While we’ve already seen the new Nissan Murano on dealership floors, the official information has been a bit overdue. Not anymore, however. Nissan has finally released a full list of specs for the facelifted crossover.
Introduced in 2004, the Murano established the mid-crossover in South Africa. Nissan has recently made another entry to the crossover market – this time the small-crossover in the form of the Juke, which has been massively successful. The Murano itself has enjoyed great success, known for it’s power and gusto combined with SUV capabilities.
What’s new
The changes are mostly aesthetic, with a more aerodynamic nose, a double panel “Moon Roof”, new LED light clusters at the back and a navigation-entertainment system. New boots in the form of 18” alloy titanium-finish wheels round up the tweaks.
The Moon roof has power retractable sun shades, tinted UV-protecting glass and tilts to the front. Leather seat have been tweaked a bit as well, and the centre consol design is slightly different, with backlighting, chrome and colour coding. Completely keyless, the Murano is automated in every conceivable way. The rear seats fold flat – automatically – and it has rear and side view parking cameras. The seats, windows and mirrors are electric, the tailgate is electric and front seats are heated. Mirrors can also be demisted from inside the cabin. Visibility is taken care of by Bi-xenon auto-levelling headlights.
The afore mentioned entertainment system, which has a 40GB HDD, has Satnav, a touch screen, Bluetoot, USB and iPod connectivity and DVD playback. It’s paired to 11 speakers.
Safety
Vehicle dynamic control, ABS, brake assist, and front, side and curtain airbags make up the safety list.
Performance
The 3,5 litre V6 produces 191kW of power – true to Murano style. This, together with 336Nm of torque takes the top speed to over 200km/h, and for a big SUV the 0-100km/h time of 8 seconds is not bad at all.
Transmission
The CVT box is the only option on the auto, while a six-speed manual is available on a permanent four wheel drive system (All Mode 4×4-i). This has Nissan’s Vehicle Dynamic Control and ABLS – Active Brake Limited Slip. With the aforementioned power, you’re going to need it.
Suspension
Suspensions is still independent suspension on all four wheels with a multi-link rear suspension system.
What will it cost me?
At R545 600 the new Murano is only slightly more expensive than its predecessor (R534 800) and comes with a five year / 90 000 km service plan.
