It's usually easy to dismiss an automaker's PR rhetoric about how the iconoclastic awesomeness of a new crossover SUV, but I have to give Nissan some credit for taking the 2015 Murano for a walk on the wild side.
Over-lit computer-tweaked press photos don't really do justice to just how many curves and bends this thing has. You couldn't even slide a cat over this bodywork without making it sick.
Following the crease along the side that springs from the top of the boomerang headlights is like playing one of those side-scrolling dirt bike video games: up, down, across, and up again!
The lower kick panels protrudes from about the center of the rear doors, coming to a point just behind the wheel-wells that adds some Aggro Crag sharpness to the vehicle which pairs nicely with the futuristic buzz-saw wheels.
The back is a little bulbous; in profile the rear section reminds me of a Ford Focus hatchback with it's taillights dragged even further out from the vehicle's body.
Nissan even kept the pinched rear window from the Resonance SUV concept we saw more than a year ago. In fact, the whole vehicle maintained pretty solid fidelity to that crazy design.
It's not glass all the way across. The triangle adjacent to the rear passenger door is transparent but the chunk to the left is very glossy black plastic.
All up it's 192.4" long, 75.4" wide, and 66.5" tall with a slippery coefficient of drag at 0.31. For reference, the outgoing model is 0.37... a lower means a more aerodynamic car.
Inside, once you get over the Saltine Cracker whitewashing, everything is pretty much standard Nissan. Chief Planning Officer Andy Palmer told the New York Auto Show that the 2015 Murano's seats are "zero-gravity, inspired by NASA."
I dumped my ass in one and can verify they're comfortable and easy to adjust, but I'm not sure they're what makes them ready to clear the atmosphere.
But all the seats are eight-way power adjustable, and an enormous panoramic sunroof is one of the quickest ways to my heart. The 2015 Nissan Murano might be one of the first crossovers I really like looking at. We'll just have to wait and see how the driving experience holds up.
Engine is a 3.5 V6 good for 260 horsepower and 240 lb-ft torque, which will be mated to Nissan's Xtronic continuously variable transmission.
Images: Brian Williams