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Nissan Maxima has a chiseled, muscular shape with pronounced character lines. It's aerodynamic and modern and yet architecturally Art Deco, like some Flash Gordon fantasy of yesterday's tomorrow.

This is especially true at the front end, where a rounded-rectangle texture (anyone remember the '58 Buick?) fills in the twin nostrils in Nissan's signature grille, split by a dark chrome medallion at the center. The aerodynamically integrated headlight clusters wrap over the top and around at the sides.

Big, round fender openings accented by flattened wheel lips pay homage to enormous alloy wheels: 18-inch, six-spoke units on the Maxima SE, with 17-inch, seven-spoke wheels on the SL. The relatively open wheel design shows off the brake calipers nicely, so for 2005 they are painted black.

The Maxima's rear roof slopes into the trunk lid with buttresses; and two large triangular taillight clusters, like the headlights, wrap around to the sides of the car.

Nissan Maxima's bold design innovations include the Skyview roof, a glass panel running lengthwise over the front and rear seats.

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The interior of the Nissan Maxima is innovative and comfortable. The seats in the SL look nice and are supportive and luxurious at the same time: You dream of all-day interstate cruises across the West in seats like these. The seats in the SL are firm yet pillowy, wide without a lot of side bolstering. In front of the driver are three small gauges set in their own pod, like those on a motorcycle.

We like the details of the Maxima's interior, specifically the light colors and the proximity of the switches and controls to the driver. However, the labels for the climate and audio controls is too small to be easily read, and it seems like a lot of buttons for the audio system and trip computer. The display is hard to read in bright sunlight with polarized sunglasses. The Maxima's steering wheel is familiar Nissan issue, functional though not beautiful; it tilts and telescopes.

The metallic trim in the Nissan Maxima's interior wears a new, warmer titanium tone for 2005. Still, we didn't care for the large, flat splash of trim on the center stack, neither the titanium-colored plastic in the SE nor the faux wood on the SL. It seems like wasted space. Also, there's a lot of dashboard area that stretches way out to the leading edge of the windshield.

Seated in the back of a four-seater Nissan Maxima with the Elite Package, you get the feeling you're in the passenger seat of a sports car. With the narrow fixed roof window above your head, you don't feel like you've been relegated to the kid seats while the folks in the front seats enjoy all the luxuries. Nissan says it found a lot of people rarely open their sunroofs. Still, a conventional sunroof over the front seats is available for those who prefer it.

Nissan offers a choice of XM or Sirius satellite radio. Satellite radio can be great companion on long trips, delivering CD-quality sound nearly everywhere. Not having to change stations on a cross-country trip has distinct advantages and we enjoy being able to keep up by listening to the 24-hour news stations. Finding stations is easy with RDS (radio data system), which clearly identifies programming on the radio's display.

Three cargo nets are provided in the trunk and work better than most for holding down a load of groceries.