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Unlike in Europe or Australia, we don't have beautiful scenic landscapes where drivers can freely explore. In fact, get your wheels muddy in our fine city and you'd find yourself conjuring an interesting tale for the officer booking you for soiled tyres.
The truth is there are only a very small number of people willing to take their sporty, rugged cars into the rough, while majority of the others who own such rides have never walked themselves into a forested area, let alone drive in.
Of course, the same phenomenon happened around the world and soon, car-makers were designing large SUV-bodied things which were actually useless once brought off the beaten path. Not exactly the best idea, because what consumers were essentially buying were Diet Cokes - dressed up equally nicely, but without the punch.
What these Diet Cokes do offer, however, is a brilliant, commanding view from behind the wheel and a lot more reassurance that if anyone bumps into you, they would be in a lot more trouble first.
More importantly, being higher up in your seat than most other motorists adds to the higher-therefore-mightier factor, and at the end of the day, effectively turning the sizeable four-wheeler into more of a status symbol.
Just in case, though, one fine day there's a big muddy field that one might have to cross to get to work, the 4WD system would be useful.
So there is some justification for buying vehicles like that. Sort of.
With all that in mind, one might ask, what is the need for another new SUV, like the new Nissan Murano?
Well, first, it fulfills the basic criteria of excellent driver's view and decent marks on crash test score sheets. But on the face of it, it starts to turn one's smile into a frown.
It's dropped the nice set of front teeth in favour of a strange face, resembling a cross between a rhinoceros and Megatron from the Transformers series. The headlamps and front grille are now fused together to form one gigantic feature just south of the bonnet, and its formerly rectangular side mirrors have been given a rounder edge. Not the best looking front.
Fortunately, that's where the Murano stops beings amusing and starts being serious. The fat arches on the side fenders hint of large wheels and the rear ends off neatly, carrying tail lamps from the same design family as the Qashqai.
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Climb into the 1.73 m tall Rhinotron and suddenly the atmosphere changes. It's inviting and very ergonomically-designed. The dials and switches are in the right places, and it's one of those cars in which you sit in and think, "Ahh, this feels right." And it is.
Comfortable, quiet and smooth are definitely the words that one can associate the Murano with. Not for a long time have I felt this peaceful in a high-riding, huge-tyred two-plus tonne vehicle. The Murano's front independent struts and rear multi-link suspension do a good job at keeping its occupants relaxed.
Those of you thinking about bringing this out for enthusiastic drives, though, ought to be eyeing on the 350Z instead. With 2,350 kg to lug about, the Murano isn't exactly the best tool to carve neat corners with.
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One thing to be praised, though, is its Xtronic continuously variable transmission (CVT). Unlike many other CVTs which fall into the ridiculous trap of pretending to be automatic-like (thus forgetting the advantage it has), the new Murano's gearbox shifts brilliantly.
Quick yet smooth if you decide to use the manual-shift mode, and absolutely creamy if you simply leave it in "D". There's none of that monkey-business pretending that it's changing gears, and even when you hear a sudden drop in the revs, it's not accompanied by any simulated gear change jerk.
Slightly disappointing, though, was its steering. It lacked more feel and was a little too light for something its size, which one would normally expect to be slightly on the heavier side.
Powering it is Nissan's highly successful VQ35DE engine, with 256 horses sitting inside its V6 engine. Smooth it is, but the torque figures - 336 Nm - are playing a little hide and seek. A hard push on the loud pedal doesn't cause the Murano to leap forward with enthusiasm. Rather, it sings along gently with its CVT, somehow getting you to 100 km/h from standstill in 8.4 seconds. And really, it doesn't feel like 8.4 seconds.
There is also the slightly more economical 2.5-litre version, but that hasn't arrived in Singapore yet.
Better on the road than off
Quite soon, however, the plush leather seats will remind you what its forte is - to cruise around in comfort and in high-riding style. There's no need for you to splash about in mud or have the V6 constantly in fortissimo. You simply saunter through town with this, drop by the grocery store, then hit a button to electronic boot lid and load up its 407-litre trunk.
And if you still need more space, there are two simple levers which drop the seats in an instant, providing you even more storage capacity. One problem is, though, that the seats don't seem to be able to fold down completely flat, but chances are that people hardly need them that way.
Which brings me back to the point - people don't really need such vehicles, but some buy them anyway. It's one of those things that you won't really require, but would love to have, just like flat-folding seats and four-wheel drive.
And there are a few other choices around its price range, like the Lexus RX 350, or if you think one day you might need to drive through a jungle to get to the office, there's the Volkswagen Tiguan.
So if you're one of those who would love to visit the Amazon, but would rather eat a mouse if you had to climb Bukit Timah hill, the Murano would be a splendid choice. The kids will love it and its capacious nature adds to its practicality. Otherwise, it looks just as good sitting in your driveway.
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