Anyone tried one of these wood interior trim kits?

[richardjh]

I was looking at these kits for the octavia.

DASH KITS - WOW TRIM!

Anyone tried one?

[Guest]

I'll let you into a little secret, they're not really wood

You'll probably find no one has tried one either as they look awful.

[vRSy]

ill second that

[youngbaz]

I'll let you into a little secret, they're not really wood

You'll probably find no one has tried one either as they look awful.

Sorry Jonno, but go to their website .... it shows quite clearly that some are indeed synthetic (13 varieties) but some are real wood (six varieties).

If no-one has tried one (presumably including yourself?), how do you know they look awful?

I personally would love to have a little real wood trim on my VRS if I thought I could fit it decently. Why do the manufacturers nowadays always assume that, because I want an engine with a bit of poke and decent handling, I also want a load of cheap silver plastic or imitation carbon fibre splashed all over the cockpit? Even Rover made that mistake with the MG XT - the standard Rover 75 had the reassuring interior ambience of quality British coachbuilding; in MG trim it was all blacks and carbon. One of the selling points for the Cortina 1600E (try and tell me that wasn't a classic in its day) was the real wood inlays on the dash - looked the business!

OK rant over

[gadgetman]

Looks hideous.

[Yeti_Man]

:thumbdwn::eek: Wood trim in a VRS? :eek: :thumbdwn:

[pete8tch]

think this is the anti thread to the big spoiler on a none vrs thing , its the wrong focus for a vrs in my opinion .

learned about target markets this week , actually from you baz , maybe its the ford influence, when they split the range with the ghia and s variants but fake wood in a sports orientated car doesn't work for me

[jbconno]

Piano black would look much better.

[uncle bulgaria]

My mate bought one of these for his Fabia. Not my thing, but he was happy with it. Said it was easy to do.

However from a more objective point the quality was dubious and a few weeks later some were not as securly fitted as they should be!

Long and short of it, he wished he'd not bothered and is now worried it'll affect it's resale value in a couple of years time.

Anyway, we are all different in our likes & dislikes!

[jim_fraser_uk]

It suited the Mk1 in the L&K spec.

[Nick P]

Ignore the nay sayers! I think it will look really classy. It looks the bomb in Mike's Picasso. Make sure to post lots of photos for us if you go for it.

[Guest]

Sorry Jonno, but go to their website .... it shows quite clearly that some are indeed synthetic (13 varieties) but some are real wood (six varieties).

If no-one has tried one (presumably including yourself?), how do you know they look awful?

I personally would love to have a little real wood trim on my VRS if I thought I could fit it decently. Why do the manufacturers nowadays always assume that, because I want an engine with a bit of poke and decent handling, I also want a load of cheap silver plastic or imitation carbon fibre splashed all over the cockpit? Even Rover made that mistake with the MG XT - the standard Rover 75 had the reassuring interior ambience of quality British coachbuilding; in MG trim it was all blacks and carbon. One of the selling points for the Cortina 1600E (try and tell me that wasn't a classic in its day) was the real wood inlays on the dash - looked the business!

OK rant over

:rofl::rofl::rofl::

[richardjh]

i knew this would provoke a 'eating marmite' type reaction

i too wonder why manufacturers insist on using fake carbon fibre, but then i wish also wish they would offer decent fabric interiors rather than a choice between cheap cloth and cheap leather. (well at my car buying level)

personally, i think wood done well in a car can look fantastic.

Thanks mike for the link to the uk company.

[bunglebear32]

i dont so much like the wood effect around the radio and dials but i would like the trim that goes around the inside of the car (that long straight bit of plastic on the doors and glove box) to be wood. I've tried for ages to find someone that does it but no luck. I think it looks amazing in the new superb

[Gillywibble]

My word, how awful.

[youngbaz]

:thumbdwn::eek: Wood trim in a VRS? :eek: :thumbdwn:

Wood trim (real wood!) in a Jaguar? Bentley? Aston? I rest my case!

OK confession .... I'm sure this is a generation thing! For those of us who are old enough (forget my screen name - it's a surname link!) to remember, walnut veneers on car dashboards and doortrim tops summons up warm emotive memories of rich uncles driving cars our family couldn't afford but only dream about. They smack of craftsmanship, old-fashioned values and luxury. That doesn't mean they don't 'go' with sporty brands or sporty variants of mainstream brands - as in my list above.

What surprises me is that, as far as I know, there isn't a manufacturer around who offers the customer a choice (except maybe the ultra-luxury marques, but I can't go there!). Whether the interior comes with wood veneer, carbon fibre or mock metallic is no more difficult to handle from a production planning viewpoint than offering a choice of trim colour (which many do), so it really annoys me that I can order (if I could afford it) a Jag with gorgeous wood veneers that makes me feel proud and good to sit in, but if I want my Jag to have a more powerful engine and go round corners faster (ie the R or S variants) I've got to settle for black or carbon fibre.

And another thing .....

The reason I didn't opt for a VRS years ago was that the interior was so dark and doomy compared with Elegance or L&K (finally gave in and got me a VRS in March). Again, why do manufacturers (as they nearly all do) assume that, because I want the sporty variant, I therefore obviously want a black roof lining, black carpeting, black doortrims etc etc plus a load of cheap-looking plastic dressed up as matt metal. I don't! I'm not a funeral director - I'd prefer to drive in a light, airy, sunny-feeling ambience thankyou! (Same reason I want a glass sunroof even though I've got aircon - apart from the fact that it's nice to potter around with the roof open on crisp Spring mornings and autumn evenings.):orb_mad:

Perhaps Briskoda should introduce a Grumpy Old Men getting things off their grey-haired chests forum?

[PumpeDuse]

Rover group wannabe's !! fit these and you'll just invite woodworm

[Guest]

Wood trim (real wood!) in a Jaguar? Bentley? Aston? I rest my case!

A vRS is a Skoda, not a Bentley or an Aston.

[youngbaz]

A vRS is a Skoda, not a Bentley or an Aston.

Jonno, my point was that those are very specifically sporty marques (as well as being luxury brands).

The poster wasn't saying: "Wood trim in a Skoda?", he was saying: "Wood trim in a VRS?" as if sporty derivatives and wood trim were mutually exclusive. My personal view happens to be that they aren't. I was making the case that I believed there was a (profitable) niche for sporting derivatives that perhaps understated their sporting characteristics visually whilst reflecting the fact that they were (as in the case of the Octavia VRS) at the top of the model price range by being specced with luxury, perhaps traditional visual cues. What model does the grey-haired, perhaps relatively well-off, car buyer choose who used perhaps to drive a roadster in his/her youth, whose driving style still demands an engine with a bit of poke and some decent handling, but who doesn't want to shout it from the rooftops in a bright yellow sedan with WRC spoilers?

If you're querying the very existence of wood trim in Skoda as a marque then you'd better speak to SUK about previous L&K Octavias and current Superbs?

[Nick P]

I don't think you have to have a Jag or Bentley to carry it off. After seeing how awesome it looks in Mike's Picasso, I'm seriously tempted to get something like that in my VRS. It's only going to add value come resale time too.

[Yeti_Man]

I'm seriously tempted to get something like that in my VRS. It's only going to add value come resale time too.

Judging by the majority voice on this thread I wouldn't agree with that statement at all.

Bentley and Aston offer luxury GT's - something the skoda very much isn't! I love real wood interiors; in the right places - along with hand stitched leather etc in a flagship jaguar for instance but on a skoda Octavia VRS? Just plain wrong imo.

Edited 20 June, 2009 by FocusZtec

[Guest]

Judging by the majority voice on this thread I wouldn't agree with that statement at all.

Bently and Aston offer luxury GT's - something the skoda very much isn't! I love real wood interiors in the right places - along with hand stitched leather etc but on a skoda Octavia VRS? Just plain wrong imo.

I agree. Wood interiors should be left to the top end marques.

[powerd]

Oh well. yet another aspect of my life which identifies me a s a fashion victim. But I suppose if I wait long enough, wood trim and richly coloured leather and interior finishes will come back into fashion again.

I detest black interiors. They are even more ridiculous in a hot sunny country like Australia. I just don't see the point in fake (or even real) carbon fibre and those plastic silver trims, unless perhaps you are in a boy racer car like a Subaru WRX.

I own two Jaguars (older ones) and never saw a problem with sporty cars having lovely natural wood interiors. One of the things putting me off buying an XJR was that the wood has that dark smoked stain, where you can't properly see the colour and superb figuring of the real walnut burl underneath.

Now I am not saying that the stuff shown above was tasteful. However, I would rather have a richer coloured interior with tasteful factory wood finishes in my Skoda than the boring, dull coal pit look with plastic pretending to be metal.

Cheers

powerd

from Oz

[Bassa]

I contemplated the factory fit option of ' wood (aka plastic) trim in my new Elegance facelift but SWMBO said NO - so that was that. It seemed a reasonable price though at £75.

Of course if you take the wood trim route you really need leather as well - never looks as good with cloth upholstery to my mind.

Skoda call it "Wood Decor (imitation)" - sounds better than plastic - no splinters though!

[Nick P]

Judging by the majority voice on this thread I wouldn't agree with that statement at all.

Sorry, I should probably make it clear now that I was being massively sarcastic. Aftermarket wood effect trims are of course quite uniquely horrible. No ifs, no buts, just don't. If you're feeling bored enough that doing that seems like a good idea, for the love of god step away from the car, hand your credit card over to your wife and go and find something else to do.