The future of Nissan’s crossover lineup should be bright if the Resonance concept is allowed to inspire their styling. We like the profile a lot and when toned down for production the front and rear should make a great next-generation Murano. The interior is also a beautiful exercise with a light and airy design and technology overload. The concept is said to be powered by a hybrid all-wheel drive powertrain with a CVT doing the shifting duties like in many Nissans so it’s probably safe to assume we’ll see a hybrid Murano in the near future. As long as it looks as good as the Resonance we won’t care what powers it. Read more…
Nissan Manages to Offer up an Unconventionally Styled Conventional Crossover
A few years back I found myself earning a living after answering a job posting at a local car rental agency with the unglamorous description of ‘Lot Attendant’. As the lowly lot attendant I found myself vacuuming and washing battered and abused rental cars, completing vehicle inspections of those poor cars, towing them to and from remote locations using a tired F-150 of indeterminate vintage with an auto dolly and shuttling customers to and from dealerships while their cars were in service. It was the dealership customers that seemed to be the most interesting, as they often shared a story of their once-loved purchase. The most amazing stories reliably came from our Nissan Murano customers. It seemed that this early entry in the crossover craze was also one of the first larger vehicles to offer a continuously variable transmission (CVT) in the US. So problematic was the transmission that one customer posted a “for sale” sign of his Murano in our office hoping to offload the vehicle onto one of our customers dulled by a sense of mediocrity after turning in their rental Chevy Classic. On more than one occasion I witnessed a problematic Murano in the service department with entire engine and transmission removed as the mechanics searched for a solution. It should come as no surprise, then, that I wasn’t expecting much when an all-wheel-drive 2011 Murano SL showed up in the Automotive Trends garage. Would this vehicle’s unloved CVT and bizarre styling draw further criticism, or, like the Mazda CX-7 we drove last year, surprise by exceeding expectations? Read more…
The boys have spring fever but somehow managed to get a 2011 BMW 335i Coupe out for a little bit of track time. Catch up with them as they discuss the 2011 New York Auto Show and throw a quartet of new cars at Gernand’s Design Wall before driving down the middle of the road in a Nissan Murano.
Design Editor Gernand takes a ride in the 2011 Nissan Murano to discuss that while the design is bold and compelling, the vehicle itself rides down the middle of the road.
