Every time I drive a Nissan product, I continue to be more impressed. The mid-size Murano sport-utility vehicle (SUV) is a prime example of just far Nissan has come — after staring bankruptcy in the face less than a decade ago. It's all about product — a lesson larger companies, like GM for example, should heed.

I hadn't driven a Murano since it was first introduced about three years ago, but did have the opportunity again recently while invited to visit the Nissan Design Studio in Farmington Hills, Mich. What I experienced were refinements and updates to an already great product.

Walkaround: With a name inspired by sculpted Italian glass, the chic Murano is all about style. It features rounded contours including a steeply raked windshield, a sloping hoodline and upswept rear roof pillars. In addition to superior style, it delivers a blend of performance and innovation missing from most SUVs.

The Murano comes in base SL and higher-line SE versions, and both are offered with front- or all-wheel drive.

The SE has a firmer suspension, sportier looking 6-spoke alloy wheels and High Intensity Discharge headlights with manual headlight levelizer.

Like many “crossover” SUVs, the Murano is built on an automotive unibody platform, not a body-on-frame setup like a truck. In this case, it's Nissan's Altima sedan. At 187.6-inches-long the Murano is longer, wider, and taller than the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander or Lexus RX 300.

Interior: The Murano offers lots of comfort and convenience amenities, including the usual power accessories found in higher-priced SUVs. That includes such items as a tilt wheel where, like the 350Z, the gauges move with it as a unit, cruise control, dual-zone automatic climate controls, AM/FM/CD sound system and a rear defogger.

The big outside door handles and wide doors coupled with a low floor make it easy to get in and out. Three's lots of room for four tall adults in the quiet interior, and the sculpted front and rear seats are very supportive.

Nissan's signature amber-colored instrumentation is easy to read at a glance, but the fairly large, easily used climate and sound system controls are located seemingly more for ascetics than practicality. However, sound system controls are offered on the steering wheel as well.

Like the Z, the interior materials are just average - with lots of attractive aluminum trim used. There's plenty of storage room, including snap-out storage pockets in the front doors like those usually found in luxury SUVs. Rear-seat air conditioning outlets are also standard.

The cargo area is large, and the entire rear seat — not just the seatbacks — fold forward to offer substantially more cargo room.

However, adding desirable options like a sunroof, leather seats and power adjustable pedals will run the price up quickly because they're part of some fairly costly option packages.

For example, the SE Package has some nice offerings but adds a hefty $3,499. You can get a power sunroof for the SL for $999 - but you have to order the $1,499 Premium Package as well. And the $1,999 navigation system calls for three other option packages - plus the sunroof. Adding insult to injury, the navigation system is somewhat over-engineered and user unfriendly if you're not a techie.

The bottom line is you can quickly option a $29,000 Murano well past $37,000.

Under the Hood: The Murano's hood hides Nissan's exhilarating 245-horse, 3.5-liter passenger car V6. This smooth, sophisticated powerplant is unquestionably one of the best available today and handles quick merging, passing and just plain acceleration with ease. The engine loafs quietly at just under 2000 rpm at 75 mph.

Married to the V6 is a very smooth continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). The CVT, which many manufacturers are moving towards, delivers a nearly infinite number of gear ratios - which eliminate up and downshift delays common to conventional automatics. They also provide better fuel economy than a standard automatic. The Murano gets an estimated 20 city and 25 highway - not outstanding, but not bad either considering SUVs aren't known for gas mileage, and not bad for a big, heavy, powerful vehicle like this. And, the 21.7-gallon fuel tank does give it some serious highway range.

Behind The Wheel: The Murano is a just blast to drive. Steering is a bit stiff, but quick, and I found the handling to be unusually good for a 3,800+ pound SUV. That's thanks to the Murano's all-independent suspension, which features stabilizer bars and wide tires on 18-inch wheels. The more rubber that meets the road, the better the handling, and Nissan hit the long ball with the 18-inchers, rather than 17's - which in themselves would have topped the 16-inchers found on the Highlander and Pilot.

That fact alone makes the $749 Dynamic Control Package, which features traction control, anti-skid systems, and a tire-pressure monitor worth the bucks. And like most crossovers, the Murano is basically designed for on-road driving, with no low range on the all-wheel-drive system. However, it easily conquers milder off-road situations as well as snow and wet weather driving conditions.

Standard safety features include anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution, front side airbags, and front and rear curtain side airbags.

Whines: It's way too easy to run the price up because of the option packages required to get one or two popular features. There's no third-row seat - an increasingly popular item for this size SUV. The tailgate has no upper glass opening and the tailgate rises so high many shorter people will have trouble closing it. It needs a hand strap or something. Rear visibility has a bad blind spot that's especially evident when parallel parking - but large outside rearview mirrors mitigate it when changing lanes. The cupholders don't adjust to the size of some common beverage containers

Bottom Line: The Murano offers beautiful styling, delivers solid performance, and great handling along with plenty of room and comfort. Nissan innovation and design have created another monster hit to build on the automaker's solid success of the past few years. It's worth your time to check this out.