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| Nissan
Murano |
Broadcast
dates : 12th February 2006
18th February 2006 |
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European understatement is
something that obviously never crossed the minds of Nissan’s
stylists when sculpting this chunk of metal.
More like Gotham City, with a hint of Steven Spielberg’s
Jaws at the front end. Yes, the Murano makes a statement with
a capital M.
And yet, the genius of it is that it somehow avoids being
in-your-face in a rasta-gangster kinda way. That’s due to
the softening of the profile and the sloping rear end.
Don’t expect voguish innovations inside, however. Apart from
a rather garish instrument pod it’s pretty ordinary.
The constantly variable system consists of a series of
opposing cones interconnected by a belt drive. As torque is
applied to the transmission the belts slide up and down the
opposing cones.
In this way the ratios are varied without any steps as they
would in changing gears.
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Don't expect real sports car
performance from such a large vehicle, as its power levels are
competitive with the likes of the Lexus RX300 and the Ford
Territory. It’s the sporty vibe that Nissan is
referring to here.
As many of you will know by now, the Nissan Murano is a Car of
the Year Contender, and it impressed many jurors with its
acumen, particularly on the racetrack where it was super agile
for a car of its size.
As for off-road ability, it was about as much as you’d
expect. Reasonable traction, good bump absorption.
But in all reality, not the sort of vehicle you’d like to
tackle the Kalahari in and get all that beautiful paintwork
scratched up.
Our question remains with all these soft-roader SUV's… why?
They chomp fuel, they don’t provide much more space than a
conventional station wagon and they block the view ahead of
anyone else in a normal car.
Having said that, the Nissan Murano is one of the nicest of
the breed.
Nissan Murano
- Engine: V6 petrol,
3498cc
- Power: 172 kW @
6000 rpm
- Torque: 318 Nm @ 3
600 rpm
- Transmission: CVT
all-wheel-drive
- 0-100 km/h: 9,08
seconds
- Top speed: 203 km/h
- Fuel consumption:
13,1 litres/100 km (Car Magazine figures)
- Price: R379 100
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