2009 Nissan Murano - Auto Shows

2009 Nissan Murano - Auto Shows
The all-new Murano is designed to refine the funk of the original ute.

BY ALISA PRIDDLE, November 2007

The Nissan Murano was an icebreaker back in 2003 when the 2004 model signaled the fact that mid-size utility vehicles could be funky, stylish, and car-like. Since that time, the segment has become flooded with worthy competitors.

Into the fray, Nissan launches the second-generation Murano that breaks cover at November’s L.A. auto show.

Larry Dominique, Nissan North America vice-president in charge of product planning, told Car and Driver earlier this year that because the current Murano has been so successful, the second gen would be evolutionary in exterior design, as opposed to revolutionary.

But the all-new five-passenger vehicle, riding on the automaker’s new D-platform that debuted with the 2007 Altima, allowed Nissan to address current weaknesses. “The interior can be better, more useful,” he says.

To that end, the Murano now has new, heated seats; an available fold-away cargo organizer that pops up with the push of a button; a power-folding 60/40 rear seat; and multiple storage cubbies. The 2009 Murano also offered the chance to enhance the materials used, said global design chief Shiro Nakamura.




The CVT Sequel
Nissan also upgrades the powertrain and the continuously variable transmission (CVT). The original Murano has Nissan’s well-regarded 3.5-liter V-6. The ’09 Murano continues to use the 3.5-liter VQ (as opposed to the 3.7-liter being rolled out in such vehicles as the Infiniti G37), but it has been tweaked to 265 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque from its original 240 horsepower and 244 pound-feet.

The CVT is second-generation technology, with adaptive shift control. Dominique says the Murano is “more about refinement and family, not power” and that it makes more sense to strive for better fuel efficiency and delivery, as opposed to making it the baddest ute in the segment.

The Murano is a front-wheel-drive vehicle with available all-wheel drive. It also has a slew of systems to keep the vehicle under control, including standard vehicle dynamic control, traction control, and yaw moment control on AWD models. It has a new four-wheel independent suspension.

The Murano rides on 18- or 20-inch aluminum alloy wheels, and it has such goodies as a Bose audio system, an iPod connector, a nav system with a hard drive for onboard digital music storage, satellite radio, and a DVD system.

Style-wise, there are a bolder grille and wider headlamps, a revised front fascia, a new hood, and pronounced wheel arches, plus a second-row skylight and an available power liftgate in the shape of the backlight in the redesigned rear end.

The SUV, built in Kyushu, Japan, will be offered in five trim levels—S, SL, S AWD, SL AWD, and LE AWD—when it goes on sale in the U.S. in January.