The Alpine-based navigation system in the Acura RL is simply icing on the cake of this superior midsize sports/luxury sedan. Navigation and many other dashboard functions are handled by a big control knob mounted just below the 7-inch panel, similar to Audi and BMW controllers; the console is not quite as clutter-free as those, though. But with the additional complexity come more features, in particular the XM satellite radio NavTraffic overlay that shows highway speeds (normal, congested, slow) and accident locations. The IBM ViaVoice voice recognition is excellent but not infallible ("Time to destination?" tuned the radio to an AM station). Though a touch-screen nav system is easier to master, the Acura RL (and soon the Cadillac STS) with NavTraffic is as good as it gets in 2005.