Compare the2023 Ford Bronco SportVS 2023 Nissan Murano

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Bronco Sport have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Nissan Murano doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Bronco Sport has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Murano doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Bronco Sport. But it costs extra on the Murano.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Bronco Sport’s standard Trail Control allows you to creep down safely. The Murano doesn’t offer Trail Control.

Both the Bronco Sport and the Murano have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Nissan Murano:

	Bronco Sport	Murano
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	140	342
Neck Injury Risk	26%	28%
Neck Stress	178 lbs.	223 lbs.
Neck Compression	29 lbs.	34 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	123/237 lbs.	242/256 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	153	266
Chest Compression	.6 inches	.7 inches
Neck Compression	54 lbs.	78 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Nissan Murano:

	Bronco Sport	Murano
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	80	101
Chest Movement	.9 inches	.9 inches
Hip Force	205 lbs.	392 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	144	148
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	17 inches
HIC	255	439
Spine Acceleration	35 G’s	41 G’s
Hip Force	512 lbs.	591 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

There are almost 3 times as many Ford dealers as there are Nissan dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Bronco Sport’s warranty.

Reliability

The Bronco Sport has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Murano doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Bronco Sport has a standard 760-amp battery. The Murano’s 550-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Ford vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford above average in long-term dependability. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Nissan is rated below average.

Engine

The Bronco Sport Badlands’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 37 lbs.-ft. more torque (277 vs. 240) than the Murano’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Car and Driver the Bronco Sport Badlands 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Nissan Murano:

	Bronco Sport	Murano
Zero to 30 MPH	2 sec	3.1 sec
Zero to 60 MPH	5.9 sec	7.5 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	17.3 sec	19.4 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	6.5 sec	7.6 sec
Passing 30 to 50 MPH	3.3 sec	3.8 sec
Passing 50 to 70 MPH	4.3 sec	4.9 sec
Quarter Mile	14.5 sec	15.8 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	93 MPH	92 MPH
Top Speed	125 MPH	119 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Bronco Sport gets better mileage than the Murano:

			MPG
Bronco Sport
	AWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	25 city/28 hwy
Murano
	FWD	3.5 DOHC V6	20 city/28 hwy
	AWD	3.5 DOHC V6	20 city/28 hwy

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Bronco Sport’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Murano doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Bronco Sport has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Murano doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

The Bronco Sport stops much shorter than the Murano:

	Bronco Sport	Murano
70 to 0 MPH	163 feet	175 feet	Car and Driver

Tires and Wheels

The Bronco Sport offers an optional full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Murano; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

Suspension and Handling

The Bronco Sport has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Murano’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Bronco Sport’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (57% to 43%) than the Murano’s (58.8% to 41.2%). This gives the Bronco Sport more stable handling and braking.

For better maneuverability, the Bronco Sport’s turning circle is 1.3 feet tighter than the Murano’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.7 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Bronco Sport Base/Big Bend has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Murano (7.8 vs. 6.9 inches), allowing the Bronco Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Bronco Sport’s minimum ground clearance is 1.9 inches higher than on the Murano (8.8 vs. 6.9 inches).

Chassis

The Ford Bronco Sport may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 400 to 450 pounds less than the Nissan Murano.

The Bronco Sport is 1 foot, 8.1 inches shorter than the Murano, making the Bronco Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

As tested by Car and Driver while at idle, the interior of the Bronco Sport Badlands is quieter than the Murano Platinum AWD (38 vs. 41 dB).

Passenger Space

The Bronco Sport has 1.6 inches more front headroom, 1.9 inches more front legroom and 1.9 inches more rear headroom than the Murano.

Cargo Capacity

The Bronco Sport has a larger cargo volume than the Murano with its rear seat up (32.5 vs. 32.1 cubic feet).

The Bronco Sport’s rear cargo window opens separately from the rest of the liftgate door to allow quicker loading of small packages. The Murano’s rear cargo window doesn’t open.

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Nissan Murano is limited to 1500 pounds. The Bronco Sport offers up to a 2200 lbs. towing capacity.

Optional Trailer Sway Control on the Bronco Sport uses the AdvanceTrac® sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Murano doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Ergonomics

The Bronco Sport’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Murano’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Bronco Sport and the Murano have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Bronco Sport is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Murano prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Bronco Sport Outer Banks/Badlands’ front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Murano’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Bronco Sport’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Murano doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its NissanConnect Services can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Bronco Sport’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Murano’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Bronco Sport Outer Banks’ standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Murano SV/Midnight/SL/Platinum’s intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Bronco Sport offers optional cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Murano doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Bronco Sport Outer Banks/Badlands/First Edition has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Murano doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

Economic Advantages

The Bronco Sport will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Bronco Sport will retain 59.2% to 61.37% of its original price after five years, while the Murano only retains 46.1% to 47.26%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Ford Bronco Sport will be $7931 to $12264 less than for the Nissan Murano.

Recommendations

The Ford Bronco Sport outsold the Nissan Murano by over three to one during 2022.