Associate Editor Brandon Turkus tests the Nissan Murano Winter Warrior Concept at the Grand Geneva Mountaintop Resort in Lake Geneva, WI.
TranscriptBRANDON TURKUS: Hey, Autoblog, this is Associate Editor Brandon Turkus, and I'm even more bundled up as usual. As you can see, we are inside of a Nissan Murano, but it's not you're normal Murano. This is the Winter Warrior. It's one of the three vehicles being brought to the Chicago Auto Show.
And what's special about these is that, rather than the four nice pieces of rubber keeping it on the ground, there are four treads basically. It's part snowmobile, and we are out here in Lake Geneva Wisconsin at the Grand Geneva Mountaintop Resort, basically, driving around ski slopes in treaded vehicles. It's about as much fun as it sounds.
And I'm going to take you up one of the slopes right now and talk to you about what's different in this vehicle, and how it kind of changes your driving style having a set of treads instead of wheels.
So right now, as you can probably hear, it's quite a bit louder than your normal Murano. The NVHS M grade, which is to be expected, but it's completely unstoppable. But the thing about having treads on here is that you really need to rethink the way that you drive the vehicle. Yes, it is really loud, I know.
For a start, you only have about 45 degrees of steering angle before you start rubbing and causing all sorts of problems. So right now I have the steering wheel about is about as turned in as I could possibly get it. We're actually take it up the big hill right now at the top of the resort and show you the other shortcoming of having treads on a vehicle.
So I've got to give it some gas here. This is a very steep incline as you can tell looking out the window, but we are on top of the ski resort right now. At the very top of the hill, it's a great view up here.
But the other problem is that, in order to do even a simple turn, it's going to be a two or three point turn. This is probably going to be about a 37 point turn simply because you have a lot of steering angle. And also because you can't turn the steering wheel basically unless the car is moving forward or backward.
So, in some ways, it's kind of like a boat. You dial in the most steering angle at speed, and you get a lot better results when you're actually moving than when you're at low speeds. It's very numb. There's not a lot you can do about it.
Now, as you can see, right over there, actually, that is the hill to go down. It says, caution. Use at your own risk. So we are going down a black diamond in a Nissan Murano, which is cool. But I'm still going to need to make a few more turns.
Now if you can live with these kind of compromises, you're going to have a pretty unstoppable winter vehicle, but it does come with some problems.
Oh boy, I can't even see the ground. There we go. Just kind of covering the break right now. A little bit of squirming. Ta-da.
So yeah, it's pretty cool. I imagine if you were really dealing with a lot of snow somewhere, this is the way to go. And you can only get about up to 20, 25 miles an hour before the noise becomes really difficult, but it's an extremely cool concept. It looks fairly easy to bolt in. These are actually just bolt on to the hubs using what looked like normal lug nuts, and it's completely perfect if you happen to have a ski resort at your disposal.
So there we go. You can check out more of our coverage of these three vehicles. There's a Winter Warrior Pathfinder and Rogue as well in the future both.
At CES 2024, John Deere showed off its new autonomous tractor technology, which allows farmers to till their fields without being in the cab or paying much attention at all, really. By utilizing an app, the farmer can stop and start the tractor, respond to potential hindrances ahead, adjust speeds …
BMW Remote Valet is an experimental system that allows for your car to be remotely operated by a driver using video screens and remote controls not unlike those used for racing simulators. It uses existing hardware in the car, including forward and reverse cameras, as well as those for the …
Autoblog rode shotgun in Subaru Motorsports’ new American Rally Association (ARA) car, team driver Brandon Semenuk testing the new entry before the Ojibwe Forests Rally in Minnesota. Based on the latest WRX chassis, the turbocharged 2.0-liter boxer four “only” makes about 320 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque, but packs …
A spy photographer managed to capture video of a Ram TRX prototype with light camouflage. Unlike the one that's winding up production, this one has an exhaust note that suggests it has a version of the Hurricane twin-turbo inline-6 under the hood. The Hurricane engines are already found in the …
The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ZR2 is new for 2023, and so is the AEV Bison package from American Expedition Vehicles. The ZR2 off-road trim starts with features like 33-inch Goodyear Wrangler tires, 11.2 inches of ground clearance, and Multimatic DSSV dampers. The Bison adds even more rugged equipment to the …
The new Porsche 718 Spyder RS has a unique roof design designed to be light as possible for performance purposes and compact as possible since something bigger wouldn't fit on top of the taller Spyder RS engine. The solution, demonstrated by senior editor James Riswick, is complicated to say the …
Bring earplugs! Seriously. Have a listen to the screaming 4.0-liter flat-six in the 2024 Porsche 718 Spyder RS, which has an extra set of air intakes located just over the driver and passengers’ shoulders. It’s even louder than it seems in this video, with our meter showing a peak of …
The new Porsche 718 Spyder RS has a unique roof design designed to be light as possible for performance purposes and compact as possible since something bigger wouldn't fit on top of the taller Spyder RS engine. The solution, demonstrated by senior editor James Riswick, is complicated to say the …
Bring earplugs! Seriously. Have a listen to the screaming 4.0-liter flat-six in the 2024 Porsche 718 Spyder RS, which has an extra set of air intakes located just over the driver and passengers’ shoulders. It’s even louder than it seems in this video, with our meter showing a peak of …
The 2024 Mercedes GLE 63 S Coupe is a hot luxury crossover, with its twin-turbocharged V8 producing a hearty 603 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. It’ll do 0-60 in just 3.7 seconds. Though it’s also quite comfortable, you’ll still work up a mighty thirst piloting it down your favorite …
The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander is the brand’s newer, bigger three-row crossover. It has a lot of space for passengers, their cargo and their beverages. It’s got a near-excessive amount of cupholders, but can any of them hold an oversized water bottle like a 32-ounce Nalgene? Take a look inside …
Want an affordable small crossover that looks and feels good, might even impress your passengers, and won’t make your eyes go cross while configuring one online? Buick’s got a new one for you, and it’s pretty slick. The 2024 Buick Envista starts below $25,000, and in a world of rampant …
We have before us the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV RST, which is expected to release later this year with 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque, and a range of 400 miles. That’s a lot of time between stops at the charging station, and we’re going to get mighty thirsty …
