X5M vs Cayenne Turbo vs other

crabman · 04-24-2024, 03:06 PM

If I look back on it I can see quite a progression over time in car interiors.

When I was young they were largely metal, with some plastics and vinyls. Then they started putting the foam on the metal with vinyl over that on dashes and that sort of thing. The first soft touch I guess. Along with that you had a lot of vinyl and cloth seats, a little bit of leather here and there.

The metal started to give way to more and more plastics, still some foam on the plastic.

Then it was just plastic with the foam padding having gone out of style.

The plastic eventually turned into soft-touch. You don't have to be too old to remember that, the first soft- touch plastic were coming out around the turn of the millenia. Early soft-touch plastic had the peculiarity of significant off-gassing which left a white chalk like patina on the plastic if you didn't wipe it down now and then. More and more cars were coming with leather seats or had them as an available option

Materials technology advanced and they got past the chalk and into plastics that didn't off-gass to the same extent. On upscale cars leather was becoming more common as a covering for surfaces along with the seats. That was ongoing for quite a while, and it's hard to put a number on it, and say it started at some specific point.

But, that's all past. There was some seriously crappy interiors along the way, but they don't have much to do with what's going on now or this conversation.

When I was talking about quality I was thinking more of the sense of being durable, that the car was well screwed together. This is something that Porsche has done well in recent years.

LDT · 04-24-2024, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobsync

I miss Blaupunkt stereos with the blue dot.

Yeah and especially the retractable cup holders in the dash in my 996 and 997. Creative engineering but hardly high quality.

tooloud10 · 04-24-2024, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LDT

Yeah and especially the retractable cup holders in the dash in my 996 and 997. Creative engineering but hardly high quality.

From a 996 owner, they’re basically the same as the retractable cup holder in my E93 M3.

04-24-2024, 03:06 PM	#45
crabman Captain 250 Rep 940 Posts Drives: 2024 X5M Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: WA iTrader: (0)	If I look back on it I can see quite a progression over time in car interiors. When I was young they were largely metal, with some plastics and vinyls. Then they started putting the foam on the metal with vinyl over that on dashes and that sort of thing. The first soft touch I guess. Along with that you had a lot of vinyl and cloth seats, a little bit of leather here and there. The metal started to give way to more and more plastics, still some foam on the plastic. Then it was just plastic with the foam padding having gone out of style. The plastic eventually turned into soft-touch. You don't have to be too old to remember that, the first soft- touch plastic were coming out around the turn of the millenia. Early soft-touch plastic had the peculiarity of significant off-gassing which left a white chalk like patina on the plastic if you didn't wipe it down now and then. More and more cars were coming with leather seats or had them as an available option Materials technology advanced and they got past the chalk and into plastics that didn't off-gass to the same extent. On upscale cars leather was becoming more common as a covering for surfaces along with the seats. That was ongoing for quite a while, and it's hard to put a number on it, and say it started at some specific point. But, that's all past. There was some seriously crappy interiors along the way, but they don't have much to do with what's going on now or this conversation. When I was talking about quality I was thinking more of the sense of being durable, that the car was well screwed together. This is something that Porsche has done well in recent years.
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