EPA Rating Seems Out of Reach - 2015 Nissan Murano Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

EPA Rating Seems Out of Reach - 2015 Nissan Murano Long-Term Road Test

Our 2015 Nissan Murano has more than 10,000 miles on the clock, which makes its 21.7 mpg lifetime average fuel economy all the more worrying.

Read the full story here

legacygt

I know that a Subaru Outback with the 2.5L will deliver much better efficiency than this but it should. Its EPA numbers are higher and it's a smaller, less powerful engine. But I bring it up because it's similar in size and it manages to meet its EPA numbers in the real world. I wonder if the Outback with the 3.6L would do better?

zimtheinvader

" and it manages to meet its EPA numbers in the real world"

that's how it does in the real world but how would it do in Edmund's world? The world of taking 45 minutes to go 8 miles on the freeway, the world of 'it isn't my car and it isn't me paying for the gas', the world of 'the last car I drove was the Viper so I'm used to really accelerating'?

dushash

legacygt said:

I know that a Subaru Outback with the 2.5L will deliver much better efficiency than this but it should. Its EPA numbers are higher and it's a smaller, less powerful engine. But I bring it up because it's similar in size ...

It's smaller in every way imaginable: smaller cabin, lighter vehicle, smaller engine, less powerful, weaker acceleration, lower torque - less refined suspension and rougher ride compared to comfy Murano, etc, and so on. Do you think 4000lbs came out of nowhere in Murano? It came from best seats in automobile industry ever made for long trips - ideal. It came from acoustic glass that together with lots of sound deadening material used on Murano makes it comparable (if not better) to RX350 in terms of comfort and cabin noise. It came from best in class cargo volume with 2nd row up. From Top Safety Pick+ 2015 and from best mid-size SUV in initial quality and satisfaction by JD Powers. Best Family Choice SUV in class. And so on.

Murano BTW has a 2.5L engine working in Atkinson cycle coupled with electric motor - hybrid version - that one gets better MPG, but will I trade buttery smooth V6 for smaller 4-banger? No thanks. I'll let the Ford Edge or Subaru Outback owners enjoy their 4-bangers if they chose it over their V-6 option, but for me - I bought Murano not for economy and cheap ride, but for comfort and luxury.

csubowtie

Wow! Are you a used Nissan Salesman or what? Somebody ate up the marketing hype and vomited it out all over this thread. You are the first person I've heard be passionate about a Murano. Subaru owners are highly passionate and loyal, I wonder why? For the record, the Subaru uses a boxer-4, you know, like Porsche. Boxer-4's are a naturally balanced design, as opposed to your "buttery smooth V-6" which is a fundamentally unbalanced design that only works after one or more counterbalance shafts are added to try to offset the vibrations. Nothing better for efficiency than additional spinning, weighted shafts.

In my experience driving cars with CVT's, they all did great on mpg, even though they were small 4 bangers in mid-sized cars that I beat on like the rentals they were (including other Nissans). I thought good gas mileage was the prize you won for overcoming the rest of the horrors that are CVT's. What's up with the Murano?

dushash

I'm just careful with what i buy - that's all. I did research, tested all SUV's in the class and trust me no [non-permissible content removed] 4-boxer Subaru can come close to Nissan's V6 in regards of smoothness. I know a family that has Subaru Outback and Honda Pilot - guess what car mom and dad in that family fight over to take in the morning every day? Pilot. No one wants to drive Subaru. I don't know what loyalty you are talking about - maybe fanboyism more like it. But Nothing in that Outback I test-drove was appealing to be honest.
In fact everyone I met so far like Murano and oddly I don't know single person who really likes Subaru. And if you consider most comfortable seats I've ever driven in to be a marketing hype and vomit - you can go back to your Subaru and continue to have a vomit inducing drive as you call it.

P.S. Interior in Outback was really vomit inducing. No joke. It wasn't even close to 2nd gen. Murano. Even the RAV4 I tested was better in terms of interior.

wtgkb8

As I've posted in the past, I find it very easy to match or exceed EPA numbers on my 2015 FWD Platinum. I also drive fairly aggressively and don't attempt to hyper-mile in any vehicle, that's no fun. With less than 1000 miles on the vehicle I managed to get 28.9 mpg over a 550 mile trip with the A/C on (through terrain mind you, but cruise set to 74-78 mph). The digital readout was showing 29.3 mpg...so only a bit optimistic. The average speed for this calculation on the readout was 66 mph...so yah all hwy driving. Lifetime average over 2600 miles has been 24.7 mpg, and I've seen a worst tank of 21.8 mpg (the average speed this tank was 32 mph...so a much larger percentage of city driving...say 80 %). I would say my lifetime average comes from a 60% city/40% hwy mix. Maybe I'm lucky, but I haven't even tried very hard to get good mileage here. However, I don't live in an area that takes more than 10 min to go 5 miles either. As for CVT...it's perfectly matched to this 3.5L VQ V6 and it's my 3rd CVT with this engine from Nissan (previous 2 were Maximas). It's a great transmission for it's purpose here. Yah...it's not a performance car or a canyon carver, but it does surprise me. I love my Murano so far and there are many other satisfied people like me out there who have purchased a 2015 model.