A few weeks ago I rented a car in Germany. It was a middle of the line Mercedes C180. The navigation system, standard in the car, worked like our Garmins or Magellans here, except, of course, they spoke German.
In addition, however, I noticed that when I was not actually navigating, the system tracked my position, showed me the distance to the next three Autobahn exits, the names and numbers of the exits, and the services available at those exits. If there was a Burger King there, the logo appeared next to the exit sign.
Furthermore, the posted speed limits and any other traffic restrictions were displayed graphically not only on the navigation system, but also in the center of the speedometer dial, in the form of icons that looked exactly like the restriction road signs. So even if I would miss the speed limit sign as I drove by it, the speed limit was posted visually in two places inside the cars.
Finally, the local traffic warnings triggered the radio on, even if it was off. So when a warning of an accident on the road ahead that was causing a congestion was announced, the radio turned on for the duration of the announcement, then turned off again. It startled me when the voice came on out of nowhere the first time.
Do we have this kind of advanced interface in the U.S? I have never experienced any of this capability in a domestic car of any type. The Germans seem to be way ahead of us in this area.
Correct me if I am wrong and I just need to trade in my old minivan with 220,000 miles for a real car with nifty modern features.