the Murano test-drive will feel like a dream on rails.

Loaded to the brim with technological niceties, the Murano also impresses with its safety features.

Standard equipment includes everything you'd expect: AM/FM/CD with six speakers; automatic A/C with dual zone climate control; universal garage door opener; power windows, door locks and mirrors; cruise control; tilt steering wheel with audio and cruise functions; and a host of the usual convenience features. The optional SE Touring Package includes: power adjustable pedals; memory for the driver's seat, pedals and outside mirrors; leather; heated front seats and outside mirrors; power passenger seat; sunroof; a Bose 225-watt sound system with six-disc in-dash CD; Intelligent Key (a "keyless" entry and ignition system); a cargo cover and cargo net; and pre-wiring for a DVD entertainment system. The optional DVD system, instead of flipping down from the headliner, flips up out of the center console, and includes all sorts of warnings because it's right where people will touch it, lean on it, put stuff on it or spill apple juice on it - none of which will do the DVD any good. Base price of the Murano starts at $27,000, but our fully loaded test drive model, in SE trim with all-wheel drive and loaded to its curvaceous roofline, had a sticker of $42,380.


On the safety side, the Murano includes dual-stage front airbags, driver and front-passenger side-impact airbags, roof-mounted curtain side-impact rollover airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners and load limiters, head restraints at all seating positions, front seat active head restraints and LATCH child safety seat attachments.


If you really want—or need—an SUV with lots of space and versatility, the Murano is not for you. Interior room and cargo capacity appears compromised by the style and, while it's plenty big enough for four adults of reasonable size and their reasonable stuff, the feeling of snugness is emphasized by the relatively smaller windows and thicker pillars which inhibit the maximum view of the great outdoors. But if you're attracted to the notion of a larger version of a four-door sedan, with more cargo space and the ability to deal with the occasional bad weather, The Murano is a swift, secure and very smooth drive down the road indeed. (www.nissanusa.com)