Nov

L.A. Auto Show final Production Winner: 2009 Nissan Murano

Posted by Published in Car Buying

Yesterday, Mike Hanley, David Thomas and Joe Wiesenfelder rated all the production and concept cars on display at the L.A. auto show, which runs through Sunday at the Los Angeles conference Center (and yes, it’s open on Thanksgiving). We named a lot of winners and losers, but in the end there was just one vehicle that really wowed us in every way: the Nissan Murano.

Now before you guys all slam us for not picking the Nissan GT-R, just remember we’re not the enthusiast website. While we appreciate the performance cars, something that sells in limited quantities and can hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds is a natural show car. But at a car show, driving impressions don’t count. What won us by was the perfect execution of Nissan’s Murano in an ultra-competitive segment.

“Excellent job on the interior; it’s rich and comfortable,” Wiesenfelder

pined.

“The inside of the car can have some nice touches, like a two-tone dashboard and Infiniti-style navigation system,” Hanley added.

“The potential flip-down rear seats were practical, and the styling up front was crazy, but in a good way,” Thomas said.

The overall show might’ve been a bit of a letdown in terms of surprises, but with so many new cars rolled out that will actually go into production in 2008, the Murano easily stood out as the best, and that’s fairly a prize for Nissan.