[phoneboy101]

I just got my blue SL a few weeks ago. It did great on it's first road/off-road trip. We took it to hike and camp in the Pariah Canyon area between Page, Arizona and Kanab, Utah. Hike day was great, but we woke up the next day with 4" of snow on the tent.

I've been on other trails with signs that say "impassable when wet" and they really are. I was really worried that morning. The road turns to slick clay when wet, and it passes through numerous washes and ravines. Our MO got us out with no problem! I was thrilled, and "MO" loved playing in the mud and snow.

I understand that the Murano is no Jeep for offroading, but it's not really far behind. The Jeep is no Murano in other areas.

(I didn't take any pics of the rough parts of the trail because I was busy naviagting them.)

 

[rjive]

Thanks for the picture. I hope we can take our Murano out to the snow soon... If we do I will snap some cool photos for everyone.

Anyone had any snow experence that the Murano could not get out of? I live outside Sacramento CA and we go to Lake Tahoe a lot and it can get lots of snow in short periods of time... any thoughts?

 

[jaak]

This will be my Muran's third winter and I've yet to have any issues with snow. I even went and did a little bit of off-roading in the snow.

Of course, if it get's deep enough to get all the wheels off the ground, you're asking for it, I suppose. Hasn't happened yet.

It's a lot of fun once you learn how to use the AWD in it!

 

[cube2b]

Nice Pic. I noticed that you have the stock rims on. Does it also have the Stock Tires. It's my MO's first Christmas and i'm just wondering if I should get it some Winter tires.

If those were the stock tires, did you find them good or did you wish you had some Winter Tires.

Jaak...do you have Winters?

 

[NVMYGT]

I don't have snow tires and went through the 1 winter in the MO never doubting it's ability to perform. I would not worry about winter tires. I think you'll be surprised how well this vehicle performs.

 

[phoneboy101]

I still have the stock tires. The dealer I bought it at has a "free tires for life" offer, so I think I'll keep the stock tires for a long time.

I have always found that the fairly new all weather tires are sufficient in deep snow on AWD vehicles. If you get high-centered, snow tires won't help you out of that situation.

 

[Eric L.]

Before you go treading onto unplowed roads, some words of caution: it might be fun to try out the AWD capabilities of the Murano, but snow is snow and its still slippery. I was caught in a terrible snowstorm driving up to Chicago on Wednesday afternoon and AWD or not, I could not drive faster than 35MPH on the highway due to the whiteout conditions. I saw dozens of cars spun out on the side of the road.

Drive safely out there. I used to live in California, where it never snowed (except for the mountains). When I came to Illinois for grad/med school, I thought whee snow. Well that thought quickly faded an hour after driving in the snow. Its not a lot of fun to drive in.

 

[jaak]

Nice Pic. I noticed that you have the stock rims on. Does it also have the Stock Tires. It's my MO's first Christmas and i'm just wondering if I should get it some Winter tires.

If those were the stock tires, did you find them good or did you wish you had some Winter Tires.

Jaak...do you have Winters?

No, stock tires...

Toronto Winters aren't as bad as many other places, but I don't just drive in Toronto.

I can see snows perhaps helping a little... Not enough for it to be an issue for me.

 

[GripperDon]

Erick L YEA! a med student. What year? Are you at NW? GRIP

 

[Eric L.]

No, I am in the MD/PhD program at the Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Grad program is in Biophysics and Computational Biology.

 

[NVMYGT]

Before you go treading onto unplowed roads, some words of caution: it might be fun to try out the AWD capabilities of the Murano, but snow is snow and its still slippery. I was caught in a terrible snowstorm driving up to Chicago on Wednesday afternoon and AWD or not, I could not drive faster than 35MPH on the highway due to the whiteout conditions. I saw dozens of cars spun out on the side of the road.

Drive safely out there. I used to live in California, where it never snowed (except for the mountains). When I came to Illinois for grad/med school, I thought whee snow. Well that thought quickly faded an hour after driving in the snow. Its not a lot of fun to drive in.

I think this is a good point. The Murano is still a car afterall and is susceptible to the elements just like any other car. However, if you use your judgement, take it safe, and know when too much snow is too much then I think that you will find the Murano's capabilities above satisfactory.

 

[jaak]

AWD won't stop you any faster.

It's demonstrated the beginning of every winter here, when many vehicles with 4WD and AWD are out in the ditch on the highways, in really bad weather.

But it's still useful.

 

[phoneboy101]

Before you go treading onto unplowed roads, some words of caution: it might be fun to try out the AWD capabilities of the Murano, but snow is snow and its still slippery. I was caught in a terrible snowstorm driving up to Chicago on Wednesday afternoon and AWD or not, I could not drive faster than 35MPH on the highway due to the whiteout conditions. I saw dozens of cars spun out on the side of the road.

Drive safely out there. I used to live in California, where it never snowed (except for the mountains). When I came to Illinois for grad/med school, I thought whee snow. Well that thought quickly faded an hour after driving in the snow. Its not a lot of fun to drive in.

I'm new to the forum, but have driven in the snow for many years. I agree with you that AWD does nothing to make driving in the smow safer. It just makes getting stuck less likely. I wasn't really "trying out the AWD capabilities." It was just a matter of getting out of that remote location after it had snowed, something I had serious worries about until we successfully did it.

 

[jaak]

More traction and ground clearance, help in snow.

Even with the stock tires, I've found the Murano to be good in it. The AWD's a lot of fun around corners, if you figure out how to slide with it. When appropriate, of course.

 

[senza]

AWD in snow is a safer vehicle...anytime you provide a driver with more control in bad driving conditions, you make the vehicle "safer". Having said that, the primary safety factor is the common sense of the person behind the wheel...

 

[Kris]

AWD in snow is a safer vehicle...anytime you provide a driver with more control in bad driving conditions, you make the vehicle "safer". Having said that, the primary safety factor is the common sense of the person behind the wheel...

You said the magic word! :claphead:

 

[jaak]

I agree completely. It's unfortunate that common sense really isn't that common.

 

[phoneboy101]

AWD in snow is a safer vehicle...anytime you provide a driver with more control in bad driving conditions, you make the vehicle "safer". Having said that, the primary safety factor is the common sense of the person behind the wheel...

AWD only adds minimal control. The most dangerous part of driving in the snow is loosing control at speed. AWD won't help much in preventing loss of control on slick roads. It only helps in gaining momentum, not controlling or disapating it. The only added control it gives is by slightly decreasing the chance of the drive wheels breaking loose in a turn. In other words, we should be equally careful at speed on slick roads whether driving with AWD or 2WD. You're right that it's up to the person behing the wheel.

 

[senza]

phoneboy101 - driving on snow covered/slick roads does require gaining momentum(accelerating) oftentimes when negotiating a turn...therefore AWD does improve control/safety....in my opinion the degree of safety created by AWD is greater than "slightly / minimal"...

 

[jaak]

Unfortunately in Urban conditions, AWD and 4WD lose much of their benefit, as there's a few hundred 2WD vehicles stuck in front of you.

On country roads, it's awesome. I loved my Jimmy when I'd take back roads through the snow, as the road clearance and 4WD made it much easier. The Murano's been good that way too. It's also good on side streets when a big load get's dumped from the sky and cars are riding up on top of it, not getting any traction.

Matter of fact, it's downright fun! Whoo Hooo....