The new Murano is significantly wider and also gets a new engine
What competes with the 2025 Nissan Murano?
What’s new for the 2025 Nissan Murano?
While it rides on the same platform, the new Murano is significantly wider. This gives the exterior a purposeful stance and the cabin more space. The bigger news is the Murano gets a new engine and transmission along with revised suspension and steering. Inside, the Murano shifts from yesteryear to the here-and-now with a richly finished cabin and a healthy dose of technology.
New Powertrain for the 2025 Nissan Murano
All Murano models arrive with intelligent all-wheel-drive. The system powers the front wheels under most driving conditions, which helps fuel economy. However, it can send up to 50% of the drive rearward to prevent unwanted wheel spin. For example, when the Murano is stationary at a light, it proactively splits the power evenly, and before the driver mashes the gas pedal. This action brings an uneventful launch. Once moving its action remains seamless. The downside is the Murano’s towing capacity is capped at just 680-kg.
2025 Nissan Murano Fuel Economy
All Murano models consume 10.6 L/100 km in the city, 8.6 L/100 km on the highway and have an average economy of 9.7 L/100 km. The annual fuel cost is $3,007, which is $207 less per year than the previous V6 Murano.
How does the 2025 Nissan Murano drive?
The answer is very well as long as it’s left in the Standard driving mode. Eco is way too soft and Sport is just too aggressive for anything other than a flat-out hot lap. In Sport, the transmission holds each gear too long leaving the engine running at a needlessly high rpm. If you use the paddle shifters when in Drive, it will let you upshift to quell the engine, but it only lasts for a few seconds before it automatically downshifts to the original high-revving gear. There is a proper manual mode where the driver looks after all of the shifts.
Standard mode, on the other hand, sees the transmission shift quickly so it’s always in the right gear and the engine is not screaming. The best part is that when there’s a need for a burst of speed, the transmission kicks down two or three gears to deliver the desired response. It worked very well.
The steering and suspension have also been revisited to great effect. The suspension’s roll stiffness is up 25.5 percent up front and 24.5 percent in the rear — roll stiffness being the suspension’s resistance to body roll. In this case, it has the desired effect and works well with the frequency selective damper style shock absorbers. These shocks are mechanical and less expensive than adaptive dampers, but have some of the upsides. Based on the speed of the body’s vertical movement the shocks can stiffen to prevent unwanted body roll and then relax to return the damping to comfort. On the drive route, the roll stiffness and shocks combined to keep unwanted body roll in check through a series of high-speed corners yet remained comfortable the rest of the time. The steering is also new. The old hydraulic system has gone in favour of a new electric setup that is nicely weighted and has good on-centre feel. It also feels faster in its response to driver input than before without feeling twitchy when running in a straight line — many fast steering setups dart away from the straight-ahead with the slightest movement of the steering wheel. The Murano’s steering is crisp and precise across the spectrum. Once lagging many of its peers from a dynamic perspective, the 2025 Murano can now hold its own.
A fresh approach for 2025 Nissan Murano’s cabin
Behind the Murano’s strong outward style sits a well-conceived cabin. The materials have a quality feel and the zero-gravity front seats are superb — the outboard rear seats are, likewise, above average. Behind the new D-shaped steering wheel the Murano now get two 12.3-inch displays for the reconfigurable instrumentation and multimedia interface. Both sit under a single piece of glass with unibrow surfing the top.
The screens are crisp and give the information plenty of breathing space. The multimedia side has three basic wallpaper options with sunrise and sunset themes that change based on the time of day. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard across all models and in the SV it works with a six-speaker sound system. Move up to the SL and Platinum, and Google built-in arrives. It brings Google Assistant and maps among other things. There’s also a Wi-Fi hotspot and a 10-speaker Bose sound system. The Platinum bumps things further upscale with leather-appointed front seats that are heated, cooled and massage the occupant. In other words, it’s loaded. To set the interior mood there is a 64-colour ambient lighting system available.
Below the multimedia screen is a new set of capacitive climate controls with the push-button shifter sitting below that. The format is clean and opens up more of the centre console for storage and allows a large cubby beneath the console.
Standard safety equipment includes the ProPilot Assist. It brings adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and auto-braking along with lane departure warning. Again, the SL and Platinum by allowing the driver to select one of eight virtual vantage points around the Murano. One of the views is the invisible hood view. It lets the driver look “through” the hood and see obstacles coming towards the Murano — it worked very well off-road in the Armada. However, in Murano’s case it is likely to be more useful for avoiding drive-through curbs. The SL and Platinum models have ProPilot Assist 1.1 as standard. It dips into the map data to slow the Murano down for an upcoming corner.
How big is the 2025 Nissan Murano?
The Murano is about the same length and rides on the same wheelbase, but at 2,228-mm (87.7-inches) it’s 66-mm (2.6-inches) wider than the outgoing model. This brings 1,445-mm (56.9-inches) of hip-room front and rear. For the rear riders, there’s also 922-mm (36.3-inches) of legroom and 962-mm of headroom with the moonroof in place. Behind the rear seat there’s 932L (32.0 cu.-ft.) with the seats upright. Folding the rear 60/40-split/folding seats down opens up 1,798L (63.5 cu.-ft.) and a flat load floor.
Canadian Pricing for the 2025 Nissan Murano
The Nissan Murano SV starts at $46,848 and moves through the SL at $50,498. It is expected to account for 40% of sales. The lineup tops out with the Murano Platinum at $54,498. Delivery is an additional $2,030.
Final thoughts on the 2025 Nissan Murano
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