I test drove Civic, Jetta, Focus and Passat when I was buying. The Honda had the coolest interior but I ended up with the Passat - I still like its interior. Driven much newer and worse since then too.
Also quite like the Prius from an ergonomic point of view too.
I don't take much notice. I look at what's outside the car.
I don't take much notice. I look at what's outside the car.
Good of you to open a thread about interiors then....Thanks.
MkII Golf for me, too. Just a lovely case of everything being in the right place, logical arrangement and perfectly put together.
Just a lovely place to be!
My folks had a 1986 Toyota Celica - the supercharged 4x4 version. Sadly sold before I could drive, but was a wonderful place to sit.
The Discovery 4 with all the toys over the summer had a great interior. I think though that part of the feeling came from the ride height and 'special' feeling you get in a big off roader.
+ for the Saab 9-5 my Aero was the most comfortable and logically laid out car I've ever driven, the seats were just incredible, 6 hour stints were no problem at all.
Also there was a do dad called night panel that blacked out all the dash bar the speedo which I still miss in other cars.
It's a shame they're gone.
I also enjoyed being here everytime I drove it
Also there was a do dad called night panel that blacked out all the dash bar the speedo which I still miss in other cars.
Prius has the ability to turn the main screen off and dim the speedo so it's a dull green. It's really very nice indeed to drive with near blackness in front of you, only wish there was a voice command for it or a single button - you need to press two touch buttons to do it.
loddrik - Member
Don't like Audis or the people who drive them, but the interiors are always pretty nice.
As others have said, strange sentiments...
Another Audi driver here: it's a lovely car to look at and to be in and I try to be a nice guy (but don't always succeed, admittedly).
MrsJulianA's Octavia is very well put together and our Mercedes is very nice to be in too.
As others have said, strange sentiments...
Not really. Just a continuation of the chip on his shoulder. Audis perceived as expensive, therefore clearly only owned by red trouser* wearing Old Etonians. Probably with hats on the parcel shelves as well, the scum! Chippy, and dull.
* Insert other awful trouser colour as required. I've seen the way you dress!
Prius has the ability to turn the main screen off and dim the speedo so it's a dull green. It's really very nice indeed to drive with near blackness in front of you, only wish there was a voice command for it or a single button - you need to press two touch buttons to do it.
My A3 has a small dial by the light switch to dim the dash lights.
I had a breadvan Polo in the 80s with red quilted door linings like a smoking jacket.
Not really. Just a continuation of the chip on his shoulder. Audis perceived as expensive, therefore clearly only owned by red trouser* wearing Old Etonians. Probably with hats on the parcel shelves as well, the scum! Chippy, and dull.
That's not it at all. Audi's have replaced BMW's as the reps favourite, which links them with aggressive drivers, small John Thomas, owning the road and generally being a twot.
I'm not saying this is true (soon to be fil is an Audi driving rep. You could not meet a nicer man and he's a good driver) but that is the perception, just as it used to be with beemers.
Arse. Finally a thread with some Alfa love and I'm not at home to take an interior pic...
I'd have to day my '52 330i interior was a lovely place to be and very efficient. But the 159Sw is more emotive, especially at night when all illuminated in Alfa red.
Anyone care to post a night illuminated 159 dash?
That Visa interior is extraordinary. It's like Citroen looked at every good idea in car interiors and thought 'Pah! We'll challenge your admittedly excellent but conventional bourgeois ergonomics with a load of random, parts bin **** and some bits from the shed.'
I've had a lot of VAG cars, the Mk2 golf interior was great for its time, but it was a bit of a sweet spot in time when you got a bit of interior (instead of just seats and a wheel) but before a lot of gadgets and stuff meant lots more switches and buttons to house. Fit/finish and materials pretty terrible by today's stardards mind, gives you an idea of progression mind, a lot of 80's VW switches and stuff found a new home in early 2000s MGs and Rovers.
Mk3 golf seemed more 'old man' and Mk4 was pure old Mans Passat (I had both) my Passat was nicely built, but the creme dash got very dirty, the 'wood' was anything but but the leather seats were amazingly comfy.
My Exeo interior is lifted straight out of the B7 A4 and I can see why they're so well thought of, 50k miles and it's exactly like when I had it, the buttons all work, the seats are amazing and the Bose radio sounds great, the combined satnav, radio, phone control is a complete mess though.
None of them were my favourite though, my little Mk2 MR2 beats them all.
Let's say for cars with an achievable price tag.
As others have demonstrated as we've gone along, any interior of any Alfa, at any price, ever. The only exception I can think of is that one they did based on a Datsun Cherry..
Revisiting this thread, I'm really chuffed to see the love for the Mk2 Golf, at the time I owned mine, my old man had a Saab 9000, with a famously sober dash layout and I honestly preferred the ergonomics in my Golf - humble, easy to reach and never got in the way when you were lift-off oversteering round a bend.
Alfa Romeo...
I've had a 156 V6 Sport, a 147 Lusso and finally a 159. The 156 looked gorgeous, the binnacle was straight out of a Lamborghini Miura but the plastics were a tad Airfix. The 147 was leagues ahead, with excellent materials the equal of an equivalent VW (I know, I drove a lot of VW loan cars while my Golf was being fixed), gadgets worked well and it fitted my athletic frame but it lacked a little charm.
My 159?
Well, the passenger experience is amazing. Leather trimmed with quilted matching door panels, everything has an expensive feel and smell (as it should, a replacement gear knob is £138.94 from Alfa). The switches feel nicely tactile, the controls just so, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were sat in an Audi or early noughties Merc...
...But the column stalks feel cheap, cheaper than the 147 and 156. The dash is a quality item, but the cruise control will hit your right knee, unless you have the classic Italian driver shape of long arms, short legs and small feet, which I don't. The gear lever blocks the aircon controls if you're in 3rd or 5th, the throttle travel is long but it's a front wheel drive GM based saloon that you can heel-and-toe with happy abandon.
The piece de resistance? The boot release is in the roof, a la Alfa 33. Albeit, it's well made, reliable and a delight to use, but it's in the ****ing roof...
Sorry, but VW had it sorted in 1983.
* Insert other awful trouser colour as required. I've seen the way you dress!
And the problem with green or orange is...?
@MrOvershoot - well spotted on the W123 thing. 300TD quite rare now, I think? W123s definitely lovely.

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