Who makes the best cabin interiors?

[Swordman]

I've sat in all manner of cars, and the 2 that feel head and shoulders above the rest are the Lotus Elise and the Toyota GT86. It's not that they're luxurious, but the driving position is spot on. No amount of soft-touch plastics, wood or leather can beat a decent driving position.

[Alex_225]

Audi make very nicely made interiors but they're a bit bland same as BMW I guess, very clinical but I guess very functional and clutter free.

I loved my Saab 9-3's interior mainly because they'd really thought about where things needed to be for the driver so for ergonomics they get a thumbs up. I also love my Mercedes interior as I don't think they've dated too badly (2002 E class and 2007 CLS).

It's a tricky one to judge though as you get what you pay for. Buy a Phantom for £250k and it'll have an incredible interior which wipes the floor with an Audi/Merc/BMW etc.

[aeropilot]

dme123 said:

aeropilot said:

Presuming Ed said:

Have a look at the new Volvo s and v90, absolutely stunning and shows what can be achieved when manufacturers don't try and be german

Yes, very, very impressed with the XC90 interior - lovely place to sit in.

Shame I can't be as complementary about the rest of it though.

Agree on both counts, the interior is rather lovely particularly in the lighter colours. Imagine how nice the car would have been with the turbocharged I6 putting out about 340 - 350bhp, or even the NASP I6. Great car ruined by the powertrain.

Yup even a new design keeping the characterful 5 cyl layout would have meant they would have likely got my money.
I had taken my eye of what Volvo were doing tbh, and unusually hadn't even swatted up online before popping into a dealer as I happened to be right next door to one at the time, so thought I'd have a look. Got a shock when sales guy said they only do 4cyl engines now, especially for something the size of a small house!!
I suppose they can sell enough to the tree huggers to justify it.

[C70R]

The best I've owned has to be my E46 (particularly in Sport/M3 flavour). It comes from an age where car interior design was hanging in the balance between too much and too little, both in design and information. More recent interiors with 'floating' nav tablets/screens and twisty 'gearknobs' look chintzy and naff to my eye.

What I want is something that doesn't distract me from the road, that is make from materials that don't rattle, and that wraps around/points at the driver. Combine this with excellent seats, a chunky wheel and a great driving position (cue RobM77 to write a long post about his Friday afternoon car), the E46 is an exercise in ergonomic excellence.

Edited by C70R on Tuesday 31st May 16:18

[Pooh]

Alfa for me, this is the interior of a Brera S, I had one, it was beautiful and very well built with no rattles or squeaks after 105k miles.

[WarnieV6GT]

Love the 159/brera but also the newer porsche interiors

[Willy Nilly]

There are a lot of leather seats in this thread which puts the interiors in the "Worst Interiors" as far as I am concerned

[lta95]

There is something I mildly love about the 306's interior despite it looking quite crap.

Overall, I think modern Mercedes have the nicest interiors of all mainstream cars. However I also have a soft spot for Saab and Volvo interiors.

[dazwalsh]

Another vote for alfa romeo, and volvo too, biased as i own an xc60 but i love the simplicity of it, plus the seats are about as good as it gets.

[swisstoni]

Willy Nilly said:

There are a lot of leather seats in this thread which puts the interiors in the "Worst Interiors" as far as I am concerned

Do elaborate.

[C70R]

dazwalsh said:

Another vote for alfa romeo, and volvo too, biased as i own an xc60 but i love the simplicity of it, plus the seats are about as good as it gets.

There's nothing simplistic about the number (and size) of buttons on that centre console. Probably Volvo's only failing, albeit a consistent one, on reflection.

[Willy Nilly]

swisstoni said:

Willy Nilly said:

There are a lot of leather seats in this thread which puts the interiors in the "Worst Interiors" as far as I am concerned

Do elaborate.

Leather seats are horrible and only a complete spaz would buy a car with them and only and complete dribbling spaz would pay extra for them.

[Ali_T]

Willy Nilly said:

Leather seats are horrible and only a complete spaz would buy a car with them and only and complete dribbling spaz would pay extra for them.

And only a narcissist would make such a sweeping judgement, assuming everyone should agree with them.

[Mothersruin]

Big Al. said:

Hard to beat this level of craftsmanship on any level

Am I the only one that would be really annoyed by all the little dents on the pillar where the seat belt has obviously pinged back in to when it's been taken off?

[gizlaroc]

swisstoni said:

Do elaborate.

Don't encourage him!! Willy Nilly is the definition of 'narrow minded'.

[SSBB]

Willy Nilly said:

swisstoni said:

Willy Nilly said:

There are a lot of leather seats in this thread which puts the interiors in the "Worst Interiors" as far as I am concerned

Do elaborate.

Leather seats are horrible and only a complete spaz would buy a car with them and only and complete dribbling spaz would pay extra for them.

It's hard to disagree now that you've put forward such a cogent and persuasive argument.

[16v stretch]

cptsideways said:

16v stretch said:

The Infiniti Q50 has a nice interior (Not so much the rest of the range...)

Bar the Note steering wheel

I just had to check to see! Different enough that I'm okay with it.

Now if I'd owned a 350/370z, I'd be more miffed

[Rawwr]

Willy Nilly said:

I don't like leather seats.

I reworded it for you. Makes you sound like less of a moron that way.

[Willy Nilly]

SSBB said:

Willy Nilly said:

swisstoni said:

Willy Nilly said:

There are a lot of leather seats in this thread which puts the interiors in the "Worst Interiors" as far as I am concerned

Do elaborate.

Leather seats are horrible and only a complete spaz would buy a car with them and only and complete dribbling spaz would pay extra for them.

It's hard to disagree now that you've put forward such a cogent and persuasive argument.

Leather is a material used for shoes, belts, wallets, saddles and PPE such as bike leathers and welders gloves.

Leather seats in cars are cold when the weather is cold, hot and sticky when it's hot, slippery and make farty noises when you move.

There was someone on here saying that way back when when Rolls Royce were all coach built specials for really rich people, the driver had hard wearing leather, while the passengers had lugzurious velour to park their wealthy behinds on.

Admittedly my leather seat experience only runs to a Boeing 777, 2 Pontiac Bonneville's, E38 BMW, Audi S8, A8LW12, Cayenne, Discovery 4 and some Claas combines.

Have you leather sheets on your bed? No, thought not. Leather trousers? Nope. Leather shirts? doubt it. Why? Because it's a horrible material.

[swisstoni]

What an eye opener.