When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I think the whole concept of luxury started many years ago, It used to make sense at that time, as only very selective brands and models offered such packages. Problem now is that current car technology almost plateaued, and most car makers can implement such luxury options without excessive production costs, you see Honda offering very similar products to Mercedes, if not even better in terms of reliability and materials, even though the 2 manufacturers target totally different buyers, so it really goes back to the badge on the car, not how luxurious it is.
different people have different ideas of what is nicer. For example I drove a MDX the same day as the CX9 and I thought (features the same), I thought the Acura had slightly better quality of materials etc.. slightly above the Mazda. But I have read other people that have thought the opposite.
to me it's not so much if a car has leather or wood or plastic but rather how it is designed and fits together, if the plastic is high quality and color matches, how the seat fits and feels, how the steering wheel looks and ease of use of the controls etc..
Here is the interior of my daily driver which now has 95,000 miles on the clock.
My oldest daughter is going to get this in April, and I plan on replacing it with the new Audi A4 3.2 Quattro when it comes out next year.
In my opinion, having owned an Acura, Accord EX-L and Mecedes, the best interiors are from Audi followed by select models from VW. My partner has had a succession of 3 Series BMW's, and although nice, at least when it comes to interior ambiance and fit and finish, they were not any better than VW/Audi interiors at a lower price.
I treat my leather seats religiously, and they have developed a nice patina with no cracking. The thing that separates VW/Audi interiors from other makes is the tactility of the plastics, the way that compartments are spring loaded with smooth easy returns and the common sense layout of the controls. For instance, something as common place as the direction that the windshield washing stalk moves makes sense. It is moved up to parallel the arch of the wiper blades, just the opposite of the way Honda does it in my wife's Pilot.
The dash top is another area where VW/Audi and BMW excell. Compared to my wife's Pilot which has a hard touch plastic shell on the top of the dash, the soft touch feel of VW/Audi dashes is refreshing. This in not to say that German or European marques are superior to Japanese marques, but the perceived quality is
deemed higher. Mercedes in many of its models for some reason has seen fit to go the other way: the new C Class, while it looks screwed together well, has a lot of hard shiny plastic on the dash top.
It is interesting to note that Infinity is only now beginning to be imported in the U.K. after almost two decades as an American brand. I understand that Nissan delayed the brand's introduction precisely because it wanted to upgrade the quality of the interior so that it would not be perceived as inferior to European marques.
In my opinion, the only Japanese brand that compares to VW/Audi is Lexus. I have been in both the IS and GS, and especially as it relates to the IS, I couldn't tell any appreciable difference between its interior and the better German interiors.
Some of the things than can differentiate different levels of interior luxury:
- nicer feeling leather
- deeper carpeting/floor mats
- more alternate materials (aluminum, wood, CF, etc.) to break up the expanse of plastic
- heated seats
- power seat controls
- automatic climate control
- a fancy badge on the steering wheel
- in-dash GPS
- nicely padded armrests
- more interior space
- nice stitching on the interior materials
The S2000 has a high quality interior, but I wouldn't call it luxurious by any stretch of the imagination.
To me, it's the quality of the materials used. At first sight, especially in photos, everything can look great.
Case in hand, the 350Z, which from photos would seem like the interior is quite cozy and comfy looking, but sit inside and touch those hard, rippled surfaces of the dash, and view the ten different types of plastics and how they've all aged over the course of a year (if a roadster as was my case when I first drove a second hand 350Z), and you'll see how different bits have faded off, scratch marks have appeared on the bumpy surface of the dash and doors, and the stiff plastic surroundings here and there just don't feel the same.
Better materials age better, as simple as that, and not only do they look better up close, but they feel better too. Design wise, I don't think the actual "look" and "layout" determines quality. It can help tho' (nice stitching, little bits of chrome around dials, etc...), but sometimes cars with otherwise poor use of materials, actually have very pretty interiors.
The first few years that the current 5 Series was out was a revelation about how much BMW has been engaged in cost cutting. The pull handles were worthy of a Chrysler product. Even now, the current 3 Series is not as nice as the prior generation. In my opinion, Audi is still the benchmark against which other interiors should be judged.
Originally Posted by Chris S,Dec 28 2007, 07:09 AM
The S2000 has a high quality interior, but I wouldn't call it luxurious by any stretch of the imagination.
I only have a few quibbles about the S2000 interior. The door latches are plastic. I think that they would be nicer if they were an alloy, even if they would be more sensitive to the touch in hot and cold weather. The lower section of the doors has pretty hard plastic too. Some of the switch gear like the window controls and the power mirror controls don't have the same feel as VW/Audi switch gear. I actually like the feel of the dash...nice soft touch plastics.
I never understood why people say Audi has some of the best interiors around. Ive test drove numerous Audi vehicles and I cant get over how cheap the interior is built and how cheap it feels. The new TT I drove had a metallic screw that was visible between the radio and the dash... I pointed it out to the salesman and all he could do was shrug it off.
