Dashboard plastics - teach me everything.
Discussion
Hello,
Road tests of cars often bang on about cheap nasty dash plastics. Sometimes even the nationality of the plastic is the problem.
I was sat in my car for half an hour last night (because I have dreadful time keeping skills) and while I was there I thought "why not feel my dashboard, all the road testers do it".
So I did.
My dashboard feels like plastic.
Now I know this what do I do with the information? Is it bad that this surface I've owned for 4 years without a second thought feels like plastic? How does the texture and flexibility of this single component reflect on the quality of anything else? Also would I really enjoy my car more if this surface was covered in elaborately stitched panda skin with quilted baby seal inserts and slivers of carbon fibre framed kitten's tongues*?
It fits perfectly, doesn't rattle and doesn't reflect in my windscreen at all, but it feels like plastic (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, if I'm any judge**).
I want to have a wine-taster-esque elaborate specialised vocabulary and be able to make sweeping assumptions about camshaft durability on idle based only on giving the dash a quick fingering.
So teach me PistonHeads, teach me all you know about dashboard plastics.
* I bought a box of white chocolate kitten's tongues in Norway once, which were supposed to replicate the delicate touch of a kitten's tongue on your tongue as you ate them. I bought them as a gift because the concept sounded disgusting. Felt like chocolate aparently.
**which I'm not, obviously, or I wouldn't need the help
Road tests of cars often bang on about cheap nasty dash plastics. Sometimes even the nationality of the plastic is the problem.
I was sat in my car for half an hour last night (because I have dreadful time keeping skills) and while I was there I thought "why not feel my dashboard, all the road testers do it".
So I did.
My dashboard feels like plastic.
Now I know this what do I do with the information? Is it bad that this surface I've owned for 4 years without a second thought feels like plastic? How does the texture and flexibility of this single component reflect on the quality of anything else? Also would I really enjoy my car more if this surface was covered in elaborately stitched panda skin with quilted baby seal inserts and slivers of carbon fibre framed kitten's tongues*?
It fits perfectly, doesn't rattle and doesn't reflect in my windscreen at all, but it feels like plastic (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, if I'm any judge**).
I want to have a wine-taster-esque elaborate specialised vocabulary and be able to make sweeping assumptions about camshaft durability on idle based only on giving the dash a quick fingering.
So teach me PistonHeads, teach me all you know about dashboard plastics.
* I bought a box of white chocolate kitten's tongues in Norway once, which were supposed to replicate the delicate touch of a kitten's tongue on your tongue as you ate them. I bought them as a gift because the concept sounded disgusting. Felt like chocolate aparently.
**which I'm not, obviously, or I wouldn't need the help
I always assumed comment to be based on e.g. how solid the stalks, window switches, aircon controls etc are - rather than literally the dashboard.
Having spent the weekend vinyl cleaning my leather-effect plastic dash though, I have to say it came up nicely (a rich black now) and makes the car feel a touch classier.
Having spent the weekend vinyl cleaning my leather-effect plastic dash though, I have to say it came up nicely (a rich black now) and makes the car feel a touch classier.
Here is the interior from a VW Golf. Some people would describe it as a nice place to be with really nice plastic, but to me it's just a load of plastic - adequate for the job, nothing more.
Here's the interior from a Mitsubishi Lancer. It's the sort of car that gets slated in the press for having 'cheap nasty plastics', but again, it's just plastic.
I don't understand plastic car trim fetishists either.
Here's the interior from a Mitsubishi Lancer. It's the sort of car that gets slated in the press for having 'cheap nasty plastics', but again, it's just plastic.
I don't understand plastic car trim fetishists either.
It's easy to tell the difference - think about the dashboard in a premium car, and then think of the dash in a cheaper model. The differences you would see are:
a) Quality of fit - are all the joins straight / obscured, etc? Cheaper interiors tend to be made of modular snap together harder plastics which might rattle. My 221k mile C Class to this day doesn't rattle one bit inside whereas the 40k mile Fabia my missus drives creaks like an old ship.
A good example here would be to compare the dash of the previous generation A3 with the Seat Leon - the Leon had a dash of similar appearance but could be argued as cheaper feeling due to more use of hard un-cushioned plastics.
b) Quality of the plastic - does it feel well constructed, if you tap it with your finger, does it make a dull hollow sound or a high pitched tinny rattle?
c) Does the plastic have a 'grain' on it - i.e. stippled / mock leather, etc.
I think there are also cultural differences. The brits always seem to prefer a plusher interior, so grain plastics, darker colours, accents like wood / aluminium, whilst you will see in the US they seem to be alright with acres of smooth grey plastic (which rightly so looks like a pile of gash).
a) Quality of fit - are all the joins straight / obscured, etc? Cheaper interiors tend to be made of modular snap together harder plastics which might rattle. My 221k mile C Class to this day doesn't rattle one bit inside whereas the 40k mile Fabia my missus drives creaks like an old ship.
A good example here would be to compare the dash of the previous generation A3 with the Seat Leon - the Leon had a dash of similar appearance but could be argued as cheaper feeling due to more use of hard un-cushioned plastics.
b) Quality of the plastic - does it feel well constructed, if you tap it with your finger, does it make a dull hollow sound or a high pitched tinny rattle?
c) Does the plastic have a 'grain' on it - i.e. stippled / mock leather, etc.
I think there are also cultural differences. The brits always seem to prefer a plusher interior, so grain plastics, darker colours, accents like wood / aluminium, whilst you will see in the US they seem to be alright with acres of smooth grey plastic (which rightly so looks like a pile of gash).
I don't get this either. Every time a what car thread comes up and a clio is suggested there are people complaining about the interior plastics and I don't understand why anyone cares. As far as I see it, any bit which you actually look at or touch should be nice, so the seats, steering wheel, controls, and instrument panel. The dashboard or the door trims I couldn't give a flying toss about.
On the other hand, I do have a car which has an interior of wall to wall polished rainforest and dead cow, and I do like it. It gives the interior a smell which can only be described as expensive, and makes me feel a little bit more pleased with myself every time I sit in it.
On the other hand, I do have a car which has an interior of wall to wall polished rainforest and dead cow, and I do like it. It gives the interior a smell which can only be described as expensive, and makes me feel a little bit more pleased with myself every time I sit in it.
Vilhelm said:
Here's the interior from a Mitsubishi Lancer. It's the sort of car that gets slated in the press for having 'cheap nasty plastics', but again, it's just plastic.
I don't understand plastic car trim fetishists either.
As a former Lancer owner, trust me, the Lancer's dash is NASTY. Scrapes if you look at it funny (gouges from the OH's handbag were awful looking), creaky, hard. Steamed up in winter, smelt like an old oil factory in summer. If Amstrad made cars, then it'd be a Lancer. I don't understand plastic car trim fetishists either.
Captain Muppet said:
Hello,
Road tests of cars often bang on about cheap nasty dash plastics. Sometimes even the nationality of the plastic is the problem.
I was sat in my car for half an hour last night (because I have dreadful time keeping skills) and while I was there I thought "why not feel my dashboard, all the road testers do it".
So I did.
My dashboard feels like plastic.
Now I know this what do I do with the information? Is it bad that this surface I've owned for 4 years without a second thought feels like plastic? How does the texture and flexibility of this single component reflect on the quality of anything else? Also would I really enjoy my car more if this surface was covered in elaborately stitched panda skin with quilted baby seal inserts and slivers of carbon fibre framed kitten's tongues*?
It fits perfectly, doesn't rattle and doesn't reflect in my windscreen at all, but it feels like plastic (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, if I'm any judge**).
I want to have a wine-taster-esque elaborate specialised vocabulary and be able to make sweeping assumptions about camshaft durability on idle based only on giving the dash a quick fingering.
So teach me PistonHeads, teach me all you know about dashboard plastics.
* I bought a box of white chocolate kitten's tongues in Norway once, which were supposed to replicate the delicate touch of a kitten's tongue on your tongue as you ate them. I bought them as a gift because the concept sounded disgusting. Felt like chocolate aparently.
**which I'm not, obviously, or I wouldn't need the help
seriously. quit stroking my things.Road tests of cars often bang on about cheap nasty dash plastics. Sometimes even the nationality of the plastic is the problem.
I was sat in my car for half an hour last night (because I have dreadful time keeping skills) and while I was there I thought "why not feel my dashboard, all the road testers do it".
So I did.
My dashboard feels like plastic.
Now I know this what do I do with the information? Is it bad that this surface I've owned for 4 years without a second thought feels like plastic? How does the texture and flexibility of this single component reflect on the quality of anything else? Also would I really enjoy my car more if this surface was covered in elaborately stitched panda skin with quilted baby seal inserts and slivers of carbon fibre framed kitten's tongues*?
It fits perfectly, doesn't rattle and doesn't reflect in my windscreen at all, but it feels like plastic (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, if I'm any judge**).
I want to have a wine-taster-esque elaborate specialised vocabulary and be able to make sweeping assumptions about camshaft durability on idle based only on giving the dash a quick fingering.
So teach me PistonHeads, teach me all you know about dashboard plastics.
* I bought a box of white chocolate kitten's tongues in Norway once, which were supposed to replicate the delicate touch of a kitten's tongue on your tongue as you ate them. I bought them as a gift because the concept sounded disgusting. Felt like chocolate aparently.
**which I'm not, obviously, or I wouldn't need the help
except that, obv.
doogz said:
The steering wheel in the 182 was an abomination. A shiny slidy plastic effort they lifted out of a bus!
It's true, it isn't the best steering wheel in the world. It's too big, not made of particularly nice stuff and the surface melts, if I could change one thing about the interior it would be that. This is only because you actually touch it the whole time you are driving though.Actually I do find myself poking interior bits when I'm in a new car. No idea why, but suppose I'm curious how well made it feels (although it could be utter rubbish underneath that soft layer of premium plastic). But on the other hand I've never picked a car based on how well made it feels.
VAG is really the master of premium looking plastics, especially in Audi's the fit and finish is almost obsessively good. Shame that the way they drive never lives up to those expectations. BMW is pretty average for a premium brand, but at least they tend to focus on the driving!
My S2000 looks and feels pretty cheap on the inside, but at least it seems to be holding up pretty well to wear and tear. I suppose that's what really matters!
VAG is really the master of premium looking plastics, especially in Audi's the fit and finish is almost obsessively good. Shame that the way they drive never lives up to those expectations. BMW is pretty average for a premium brand, but at least they tend to focus on the driving!
My S2000 looks and feels pretty cheap on the inside, but at least it seems to be holding up pretty well to wear and tear. I suppose that's what really matters!
It's the bit that you see and interface with the most when you're in your car, that's why it is considered important by many people. Nicely dampened dials and stalks and window switches and buttons on the dashboard, dampened ashtray and cubby hole and glovebox hatches and roof grab handles and whatnot all give the impression of quality.
It's like sitting in a lounge furnished purely out of Argos furniture. Which is going to be a nicer place to be and to sit? That, or from a higher quality bespoke furniture manufacturer? You wouldn't use plastic garden furniture in your dining room so why put up with cheap nasty s
te in your car?
It's like sitting in a lounge furnished purely out of Argos furniture. Which is going to be a nicer place to be and to sit? That, or from a higher quality bespoke furniture manufacturer? You wouldn't use plastic garden furniture in your dining room so why put up with cheap nasty s
te in your car?Leather covered dash = Heinz full fat proper baked beans 67p per tin
Soft touch high quality plastic = Supermarket own brand baked beans 35p per tin
Hard shiny nasty plastic = Asda Smart Price tin of tomato sauce with a few rancid beans in at 7p per tin
They're all baked beans, they all go nicely on toast (especially with a poached egg on top), it's just that some are nicer to have than others.
Soft touch high quality plastic = Supermarket own brand baked beans 35p per tin
Hard shiny nasty plastic = Asda Smart Price tin of tomato sauce with a few rancid beans in at 7p per tin
They're all baked beans, they all go nicely on toast (especially with a poached egg on top), it's just that some are nicer to have than others.
For those that say "it's just plastic", do you apply the same logic to your house. It's just brick, paint, wood etc. Why have a nice oak table when some cheap MDF will do the same job. Some nice piano finish on your TV or some cheap looking plastic? Why have a nice stainless steel white goods when some cheap plastic will do the same job.
Back on cars, do you also equate the same logic to the exterior paintwork? Or are you happy with orange peel look, swirl marks everywhere, scratches etc. or do you prefer it too look like new.
The interior of the Audi A6 I used to have at 60k miles still looked brand new (they're better at resisting scratches etc.) and the "grain" looked nice etc. Conversely, our Focus at the same mileage has loads of scratches, cheap looking grey parts in places and really looks it's age.
So, basically, it doesn't [b]do[/[b] anything different, however (like decent quality home furnishings for example.) it just makes it a much nicer and pleasant environment to be sat in. You may not value (or even able to appreciate it) that but many do.
Back on cars, do you also equate the same logic to the exterior paintwork? Or are you happy with orange peel look, swirl marks everywhere, scratches etc. or do you prefer it too look like new.
The interior of the Audi A6 I used to have at 60k miles still looked brand new (they're better at resisting scratches etc.) and the "grain" looked nice etc. Conversely, our Focus at the same mileage has loads of scratches, cheap looking grey parts in places and really looks it's age.
So, basically, it doesn't [b]do[/[b] anything different, however (like decent quality home furnishings for example.) it just makes it a much nicer and pleasant environment to be sat in. You may not value (or even able to appreciate it) that but many do.
busta said:
'Quality plastic' is my favourite oxymoron. 'Quality' is animal hide and hardwood. Plastic is just a cheap alternative.
You have apply quality to anything. You can have quality animal hide, and poor quality animal hide, just as you can have good quality wood, as well as poor quality wood. Likewise, quality plastic is not an oxymoron, and pretending to be above it all by scoffing at plastics seems insincere.Edited by busta on Wednesday 2nd May 16:21
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