To wood trim or not to wood trim!

[St. Merc]

After the recent discussion about wood trims in Bentley and S-class, I though I create the thread and find out your opinion about interiors...


you'd rather ride/drive in this:



this:



or this?




Personally, I think wood trim inside any car is ugly, cheap and old-fashioned...we create the most sophisticated mechanical monsters from alloys and composites and then we furnish the interior with wood?

Isn't carbon fiber or aluminum finish a more proper choice? or simply fully covering it with leather?

Does wood trim count for somebody's lack of money or confidence? or is it just a bling measure?

Doesn’t look outdated and cheap, specially now that even the cheapest Korean cras come with fake wood trims?

 

[Zafiro]

I like sportycars over luxurycars and in my eyes, wood trim in a sportcar isnt right. Alu or Carbon trim (combined with leather for me).

I would like to add that I think wood suit elder people better than younger people. I dont want to create debate about it so its my own opinion of course.

 

[MikeJ]

Wood is fine if it's done right - no need to plaster everything with pieces of timber unless it's a real large luxury barge with no sporting pretentions that we're talking about. Fake wood or real wood that looks like fake wood is definitely bad.

Aluminium usually looks fine, but no need to go overboard with that stuff either. As for carbon fibre, I've never been a fan of the way the stuff looks but inside a purpose-built sports car it's fine. Would definitely skip it on most cars, though.

I suppose a balanced mixture of different materials would be the best.

 

[zetableh]

It depends on the car for me. I don't want wood or aluminium in my Ferrari or Lamborghini, but I want tons of wood in my Jaguar or Roller or Bentley.

 

[wltsm]

It depends on the car for me. I don't want wood or aluminium in my Ferrari or Lamborghini, but I want tons of wood in my Jaguar or Roller or Bentley.

I agree with you, if I was buying a sporty car such as a BMW then I wouldn't get wood, but if I was going to get a Bentley then wood would be a must!

 

[Osnabrueck]

Certain paint/interior combos call for different treatments. A BMW can go either way depending upon the model, the trim and the paint job.

For instance, a 3er seems to call for aluminum trim, but a red car would seem like a natural with a beige interior and dark wood.

I think it's all to do with what's complimenting what. Personally, I'd probably want my BMW with wood trim, but that would be entirely dependent upon how the rest of the car is colored.

 

[donau]

Depends on the car. Of the three pics above the BMW looks by far the most appealing to me. In an E-class, wood looks right. In a Porsche either Auminum or carbon fiber will do, but no wood.

 

[audi_rudy]

all depends on a car but luxury cars i think that wood looks good like that rolls interior is off the hook. But then again i would buy my s8 with teh carbon fibre trim so its all dependent on what car and what fits best. Sports car have to have carbon fibre or some equivelent material though

 

[LaArtist]

FOR SURE this is a question about what type of car it is.. for example i dont want aluminum in my CLS.. just as i dont want wood in my F430..
all in all i gotta say i like wood..if its done the right way and is highquality..
but i prefere black piano wood.. or aluminium..those are my favs..

 

[Snake Vargas]

Personally, I think wood trim inside any car is ugly, cheap and old-fashioned...we create the most sophisticated mechanical monsters from alloys and composites and then we furnish the interior with wood?

Isn't carbon fiber or aluminum finish a more proper choice? or simply fully covering it with leather?

Does wood trim count for somebody's lack of money or confidence? or is it just a bling measure?

Doesn’t look outdated and cheap, specially now that even the cheapest Korean cras come with fake wood trims?

In what way does wood seem outdated where leather doesn't? They're both 'natural' materials, and have both been used since who-knows-when.

In my opinion, we have reached a stage of humanity where there is so much that is artificial, cold and manufactured, that these materials are what keep us firmly tied to the world we live in. It's something that was alive, not something that's been dredged out of the ground, crushed, molten and shaped into something else. Instead, wood and leather grows, is nurtured, and then selected and crafted into something that you can use.

Sure, so I'm full of crap and have read one too many marketing brochures but I still think that we need a touch of warmth in our existences.

That said, I do think it does depend on what type of car, and what colour the outside and the interior trim is. Wood suits prestigious cars more than sports cars, where I don't think carbon fibre suits many cars at all, unless it actually forms part of its construction. Even then, it's been faked so many times on hoon-mobiles that it's a little tacky.

I do like wood - but not the typical dark red or mid-dark brown stuff. They've been done so much. I like something unusual - maybe unusual grain, a dark, dark brown or a light colour, or anything else. But wood is still good, to me.

 

[SDNR]

Personally, I think wood trim inside any car is ugly, cheap and old-fashioned...we create the most sophisticated mechanical monsters from alloys and composites and then we furnish the interior with wood?

Well people like wood, just like they like leather - whats the difference between using wood for decorative purposes or CF or aluminum - when wood is used well, like in the Rolls-Royce Phantom, it can be very impressive and beautiful - when it's just used in an interior to appeal to clichéd preconceptions of prestige I think it is unnecessary and banal.

The Phantom's wood trim is genuine hand-crafted luxury and is exceptionally impressive.

In a more mass-produced interior like a Mercedes or Lexus, the wood trim completely lacks a feeling of craftsmanship, it looks very production-line ...and ultimately is only in there to make concessions to mediocre preconceptions of luxury and prestige - the Rolls-Royce is the real thing, it's not even comparable.

 

[PanterroR]

Alu/Chrome trim with leather for me.

 

[St. Merc]

In what way does wood seem outdated where leather doesn't? They're both 'natural' materials, and have both been used since who-knows-when.

Sure, but, if not leather, what would you use? Cheap, clod, hard plastic? I don think it depends on the car...I mean check out Maybach 57S's interior. It's carbon fiber, and the car is supposedly the ultimate luxury car, but it looks better than any wood trim. I think wood trims are just plain old-fashioned, old Jag XJ interiors looked more like house furniture than inside of a sports car...

 

[St. Merc]

Well people like wood, just like they like leather - whats the difference between using wood for decorative purposes or CF or aluminum - when wood is used well, like in the Rolls-Royce Phantom, it can be very impressive and beautiful - when it's just used in an interior to appeal to clichéd preconceptions of prestige I think it is unnecessary and banal.

The Phantom's wood trim is genuine hand-crafted luxury and is exceptionally impressive.

In a more mass-produced interior like a Mercedes or Lexus, the wood trim completely lacks a feeling of craftsmanship, it looks very production-line ...and ultimately is only in there to make concessions to mediocre preconceptions of luxury and prestige - the Rolls-Royce is the real thing, it's not even comparable.

I really like Phantom's exterior...but interior is simply horrible...it's like an 18th century drawer or some French commode...I like Bentley's interior much more...I think BMW messed up Rolls' interior...

I think even Rolls, if designed with more passion, could be furnished with anything else but wood and feel even more Luxurious...

 

[St. Merc]

Alu/Chrome trim with leather for me.

Make it two!

 

[Snake Vargas]

Well, that's sort of my point. If wood is like house furniture, then isn't leather also like house furniture? I'm just trying to figure out what it is that you don't like about wood trim, whereas you still like leather.

I don't know what a good substitute could be - these fake leathers, made from polymers? Or, just cloth of some sort? Synthetic material? (to be honest, I actually like the feel of decent cloth seats better than leather)

Oh yeah, and where you say the 57S's carbon fibre interior looks better than any wood trim - you forgot to add, "IMO"

 

[SDNR]

Sure but carbon fiber and aluminum are still only being used to "decorate" the cabin, also I don't think wood trim always looks old-fashioned.

Have you seen the stainless steel trim in the Bentley Arnage T - it looks ridiculous.

 

[St. Merc]

Well, that's sort of my point. If wood is like house furniture, then isn't leather also like house furniture? I'm just trying to figure out what it is that you don't like about wood trim, whereas you still like leather.

I don't know what a good substitute could be - these fake leathers, made from polymers? Or, just cloth of some sort? Synthetic material? (to be honest, I actually like the feel of decent cloth seats better than leather)

Oh yeah, and where you say the 57S's carbon fibre interior looks better than any wood trim - you forgot to add, "IMO"

Totally agree with everything said...so what is it that we don’t like about wood?...hmmm...imagine a bright sunny day, you feel like driving your CL65...you see the perfectly styled exterior, the perfectly manufacture/engineered monster engine under the hood, and you are filled with joy and passion...then you get in the car...and what a horrible surprise!...u see yourself surrounded by big chunks of rosewood, with those crazy grains, and that reflection of your disappointment on the shiny, polished surface...It simply doesn’t feel right...it doesn't flow...I can't explain it but it's simply wrong…

 

[St. Merc]

Have you seen the stainless steel trim in the Bentley Arnage T - it looks ridiculous.

I like it...!

 

[SDNR]

I like it...!

Somehow St. Merc, that doesn't surprise me.