Cheap interiors

[Disoblige]

rage2 articulated my sentiments way better. I had a hard time trying to explain it on a Friday, heh. I am also on the aesthetics and design standpoint. It needs way more thought that others seem to have done for low costs.

Definitely wasn't trying to be offensive whatsoever.

[rage2]

Buster busting out baller interiors, here’s a cheap $37k a220 base interior.



The materials are cheap as fuck. Vinyl seats, plastic everything but it doesn’t feel cheap at all thanks to well textured plastics and looks silly expensive. Only feels flimsy when pushing the buttons. Probably my favorite cheap interior today.

I love Lexus’ interiors but the shit they do ain’t cheap. The LC500 interior (not that color combo) is top notch. Lexus doesn’t cheap out on shit. Owning an RC-F is what turned me around and cared about interiors and realized my MBs were cheap as fuck to build. Everyone has plastic knobs painted silver to look aluminum, Lexus cnc machines their knobs out of a solid piece of aluminum haha.

[Buster]

trackhawk is a 100k car isnt it? (I dont actually know).

No need to compare to cheat cars.

[rage2]

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trackhawk is a 100k car isnt it? (I dont actually know).

No need to compare to cheat cars.

Just merely referencing this comment:

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I think the interior is fine. You can't get a thousand hp in an AWD SUV for $100k, and expect to get all of the other things.

They could have done a better job on the interior design and kept the price the same because a cheap expensive looking interior is 100% possible.

[Buster]

I see what you are saying, good point. I'm not sure that the MB interiors are as cheap to make as the Jeep ones, tho.

[Disoblige]

Ohhh ok. Big boss says this and it's a "good point", lol.

[Buster]

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Ohhh ok. Big boss says this and it's a "good point", lol.

I do what I'm told.

[90_Shelby]

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I'm just coming from an aesthetics and design perspective, so please don't take offence. I haven't been in a current gen JGC, so I'm just looking at it from your photos. The first thing is that chrome should be used as trim, and as trim, should be consistent in width. All 3 chrome trims around the shifter, cupholders, switchgear has various chrome widths around them. Modern design minimized the use of chrome, and when used, is much more subtle and isn't the primary focus when looking at whatever it's accenting.

Symmetry. There is no symmetry to the design, from the button layout, to the layout of the 3 components to the console. It's like the designers just decided to plop things down wherever they wanted and aligned it as best as possible. In fact, I think this is actually from the same original design in the recalled shifter where it was even Moore awkwardly spaced. I mean it doesn't have to be perfectly symmetric, but it needs to flow well enough to work. Audi A4's console isn't symmetric at all, but it flows aesthetically because it's all evenly spaced. Corvette C8 is pretty damn good too without symmetry, probably one of the best interiors GM has designed IMO and like the A4 can break the symmetry by focusing on the driver. What's hilarious is that I'll bet your cupholders work 100x better than the Audi A4 one where the shifter is in the way of your drinks.

BTW - huge fan of CarPlay on domestics. It's 100x better than what I have in my "luxury German car" WITHOUT A FUCKING TOUCHSCREEN haha. Even the Pacifica I rented a while back was better to use than my car.

Anyways, my thoughts as someone with zero design experience trying to interpret design language.

I'll open up the Jeep interior for more criticism and further analysis after I went out to the garage for a closer look.




Symmetry. Please see photos, what about the button layout isn't symmetric? I'm confused by this comment after a closer look. Buttons, screen, drive mode selector, steering wheel are all symmetric. Shifter and cup holder are not symmetric, starter button also not symmetric. I'm not clear on which buttons were simply plopped down? Shifter is not the same as the old one with issues. Console width on the drivers side, not symmetric, it bulges out towards the driver for additional room for the shifter. Cupholder, drive mode selector and shifter spacing all seem equal to the edge of the console trim piece.

You praise the Lexus, which is a very nice interior in my mind, but regarding symmetry, I don't think I've seen an interior that is more asymmetric. The console has no symmetry with the "holy shit handle", the time piece is plopped down off to the side, and I don't think I've ever seen this before, but the door panels are completely different from side to side? I'm not personally criticizing this design as I do think it is very nice and way better then any car I'll probably ever own but I'm simply trying to look at it in the same way you commented on the Jeep, as it sounds like symmetry is important.



As for the chrome trim and the width, I pulled out my calipers as I was curious about this comment, there are a few pieces that are clearly a different width for aesthetic purposes but I was surprised that almost all of the chrome was a little over .210" in consistent width. With that being said, the gaps between trim pieces or curvature of some of the trim might make them appear different widths.




A few more close ups of the buttons, textured knobs, full leather door panels, stitching, carbon fiber and chrome trim pieces for further analysis.

[A790]

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Oh the color? Yeah I wasn't considering the color

lol fair enough.

I do agree that Lexus makes a good interior. I haven't been in one since my '14 IS, mind you. But the interior of that car was a big help in deciding it over a BMW/Mercedes.

[speedog]

Pulled out your calipers?

Like wtf?

Someone's comments on the internet irked you enough to get you to pull out your calipers and actually take measurements of your vehcle's interior?

Ffs.

[01RedDX]

.

[Misterman]

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I live my life a 1/4 mile at a time.



I suspect that 9 times out of 10, if the brand is domestic, the same regurgitated comments that have been used for years are simply repeated without any experience with the specific vehicle being discussed. As mentioned, the Jeep interior isn't an AMG and I'm not tying to convince anyone otherwise. The porno red interior is going to appeal to very few people and I hated it for the first 3 months of ownership. With that being said, the Jeeps interior isn't simply a bunch of cheap plastic which is always the assumption. The console , door panels, dash and every part that is red are all leather. The 5 knobs on the dash and console have chrome metal trim rings and textured rubber around the circumference, the trim is metal and carbon fibre. The infotainment and Apple Car Play are actually decent.

This is why I ask, what should be done to improve these individual components that were specified as "cheap". If it was a clapped together, primarily plastic interior like my CTS-V wagon, I'd understand the comments.

People are borderline retarded on this topic. I see the same thing as you, people continually regurgitate nonsense they have just heard from other people when it comes to Chrysler interiors. Whether the excessive red appeals to someone is another story, I personally do not like it at all. But from a quality, comfort, and feel perspective, Chrysler(in their upgraded interiors like Laguna/Sepia) is blowing the doors off it's domestic competition. Most Japanese comparisons are terrible, you won't see more anemic and boring interiors anywhere else other than Chevy base model cars(although Lexus is pretty good as mentioned, I've had 3 myself). You see worthy comparisons in German luxury brands, and this should be no surprise as Chrysler was the one domestic that started copying European engineering practices of throwing proper manpower at the issue, and being able to borrow from MB helped too.

[90_Shelby]

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Pulled out your calipers?

Like wtf?

Someone's comments on the internet irked you enough to get you to pull out your calipers and actually take measurements of your vehcle's interior?

Ffs.

Criticize the time and effort I took taking the pictures and replying in depth but the time it took me to measure the trim was less then the time it took you to respond to the post.

[rage2]

It doesn’t flow. Symmetry isn’t a must. I mentioned that in the A4 and C8 interior and the LC has the same concept where there’s no symmetry, but everything is designed with the driver as focus. Looking at the full console on the Jeep, only some things are driver focused (ie shifter) and the rest isn’t. The chrome trim is completely inconsistent between the lower and upper stack. Now that I’m seeing the whole thing the design has no consistency. The upper stack has dials have chrome trim on the knobs with grey surround on the base, the buttons around it has no trim on some buttons, black trim on others, while the bottom stack buttons have chrome trim around buttons.

It’s all subjective anyways. Some people hate symmetrical design because it’s boring. Some people hate driver focused design because it fucks with their OCD haha.

[speedog]

Nah, it's the fact that you got riled up enough to go out and take measurements and then respond. It's honestly a bit amusing.

- - - Updated - - -

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It doesn’t flow. Symmetry isn’t a must. I mentioned that in the A4 and C8 interior and the LC has the same concept where there’s no symmetry, but everything is designed with the driver as focus. Looking at the full console on the Jeep, only some things are driver focused (ie shifter) and the rest isn’t. The chrome trim is completely inconsistent between the lower and upper stack. Now that I’m seeing the whole thing the design has no consistency. The upper stack has dials have chrome trim on the knobs with grey surround on the base, the buttons around it has no trim on some buttons, black trim on others, while the bottom stack buttons have chrome trim around buttons.

It’s all subjective anyways. Some people hate symmetrical design because it’s boring. Some people hate driver focused design because it fucks with their OCD haha.

Well now you're just fucking with him.

[speedog]

Better?

[rage2]

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Well now you're just fucking with him.

I’m just sad I’ve turned into an interior snob. I used to DGAF at all.

Adding more thoughts here, take a look at the Chrysler Pacifica interior. It’s miles ahead in coherency from the same company. So there is hope on the next GC design. End of the day it is a 10 year old design. I look back at my 10 year old c63 interior and have the same criticism.

[Aleks]

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End of the day it is a 10 year old design. I look back at my 10 year old c63 interior and have the same criticism.

This. It's a very very old design now, so that's a big part of it. FCA can make decent interiors. New Ram interiors make the new Chevrolet/GM truck interiors look and feel very dated for example.

spy shot of the new GC interior:

[rage2]

Just realized the SL suffers from the same problem because it’s at the tail end of an extended generation.



That’s a fuck ton of cheap plastics in a 200k car. I’ve had those buttons before, the silver wannabe metallic buttons feels cheap on each press.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Why did Merc hang on to the phone number pad for so long?