The Crossover age is upon us. We've reviewed performance purporting MPVs and the ungainly offspring of a drunken fumble between an off-roader and a people carrier. The word 'crossover' is being bandied about a lot these days, but we find that it more often than not stands for compromise. Here we bring you the Nissan Murano; an SUV that thinks it's a sportscar. Can it live up to that?

First impressions are good. We first caught a glimpse of the Murano in the metal at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show. At that stage, the Murano was already on sale in the US and though interesting looking, we assumed it would never make it over here. Away from the unflattering glare of show hall lights, the Murano is every inch a modern Nissan, and it is now available at your local Nissan dealer. There are obvious design elements taken from the current Micra and the inspiring Nissan 350Z coupe, though the Murano features a few unique touches, such as the upswept D-pillar. Against more conventional SUV rivals, the Nissan certainly stands out, though it is an individual car rather than one that would be universally described as good-looking.

Step into the spacious interior of the Murano, and the sporting card is played a little stronger. The Murano's instrument pack follows the distinctive retro style of that in the 350Z, though the rev counter no longer takes centre stage amongst the three orange instruments. The chunky leather-lined three-spoke steering wheel is good to hold, and contains slick stereo and cruise control buttons. Indeed, all of the switchgear could be described as slick. The plastics are perceptibly of better quality than in the 350Z too, and you'll be thankful of the extra space when you try to stow your bits and pieces. Apparently the centre console is large enough to house a laptop. I can't vouch for that, but I did manage to fit in six bottles of premium lager one evening...

I spent the best part of two days parked on the M25 in the Murano, and the cool leather driver's seat kept me comfortable throughout. A quick hop into the rear (well the traffic wasn't going anywhere, was it?!) of the car indicated that all passengers get a good deal of legroom. Being stuck in a stop-start jam, I fully appreciated not having a clutch pedal, but wondered if the Murano's continuously variable transmission (CVT) had any chance of imbuing the large SUV with any real driver appeal. Until now, most applications of the CVT system have been on cars with smaller engines. As the name implies, the gear ratio is constantly varied, supposedly allowing the engine to operate at its ideal speed for any given situation. Nissan claims that this will enable the reduction of fuel consumption and emissions, at the same time as providing a sporting drive. If the driver feels the need, there is a sequential manual mode too, where six fixed ratios are stepped between at the driver's command.

The X-Tronic (as Nissan calls it) was good enough in default mode for me not to bother with the manual option other than to try it out for size. In full CVT mode, the Murano responds crisply to the throttle, and you can feather back the engine speed by judicial positioning of the throttle pedal when cruising. Put your foot down and there is no kickback delay, normally present even in the quickest traditional automatics; the Murano just leaps forward. I couldn't fault the transmission's response, especially when coupled to the 3.5-litre V6 engine...

Ah yes, this is where the sportscar bit should come in. The engine is essentially a detuned version of the growly unit normally found under the bonnet of the 350Z. Despite outputting a modest 231bhp and peak torque of 235lb.ft (against the 350Z's 276bhp and 268lb.ft), the headline figures are not shabby, with the 0-62mph sprint taking just 8.9 seconds. More importantly, the Murano always feels quick, and is a good overtaking partner. Though not as audible as in the Z, the engine also emits a glorious sound from the twin exhausts. There is of course a downside, and that is fuel economy. Propelling 1.9 tonnes of stylish Nissan metal, you'll do well to average much more than 20mpg in realistic driving conditions. If you decide to push on a bit then you'll be filling the Murano up quite often, despite a large 82 litre fuel tank.

Surprisingly, the Murano does encourage you to drive it at a wallet reducing pace. It doesn't roll; it doesn't wallow and it certainly does grip. The Murano is one of those big cars (it is nearly half a metre longer than the 350Z and wider too) that somehow shrinks around you. Now, don't get me wrong; the Murano wouldn't see which way a well-driven hot hatch went, but it stands up well to comparison with other performance SUVs, such as BMW's X5. The chassis is certainly on the firm side, though it manages to remain composed over broken tarmac too, displaying admirable wheel and body control.

The four-wheel drive system in the Murano is a further development of the 'All Mode' system developed for the Nissan X-Trail, where the engine's power is normally sent to the front wheels only. If any wheel spin is detected then torque is apportioned to the rear axle. You'll be amazed at how well the Murano does this, on the road in any case. In greasy conditions it is possible to detect slight slip at the front before the rear end comes into play, but at all other times the Murano just feels keyed into the chosen line. There is no adaptive damping trickery underneath either, just a well-sorted multi-link independent suspension. Serious off-roading types are unlikely to look into buying a Murano, but the driver does have the option to turn on four-wheel drive manually with the press of a button, in case conditions get stickier.

After a busy week with the Murano, we came away liking it a lot. It manages to be a genuinely sporty SUV, yet is spacious and comfortable too. In Europe, SUV sales are dominated by diesels, which the Murano doesn't have, and nor will it. In fact, there are precious little options thanks to an incredibly high standard specification that includes (one of the best) satellite navigation, leather, electrically adjustable front seats, cruise control, climate control, a superb Bose stereo system with 6 CD changer in the dashboard, rear parking camera (needed with that bulky D-pillar) and bi-Xenon headlights. Despite all that kit, and the kudos of a sportscar's engine under the bonnet, the Murano can be had for a fiver under thirty grand. BMW's 3-litre X5 is the closest rival dynamically and technically, yet it can't touch the Nissan for value-for-money. Yet, badge snobbery aside, the Nissan has one final ace up its kimono sleeve: rarity. Nissan predict just 1,000 sales in 2005. Each of those buyers will no doubt want something a little different from the norm, yet fun to drive as well as practical. They won't feel like they've made a compromise either.