I’ve noticed that many car reviewers spend a good amount of time pointing out whether or not they like the texture/feel of materials on the interior of the car. Does the average person actually care about this aspect of their car, or is it just a point of interest for some niche group of car enthusiasts? I’ve driven shitboxes and I’ve driven luxury cars, and I have never cared about or even noticed the feel or quality of the material on the dash and the steering wheel. I guess maybe the steering wheel material could make some people uncomfortable depending on what it’s made of, but come on, the dashboard? Who ever strokes their hand against their dashboard just to feel what the texture is like?
You must log in or register to comment.
I’m by no means obsessed with it, but once you go beyond your basic economy cars, I do expect some nicer plastics, panels, and dash materials.
I don’t mind harder plastics on the bottom of door panels or areas that might get more abuse, that makes sense. But at the prices cars go for now, I expect decent materials that are fitted together well
I want the contact points for my car to be comfortable. I want this seats to be relatively soft leather, but supportive. I want the steering wheel to have a certain feel, not too wouldn’t have plastic, and I want the Tactical controls to feel solid, plastic-y.
Since we all spend a considerable amount of time inside the car, these are all important things. Would you buy furniture that make you itchy? A carpet that hurt your feet? A mattress that was too stiff or too soft to sleep on?
Yes. That’s where you can get a sense of how serious the manufacturer is about some things. Take a look at the interior of a Citroen C1 and put it against a Nissan Micro for instance. These things matter. A lot of people don’t really notice it, but do notice why some cars ‘feel’ more luxurious. I always thought of it to be kind of nagging, until I had a Lexus CT200h (with leather knee pads on the middle console) and traded it in for a Mitsubishi Outlander (with … well… seats.)
Interior quality sells the car for most people. If they get inside and it’s got all the bells and whistles, it’ll feel like a nice car. Most people don’t care how the car drives because they’ll spend most of their time cruising or sitting in traffic on poor roads.
Me - I can tell shitty plastics from soft touch from leather wrapped and alcantara, etc. Not that I can’t stand cheap interiors - the GE8 Honda Fit I had once is probably the lowest grade interior of any car I’ve bought new. But it had a leather wrapped steering wheel, which is the single biggest factor a driver will notice as you’re always in contact with that. Miles of cheap plastic beyond that.
Drove a loaner Porsche Macan low spec the other day and the difference is night and day to a well specced Porsche interior with leather/race-tex/deviated stitching, etc. And believe me they’ve mastered the art of nickel and diming customers into a long list of options.
One thing I actually prefer is leatherette/vinyl seats - they’re far easier to maintain vs. leather.