How much does a car's interior matter to you?

On the basis that it is the interior that provides the vast amount of visible and feelable pleasure in a car then it matters a great deal to me.

I am ‘old school’ when it comes to dials and information so I want simple, clear white on black circular dials that give me revs and speed first and foremost. These to be followed by temperatures (coolant and oil), fuel and oil pressure. Everything else is secondary.

The juxtaposition between seating, steering and gear levers has to be ‘right’ with supportive and comfortable seating an absolute must and without the steering wheel obscuring the primary dials in any way. The major controls of indicating, lighting and windscreen wiping/washing must easily fall to hand. All other controls have to be reachable without having to lean out of the seat.

Seat has to have sufficient rearward travel to allow a relaxed ‘stretched out’ leg position. Pedals to be straight in front or with minimal offset, properly spaced, progressive in operation and nice weight of use. Footrest for left foot.

Vision out of the vehicle to be good all round. Switch gear and controls to feel well made and precise in operation.

Most other things do not bother me as long as they are reasonably well designed and not ‘ugly’.

Pet hates: 1. Touch screen displays - great for SatNav inputs when stationary but bloody awful to use and distracting for anything required whilst on the move. 2. Small closely spaced buttons/switches of any kind. 3. Electronic hand brakes.

Cars that have (really, really) annoyed me most : Aston Martin - the primary dials are just bloody awful, difficult to read most of the time and impossible in some lighting conditions. Rover 800 - small closely spaced non illuminated buttons. BMW Z3 - the main lighting switch is an ugly abomination with hideously horrible operation.

Current irritation : No reach adjustment on the F355 steering wheel. Everything else is ‘spot on’ but the wheel is an inch or so too far away!

 

At least 30% of my buying decision.

 

It’s a big deal to me since there is where I spend my time and interface with the car. Some things you can’t avoid if buying a newer car, too many buttons, too much useless “tech”.

 

I am a sucker for nice interiors. For my vintage Ferrari, I shopped 308, 328, Testarossa, 355, 360. The 308 won hands down. Looove its vintage interior: all business yet all such beauty.

 

I’ve become more appreciative of nicely spec’d interiors…. Really prefer alcantara over leather on seats and dash. Love lots of CF bits - door panels, vents, center console, etc. Colors make a huge difference…love red interiors and contrast stitching.


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If you own the car, you spend 90% of the time looking at the interior, and about 10% of the time looking at the exterior.

Buy accordingly.

 

Interior is very important to me. I spend all my time in there. For me if I don't like the interior I will pass no matter how much I like the exterior.

 

The design and flow of an interior matters to a great extent. I think that is more important than materials used. For example I would probably never buy a C5 corvette despite the performance bargain as a throwaway track car due to the fact I would be stuck looking at that heinous interior. My wife’s 392 charger on the other hand had a nice combination of inlayed infotainment screen and knobs despite not being the highest quality of materials was very easy to look at and use.


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My preference is black because it is easier to keep clean. After that, eyes out the windshield, boys. Eyes out the windshield.

 

Incredibly important. I spent an extraordinary amount of time and effort spec-ing the interior in my incoming F8. My goal was to strike a balance between a classic, modern, uncomplicated, color coordinated, race inspired look. I’m very pleased with the result and can’t wait for the car to arrive (November build). PS - The yellow Special Stitching doesn't show up very well in the renderings, but I'm confident that it will in the car (as it did in my 488).


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• Driving position ergonomics: Extremely important no matter the car. If I can't get comfortable and in a good driving position with minimal fatigue over time, I may sell the car
• Interior switchgear / controls / infotainment ergos: Important for a daily driver, not very important for a weekend car
• Interior specialness: Pretty important for a weekend car, not that important for a daily unless it's ugly
• Interior build quality: Not that important in general, unless it's a high end daily driver where you expect high quality (IE Mercedes S Class or similar)

 

When I drive, I just look at the road and occasionally check the rpms or the speedo for a fraction of a second.
But then there are times when you are at a traffic light, or in the garage, and take a moment to look around and see how cool a Ferrari can be. And if the interior is as nice as you wish, you feel happy, at home, in a womb.
My 208 GTB does not have A/C, but the nice central console was one of the three factors that drove my search from 328 to 208/308 - the others being front end and carbs. And the ivory leather roof liner and the pranching horse under the shift grill of the 208/308 carbed cars are something that I quite valued over the fabric liner and the horse moved onto the ashtray lid of the 2Vi and QV models.
So I am very glad that the best sounding car, thanks to the carburetors, also has the nicest interior in the lot - for me.
All the best!
Nic

 

I agree.

It’s extremely important to me.

Matt

 

Very important to me as well!