Nissan's 3.5-liter V-6 and the continuously variable transmission work well here. Hammer it from a standstill and the initial acceleration won't blow you away, but the Murano builds speed smoothly, and it's kinda cool to watch the tachometer needle move toward 6000 rpm without a single hiccup, by which point you're going 80 mph. Nissan has its CVT technology pretty well figured out.