"It's like riding in a large, comfortable armchair," said one of my passengers during an epic journey which saw three of us cover well over 1000 miles in just a few days. This was just the kind of trip that would point up any kind of occupant discomfort, especially during the section which involved leaving St Albans at 9pm and arriving in Sunderland five hours later; it was a testament to Nissan's latest 4x4 that, though pleasantly fatigued after our travels, we had no complaints about aches or pains.Since I was paying for the fuel, I could have wished (a) that there were a diesel version of the Murano and (b) that I had been given one to test. Sadly, (b) was impossible, because (a) is not the case. The range of options on this model is, as Nissan likes to point out, limited pretty much to the colour scheme, and when it comes to engines the only choice is the 3.5-litre V6 petrol unit also found in the 350Z sports car and - somewhat enlarged - in the Pathfinder.It's a powerful device, and the Murano is a large and heavy car, so if you want impressive fuel economy you have to look elsewhere. But if the fiscal aspect isn't a major consideration, there's a lot to be said for the V6, not least that it's a very smooth operator. This further enhanced the Murano's air of luxury, and so too does the excellent ride quality. Undulations in the tarmac are dealt with just as well as they are in the rather more expensive Range Rover Sport, though the Sport gains extra points for suppressing smaller bumps with equal grace, whereas the Murano can't help reporting their existence to its passengers.As with the engine, there's only one gearbox option. It's a continuously variable transmission, but it has six ratio locks and you tend to use it in the same way as you would a conventional automatic. Nissan says it operates very smoothly, and in this case Nissan is right.The styling, created by the company's design studio in California, is very distinctive, and while I'd question the claim that it gives the Murano "the lines of a sports car", as suggested by the PR department, it certainly attracted positive attention. The interior is equally neat, and boasts one feature in particular which seems so obvious that you wonder why everyone who builds cars like this isn't doing it. I refer to the fact that each of the rear seats will fold absolutely flat at the pull of a single lever - there is no messing around with folding the bench part, removing headrests or any of that nonsense.When both rear seats are down you're left with 877 litres of luggage space, which doesn't sound like a great deal; there are, after all, plenty of estate cars on the market which make this figure seem unimpressive. But that's the price you pay for having four-wheel drive, with lots of mechanical bits at the rear and a correspondingly high boot floor.The chances of anyone doing any remotely serious off-roading in a Murano seem slim, at best, and there might be a case for creating extra luggage room by limiting the car to front-wheel drive. On the other hand, I'm not sure that the Murano would be quite as capable on public roads with the entire available 231bhp being channelled through the front end.In any case, the Murano has a useful repertoire of smaller luggage compartments to carry minor items. There's one underneath the boot floor, for example. The door pockets are generous in size, and flip out to improve access when required. Although not quite as clever as the rear seat folding arrangement, this is another nice touch all the same, and so is the fact that the centre console has a removable plastic compartment which, when discarded, leaves enough space for a laptop computer.Nissan has packed a lot of standard equipment into a car which costs just under £30,000. 18" alloy wheels, leather upholstery, ten-way adjustable front seats, a rear-view parking camera with colour screen, a seven-speaker Bose audio system and privacy rear side glass are all included, as is Nissan's DVD-based Birdview satellite navigation system. I've had reason to grumble about Nissan satnav in the past, but the version used here - complete with an exceptionally useful Traffic Message Channel - is excellent. During rush hour, it guided me expertly through parts of central London I had never visited before, and the fact that I still got lost was entirely my fault. Engine 3498cc, 6 cylinders Power 231bhp Transmission CVT automatic Fuel/CO2 23.0mpg / 295g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 8.9 seconds Top speed 124mph Price £29,800 Details correct at publication date
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