REVIEW | 2025 Nissan Murano Platinum AWD

The emperor has a dazzling new set of clothes – and a change of heart as well.

Using the same 112.2-inch wheelbase and some underpinnings of its third-generation (2014 to 2024) predecessor, the 2025 Nissan Murano Platinum’s redesign is a welcome change. And this fourth-gen has a welcome upmarket design that looks, and mostly feels, like it’s living in the 21st century.

“Murano” refers to an island off Venice where flowing glass sculptures are made. I guess Nissan felt the name matched the rounded look of its first midsize Murano CUV when it was born in 2003. Now the latest gains a distinctive shape that’s a tad wider and taller, with what Nissan terms “a delightfully elegant design.” And as Nissan begins to redesign lots of its models, this one echoes that of the shapely new Ariya EV.

Body: The Murano begins with a nicely updated V-Motion grill – black crossbars framed by wing-like inserts with triangular LED DRL/turn signals flowing into a rounder, taller nose. Slit LED “Crystal Cube” headlights glow above, connected by a gloss black band with “MURANO” incised into it. And an angular lower intake joins slashed black lower side intakes flowing off an air dam – fresh, and much cleaner.

Tires: The new body is 2.6 inches longer, with incised fender flares framing 21-inch Bridgestone rubber on seven-spoke alloy wheels, with gloss black plastic inserts for an aero look. There’s flared black lower sill accents, and rear fender shoulders. The rounded roofline is joined by buff chrome arcs that delineate the side windows, gloss black accents below roof and above the trim lines.

Interior: The Murano’s interior also got a total makeover, all wide screens and uncluttered looks done in gray with blue accents that also color semi-analine leather seats in a stitched black quilt pattern. The simpler design is lush in places, with stitching on wraparound dashboard, doors and center armrest, plus buff alloy edging on the center shelf and some plasticky “wood.”

Controls: A thick leather-rimmed steering wheel has screen, audio and other controls in front and small paddle shifters behind. It has a sporty, flat bottom, tilts and telescopes. The new 12.3-inch digital gauge package is configurable, from simple digital speedometer, to a full set of gauges, with cruise, economy, audio and more insertable in the middle. Idiot lights occupy the left side.

Center stage is another 12.3-inch screen, oddly angled more toward passenger than driver. It offers a wide map, or you can segment it into thirds for different info. It also offers an Invisible Hood View, a virtual view through the engine bay to help spot curbs or other obstacles.

There’s a slim strip at screen bottom with tiny backlit touch icons to handle climate control temperature, heated seat and steering wheel and vent position screens. The whole panel has haptic feedback when you tap, but it’s hard to successfully tap on the first try. At least there’s a big volume knob between the center air vents.

The infotainment system works with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, augmented by a solid Bose speaker system – until left-side speakers went mute for one day, then returned. There’s a head-up display, although it stayed dark. We enjoyed the 64-color interior ambient accent lighting inside.

Push buttons operate gear selection, with Eco, Normal and Sport drive mode selector next door, and auto-engine off and surround-view camera switches near that. Decent storage under the center armrest complete the bill.

Seats: Those leather seats are superbly plush and very supportive, the driver getting basic massage and dual memory presets. And the wide center console, with pass-through storage underneath, gets a rubberized inductive charger cubby for phones with dual USBs.

Back seat: Rear seat adult headroom and leg room is just fine. Passengers get air vents, USB ports and a center armrest, plus manual side sunshades. The 60/40 split flat-folding rear seatbacks expand a decent 32.9 cubic feet of storage to 63.5 – down just a tad from the last-gen. The power liftgate rises high.

Performance: The last time we drove a Murano, it packed a 3.5-liter V-6 with 260 hp – and it had a CVT. But the almost total revamp nets it a turbocharged 2-liter variable-compression inline four with 241-hp and 260 lb-ft of torque –  20 more lb-ft compared to the outgoing Murano. And we are happy to see a 9-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, as well as the Platinum level’s front-biased all-wheel drive come standard.

The inline four is a bit noisier than the V-6 under load in all drive modes, but with a slightly sportier exhaust snarl in Sport. In Eco mode, the Murano was a bit moderate off the line, a bit of guesswork in the 1st/2nd gear shifts. But when the turbo smoothly joined in at just under 4,800 rpm, the 4,438-lb. crossover hit 60 mph in a decent 6.9 seconds, a smooth upshift at 5,800 rpm. Switch to Sport mode and there’s more boost off the line en route to 60 mph in 6.2 seconds.

We averaged 27 mpg driving in Eco mode. But the auto-engine off system was a mite bit slow firing up when you went from brake to gas pedal. Murano is rated to tow up to 1,500 pounds. And it is quiet at speed bar a bit of tire noise. For comparison, a 2023 front-wheel-drive Murano with V-6 hit 60 mph in 7.1 seconds.

The new Murano adopts frequency sensitive dampers in a suspension with independent strut with coil springs up front, and independent multi-link in the back. The ride is supple and just taut enough, swallowing speed bumps with only a bit of bounce afterward, good on rougher roads. Paddle shifters allow some quick downshifts to set up for corners if you want to get sporty, and all-wheel-drive delivered – no understeer as it neutrally carved curves, a bit of body roll. And pushed hard in our skidpad, almost no understeer, if some body roll.

New electric power steering gave decent feel and feedback, with a tight turning circle. The 13.78-in. front/12.99-inch rear disc brakes on our 2,500-mile-old crossover had a solid feel to the brake pedal with decent bite, with some nose dive on hard stops, but no fade after repeated use.

For safety, ProPILOT Assist, with a lane-keep system that smoothly keeps the Murano ‘tween the lines, perfect for a busy highway trip, but doesn’t allow hands-free. Intelligent Cruise Control handles braking, stopping and resumes acceleration in stop-and-go.

A base FWD 2025 Murano SV starts at $40,470; our AWD Platinum starts at $49,600, this top-line model wearing most of what you see written here bar: $255 painted splash guards, $505 backlit scuff plates and a few other niceties to end up at $55,030.

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Bottom line: New body, interior and tech match its new attitude – comfortable, roomy, stable, fairly efficient and quick – but it needs a bit of drivetrain refinement.

2025 Nissan Murano Platinum AWD:

• Vehicle type – 5-passenger midsize all-wheel-drive crossover
• Base price $49,600- ($55,030 as tested)
• Engine type – Turbocharged DOHC 18-valve aluminum block inline 4
• Displacement – 2-liter
• Horsepower (net) – 241 @ 5,600-rpm
• Torque (lb-ft) – 260 @ 4,400 rpm
• Transmission – 9-speed automatic transmission w/paddle shifters
• Wheelbase – 111.2 inches
• Overall length – 192.9 inches
• Overall width – 78 inches
• Height – 67.9 inches
• Front headroom – 39.9 inches
• Front legroom – 44.3 inches
• Rear headroom – 37.8 inches
• Rear legroom – 35.3 inches
• Cargo capacity – 32.9 cu.-ft. behind 2nd row/63.5 w/rear seat folded
• Towing capacity – up to 1,500 lbs.
• Curb weight – 4,438 lbs.
• Fuel capacity – 18.7 gallons
• Mileage rating – 21-mpg city/27-mpg highway