It is hard to believe that the Murano has only been in the marketplace since 2003. At that time, it was heralded as an edgy, modern design; the answer on how to stop building cookie cutter vans. It is now 2009 and the first year of the second generation of Murano. The design is still edgy and modern, but not as outstanding because competitors have chosen to follow Nissan’s design lines.
Generation number two is all flowing lines right from the tip of the front bumper to the rear hatch. The wide-looking front end and dynamic fascia complete with integrated headlamps leaves no doubt in your mind what the vehicle is that you see in your mirror. Coming up from behind the new LED tail lights will pop out at you as will the expansive rear glass area. In between, the design looks so familiar and yet different. The best way to catch all the changes is to make sure you have an old one beside the new one.
Inside, the speedometer is the central and largest “gauge” while the tach is off to the left and engine temp and fuel level are on the right. Switches are still pretty much in standard Nissan locations although activation seems better. The steering wheel on this Murano becomes a driver command centre with cruise and stereo functions built in. On the left side, the stalk controls headlights and signal lights while the right one controls the front and rear wipers and washers.
While on the subject of wipers, the new Murano has rain sensing wipers which relieves you of the task of trying to set the appropriate speed for the amount of rain coming down. In the midst of electronic smart keys and automatic locking doors, this is one piece of technology that actually makes life easier. A couple of other techno parts that I came to like were the power actuated tail gate and the rear camera monitor.
Technology on the inside gets the nod for bringing an eleven speaker Bose sound system to the option list. At the same time you can get a DVD based Satellite navigation system and real time traffic reports (Canada’s major cities only at this time) when you subscribe to XM Satellite radio. Nissan has made its DVD based entertainment system with an 11 inch screen, i-pod compatible and put a 9.3 gig music box hard drive in just to make sure you can play the tune you want.
Interior changes carry on with a freshly designed centre stack. The previous model had a large shelf like area where the controls for the various HVAC systems resided. This new system has decreased the size of that shelf/palm rest without decreasing functionality, but makes a huge stride forward in appearance.
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| The Murano is a bit of a “Jack of all trades” and worth putting on your shopping list. (SL AWD model shown) |
Generation number two is all flowing lines right from the tip of the front bumper to the rear hatch. The wide-looking front end and dynamic fascia complete with integrated headlamps leaves no doubt in your mind what the vehicle is that you see in your mirror. Coming up from behind the new LED tail lights will pop out at you as will the expansive rear glass area. In between, the design looks so familiar and yet different. The best way to catch all the changes is to make sure you have an old one beside the new one.
Inside, the speedometer is the central and largest “gauge” while the tach is off to the left and engine temp and fuel level are on the right. Switches are still pretty much in standard Nissan locations although activation seems better. The steering wheel on this Murano becomes a driver command centre with cruise and stereo functions built in. On the left side, the stalk controls headlights and signal lights while the right one controls the front and rear wipers and washers.
While on the subject of wipers, the new Murano has rain sensing wipers which relieves you of the task of trying to set the appropriate speed for the amount of rain coming down. In the midst of electronic smart keys and automatic locking doors, this is one piece of technology that actually makes life easier. A couple of other techno parts that I came to like were the power actuated tail gate and the rear camera monitor.
Technology on the inside gets the nod for bringing an eleven speaker Bose sound system to the option list. At the same time you can get a DVD based Satellite navigation system and real time traffic reports (Canada’s major cities only at this time) when you subscribe to XM Satellite radio. Nissan has made its DVD based entertainment system with an 11 inch screen, i-pod compatible and put a 9.3 gig music box hard drive in just to make sure you can play the tune you want.
Interior changes carry on with a freshly designed centre stack. The previous model had a large shelf like area where the controls for the various HVAC systems resided. This new system has decreased the size of that shelf/palm rest without decreasing functionality, but makes a huge stride forward in appearance.
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| Interior changes carry on with a freshly designed centre stack. (SL AWD model shown) |