A travel system seems to be somewhat complicated, but in actual it is not. It is essentially a pushchair that is designed and built to be suitable for your child until you no longer require pushing and manoeuvring them around and then they could walk for themselves. In the following review, let us review a popular travel system from the makes of Maxi-Cosi.

The Mura 4 is an attention grabbing sturdy pram with a slightly different seat design. Drawing inspiration from its car seat roots, the Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 seems to appear more like a car seat and features T Bar as a bumper, yet another design innovation in addition to the 4 air filled wheels, the Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 is suitable for all terrains with a lot of convenience and use, more like a upmarket contemporary Luxury 4WD of baby prams.  Before we deal with the design features of the pushchair, let us see what our experts have to say on the positives and negatives of the Maxi-Cosi Mura 4s.

What is hot?

• Excellent manoeuvrability & steering
• Great suspension
• Comfortable seat
• Compact & nice fold
• All the tyres are air filled

What is not?

• Quite heavy to lift
• Small Seat
• Handle bar can be pulled out further
• Harder to access storage basket

Design features:

The Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 Stroller is pretty comfortable and your baby will sleep very well in it.  The chassis of the stroller is a square anodised aluminium frame. The pushchair has sturdy high sides that will give your baby comfort and make him feel safe.  The pushchair seems to be of the same size as that of a ‘Moses basket’, though not much more robust. The sides made of plastic are not that flexible enough which we think makes it look better in terms of quality and safer too. This said, it is comfortable as it is nicely lined and padded.

The Mura 4 is large and it certainly is not just a chair; rather it is meticulously moulded so that it can support your baby to have a nice view of everything that is going on. We do not think the pushchair is that practical because it is a bit huge.  You can use it if we go out locally but if you go out in the car, you need to simply stick to the car seat being attached into the wheels as the car will be just full. The body of the pram, wheels and the pram body leave very little space for everything else.

Seat design:

The seat on the Mura 4 pushchair seems to be more like a car seat and is built with a shaped bottom and you can find that the top of the seat just curves around the head. Disappointingly, though the pram is spacious and wide across the shoulders and at the bottom, the seat is not very tall. Coming to the dimensions, it is 17.7” or 45 cm high, 8.7” or 22 cm wide at the shoulders, 11.8” or 30cm wide at base and 11.6” or 29.5 cm deep. The side wings run 5.9” or 15 cm deep on either side. The shoulder harness is positioned at 13.8” or 35 cm and 11.8” or 30 cm. The seat’s base curves up to 3.9” or 10 cm.

The pram seat is easily reversible and built with 3 positions in both rearward as well as forward modes. There is also a flat layback, middle and upright positions.

You can make use of the layback position on the Mura for a newborn, though the Mura comes with two forms of pram bodies that are sold by the manufacturer as accessories. We found the soft pram body built to be positioned on the top of the reclined seat and you can attach it with the help of adaptors that you can get from Mura. These adaptors could also take the Cabrio to complete the baby travel system. You can find that the pram seat itself is a blend of the spongy, soft fabric of the 2007 Buzz seats and the regular Quinny fabric (available on the Speedi, Zapp and pre 2007 Buzz) found on the back.

This seat combination spells absolute comfort and makes for a pretty soft seat for both older kids as well as newborns.  The Mura comes with a T Bar rather than a regular bumper for your child for hanging onto. However, you can use the pram with or without having the T Bar. You will find the T Bar simple to release when you had to put your child in or out of the stroller. The T Bar has a button located at the bottom in the front base which is designed for pressing and lifting it up. Then it lays down right towards the footrest because as you can see, it is still attached through elastic.

We found the footrest short and can be adjusted to three different positions – halfway down, straight out and fully down. There is a footplate for a larger child and this helps him or her rest the feet right on the front of the frame of the Mura.

There is a wire bar at the back for reclining the seat and this can be lifted up to effortlessly incline/recline the pram seat, even when  you have your kid in the seat. At the base of the pram seat, there is another rectangular wire bar for removing the seat unit. This is quite a simple process, but you cannot do this with your child in the seat. The easiest position to do this, as we found is when the pram seat is right in the upright position because it provides greater access to the wire bar.

Child safety harness:

The child safety harness is same as the Speedi, Quinny Zapp and Buzz. The harness has the same fabric as that of the models mentioned above and so is the mechanism to secure. You can fix the Mura harness in two steps. First, you need to slot the two clips from the shoulder strap together to form a single unit, then you have to feed this into the latch right from the crotch strap and this is pretty easy to do so, but a struggling child can make the additional fiddle quite annoying. You may find two sets of slots for above the shoulder safety harness to come through so as to adjust to the size of your child.

Canopy or Hood:

On first sight, the hood or the canopy of the Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 Forward Facing Pushchair seems to be pretty small and it should be said that with only continuous use, you will be able to appreciate the brilliant design of the hood. The hood is completely independent of the seat and therefore it is a bit of pain when you need to detach and re-attach the hood when you are turning around the seat.

However the range of movement of the canopy makes up for this. You may also move the hood where it is needed to help you block the sun ray’s from the child’s eyes.  Similar to the Quinny Buzz (2007/08 version), the hood comes with a little extra bit of fabric (3.9” or 10cm) that is fixed to the hood’s underside which could be brought down to protect your child’s eyes from the sun.

The hood consists of side panels, your child can view through as well as window meant for viewing at the back. Disappointingly, the viewing window does not feature a cover, therefore when you are walking towards the sun, your child could get the sun on his/her head while the sun lets its rays through the viewing window. The hood’s upper part is 9.1” or 23cm (between the two pieces of frame) and the hood’s lower part (where you find the window) is 23cm (excluding the ‘extra’ fabric).

The brilliance of the hood lies in the ‘additional’ fabric that tucks into the back of the hood. The additional fabric could be brought out, therefore a full canopy is offered for the pram seat when it is in complete recline position (besides, it could be made use as a hood for the soft pram body that does not feature its own hood). You can attach the extra fabric to the standard hood for 10cm, the rest you can attach via zips and secure to the seat’s base using press studs.

With the seat of the pram in half recline position, you can then extend around to cover out the afternoon sun whilst you are walking from the sun. This means as you find the sun low in the sky, you can adjust the canopy to keep the sun rays out of your child’s eye in this very position. As the pushchair’s hood is clipped onto the frame of the pram instead of the seat, it could be moved up to an upper position to fit in a taller child.

Handle design:

The handle on the Mura is pretty similar to that of the one you find on the Buzz. It is extended easily by simply pushing the large button found in the middle of the handle and pulling up. There are 4 different positions and as the handle pulls out up as well as away, a nice distance is formed away from those having a longer stride.

The handle of Mura is slightly different from that of the Buzz in that the handle’s top section is rather rounded than flat oval. This makes for a comfy rounded grip, besides saving the Mura from the likely issues associated with the Buzz, where in the middle you have the extension handle, when you are trying to steer one handed. The Mura is excellent for steering one-handed. You can extend the handle from 39.6” (100.5cm) to 41.9” (106.5cm).

Storage:

The storage basket on the Mura 4 stroller is reasonably sized. The real problem lies in accessing the basket and that depends on the position of the seat (middle, upright or layback) and the actual position of the footrest.

Wheels & Brakes:

This Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 stroller has 4 air filled tyres. The tyres on the rear have a diameter of 32cm with superb suspension and it is enhanced by big springs in the frame of the stroller to handle jaggy or bumpy terrain with a lot of convenience. This stroller has two front wheels situated on either side of the frame’s front. In the middle of the stroller, there is a double front wheel. On the Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 Stroller, the air filled tyres on the front feature a diameter of 9.8” or 25cm. These wheels can handle uneven terrains with a great sense of ease. The stroller’s front wheels are independent swivel wheels, though you can fix these into a locked position by simply pushing the button on the front of the stroller’s wheels up.

It is simple to remove both the front as well as the rear wheels. You can remove the rear wheels when you depress the middle button on the wheels. The stroller’s front wheels is easy to remove and all you need to do is to press the small button that you can find on the back of its wheel.

The wheel brakes of the Mura are convenient to apply.  The Mura’s rear wheel comes with a large red leaver located on the right side, which you can conveniently flip down with your own foot. This could engage the brake by putting a rod from the axel in the form of circular depressions found on the inside of the stroller’s wheel and this obviously makes the brakes a lot secure. You need to flip the leaver back up to disengage the brake.

Fold mechanism:

To fold the stroller, you need to lift up the buttons located on either side of the frame of the handlebar (do note one of these comes with a securing block that you have to slide to the side) and you have to push forward on the pram’s handle frame. The handle bar can move straight down and forward, therefore it comes down in between the tyres on the rear. In the centre of the frame and where exactly the seat goes, there is a grey button which you need to press it and pull towards you  (if you are standing in the rear of the frame) that will further compress the  stroller’s frame with the front wheels moving about to rest in between the wheels on the rear.

The area on the folded frame is pretty similar in comparison to the Buzz.  If you have to unfold, first lift handles so that the stroller is resting on all four wheels (i.e., first handle position), next the red catch (found on the frame’s right hand side) is lifted to help you lift the stroller handle completely up and the frame could click into place. The instructions for the stroller show it as you can fold it with the pram seat on in a forward upright position. We tried this, but were not able to do so. We then folded the pushchair to a completely folded position without the seat. The manufacturer states the same in their instructions.

Manoeuvrability:

The Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 is a superb pram to manoeuvre and you can steer it pretty easily single-handed with both a large or small child seated in it. The wider wheelbase tends to make it slightly bulky at the shops, but anyway the smooth ride of the pushchair makes up for this shortcoming.  You can best describe the Mura the 4WD of strollers. Pushing it is a breeze even on uneven terrain. The rear as well as the front wheels is capable of tackling terrain without too much of an effort. The ride is really smooth, courtesy its large suspension springs duly designed in the rear of the chassis.

Size:

Weighing 17kg / 37.4lbs, the air-filled tyres of the stroller mean that you will not feel the weight when you are pushing it. When it is folded, the compact fold nonetheless tend to make up for it and thus makes it easier to lift. When it comes to unfolded dimensions, the width of the rear axel including the wheel is 26” (66cm), the length of the front wheels to the handlebar at the possible lowest setting is 38.2” (97cm) and the length of the wheels on the front to back wheels is 31.5” (80cm).

Talking about the folded dimensions (without seat), the length in between the handle bar and rear wheels is 29.9” (76 cm) with the height of the rear wheel being 12.6” (32cm) and the width is 26” (66 cm). The folded dimension of the push chair (placing the seat face down on top of the stroller’s frame) is discussed below: width:  26” (66cm), height: 18” (46cm) and length between the handle bar and the rear wheels is 29.9” (76cm). When it comes to the weight, the total weight is about 37.4 lbs. (17 kg) with the weight of the frame and seat being 26.4 lbs. (12 kg) and 11 lbs. (5 kg).

Accessories:

The Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 Four Wheel Pushchair comes along with a hood, basket, adaptors, wheel pump and adaptors for Prambody/ Cabrio. Extra accessories that are available separately include pram body, soft pram body, footmuff, rain cover, multipurpose/diaper bag and sun umbrella. We have tested the rain cover, footmuff, sun umbrella and multipurpose/diaper. To be honest, we have tried out the Prambody or Soft Prambody because the Maxi Cosi adaptors are more or less the one which is being used for the Quinny Dreami which can fit on the Mura (this of course is not manufacturer specified).

Footmuff:

The Mura’s footmuff is pretty brilliant. Because the footmuff should be able to go both sides of the T Bar, the footmuff consists of ‘legs’ that could be left separate or features press studs for attaching together. You can also find zips right at the bottom of the legs that can let a taller child to still make use of the footmuff and place their shoes outside the muff. The footmuff is attached to the stroller directly making use of the press-studs (that is where the harness is), therefore this helps stop the frustrating trait of the footmuffs slipping down in the pram’s seat. The upper body to the footmuff helps wraps around your child and if you prefer your child to keep his/her arms out, you could either use the zippers available on the side of the muff or undo the upper wrap part. The foot muff’s fabric is the same as that of the extension part of the hood and its interior is polar fleece.

Multi-purpose/Diaper Bag:

The diaper is pretty large and is included to fill up/fit in the shopping basket.  If you are a small person, the storage bag is too unwieldy for wearing comfortably. We found the bag suitable though for leaving in the storage basket. The bag is integrated with a padded change mat and there are several compartments and pockets for keeping everything pretty organized.

Sun Umbrella:

The sun umbrella for the stroller is the same as the one you find in the Buzz. You will find it pretty simple to attach or detach it and is fabulous for adjusting to keep the sun away from your child.

Rain cover:

We found the rain cover really large and should cover both the front as well as the back of the stroller.

Available colours:

The Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 Stroller is available in a wide range of colours namely the total black, brown earth, purple blossom, deep blue, denim field and intense red for you to make the most of.

Manufacturer warranty:

The Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 Stroller is manufactured according to the current European quality standards & safety requirements and covers a warranty period of one year against defects in material & workmanship. The warranty period commences from the date of purchase.

Verdict:

Winner of the Universal Design Award, the Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 is nicely built to tackle all forms of terrain. With comfort seat that has side wings and padding, the functionality is excellent – either forward or rearward facing with all three-seat recline positions, but as a matter of disappointment, the seat has a fairly small height and will not fit in a taller/older child.

The Mura has greater manoeuvrability having parent comfort high built with the rounded handlebar and easy-to-push using one hand. However, the pushchair is very heavy and to completely fold it, you need to remove the seat and this means the weight is nicely broken down into much smaller parts so as to make it fit in the car. This tends to make handling the stroller a tad easier although we feel its heaviness.

The frame on folding is pretty compact and when you compare it to the Quinny Buzz with folded frame, it has a similar area and this accounts for an easier lift.  You would not like taking the Mura with you on public transport and folding it out can be really frustrating, though it seems to travel well on trains.

Maxi-Cosi Mura 4 Stroller – Technical Specification Table