Back to the basics....It has been 2 months since I posted anything about a new vehicle....funny how time slips away and we venture off, huh? Over the holidays, my Aunt advised me to broaden my topics and I guess I've been trying that! I have recently been driving a new murano suv. I don't really know if these are really considered crossovers or not but basically, that's what they are although they do have higher ground clearance than most of the other crossovers I'm familiar with. Anyways, I will begin by saying that I really like the sleek look of the murano, both inside and out. I can't imagine a much more futuristic looking vehicle....slightly rugged yet refined. Whatever you call it, it definitely gets a heads up in the appearance category. This particular specimen is gun metal gray with a black interior which goes really well together. The interior is fairly well laid out as far as appearance although some of the controls are difficult to use and not much to my liking. The trip reset, and all computer control functions that deal with the information on the primary gauge cluster are all plastic switches located on each side of the cluster. In order to reset the trip, mpg calculator, etc...etc....one must reach just around the side of the steering wheel and push these switches in order to do so. It is not convenient to me at all and certainly not convenient to do while driving. (I have been spoiled by all of the manufacturers who now put these controls on the steering wheel itself or to the left of the wheel where they can be easily manipulated while driving). I do however like the gauges themselves and the orange lighting and accents look pretty cool and are darned easy to see. One major issue that I had with the layout is that there is a large screen which displays both your climate control setup and your stereo information.
As you can see from this picture, the screen is followed by a bunch of climate control switches and then underneath those you find the strange looking stereo face. Let me just say that for me, it is a complete p.i.a. to have to reach way down there to change music settings and sources but to have to look up at the screen in order to see what you actually did....this may sound stupid but it is poor design in my opinion. I jack with the stereo, aux, and CD changer a LOT more than the climate control so shouldn't it be right underneath or next to the screen? I digress. Cup holders are minimal, only having 2 places in the front cabin to hold cups, ughhh! The seats are comfortable and there is a good amount of room in the vehilce. I love the velour upholstery in this car...it seems soft yet tough enough to withstand abuse...very comfortable as well. The rear seat has a good amount of legroom and very sufficient seating for 2 people or maybe 3 kids...maybe. The rear cargo area also has ample room for storage or groceries when needed. The tonneau cover is ridiculously small, as a result of the shape of the rear cargo hatch but it is functional and does the job of hiding your goodies that are back there. Overall, it has all of the necessary features and quite a few extras that are nice to have but I do wish that the layout was a little different and more user friendly. Aw shucks, who am I kidding, I long for a vehicle with a simple metal dashboard, headlight switch and stereo with 2 knobs! Whatever happened to simplicity? Someone somewhere decided that we needed all of this crap on our cars and so, here we are...now if they can just figure out how to fit it all in, make it user friendly, and easy to fix. Driving the murano is an overall pleasant experience. The ride is stable and handling seems very good but it is a little rougher on the highway than I initially expected. Perhaps because I had been driving an explorer for a week and had gotten used to the smoother ride of a larger vehicle again. Anyways, there is some road noise and roughness but not bad and certainly nothing like that of smaller suv's or compact vehicles. My biggest complaint about driving the murano are the blind spots. This seems to be a common factor with Nissan suv's such as the rogue and the murano and I guess there's just no way to come up with these cool designs with funky shapes and still maintain optimum visibility. As you can see by looking at this thing, there is a large amount of the rear corner of the vehicle that is not window and is completely closed off from the vision of the driver. The unfortunate thing is that when you are backing up or changing lanes, and you look back, these corners are what take up most of your viewing space, making it noticeably more difficult to see out. Actually, from the outside, it appears that there is more window in the corner, but from inside, only about 1/2 of that angular window is really useable. As far as the driving factor, besides the slightly rough ride and blind spots, my only other complaint is the poor economy. I averaged 16 in the city and 22 on the highway which isn't terrible for an suv but if most of your driving is in the city, not so good. What gets me is this...I can drive a larger suv with plenty of seating for 5+ all over town and average 16mpg so really the only reason to purchase this instead is if you're looking for style because this is definitely loaded with that. I suppose the price we pay for style and a vehicle that looks cool is lower economy and less room. Whether or not it's worth it is completely up to the person behind the wheel but I will say this...despite my complaints and some of the shortcomings that I found with the new murano, it's a sleek looking little sucker and I'm enjoying driving it.
My report card:
styling: A
comfort: B
Ride: B-
Economy: C
Drivetrain: B
Overall: B
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