Wood or alli

[television]

Agreed.

try telling the youff of 2day that tho!

The speed 6 could hit 60 in about 10secs. Not bad for 1929! Some cars cant do that 80 years later.

Not quite sure of those times, the blown 4½ litre from 1926 never won a race, the P11 from RR in 1929 was fast, at 160 HP it went from 0-60 in 19 sec and topped 95 MPH.
Walter O Bentley had money troubles as early as 1926, the company was kept afloat be Wolf Barnato who poured millions into it, and RR outbid Napier in 1931 and acquired the outfit after a 12 years from start to finish in the hands of W O Bentley an exceptionally honest man.
In 1956 a 8 litre was modified by Macenzie and did 141 mph for the flying kilometer.

 

[prprandall51]

Its alOOminum according the the yanks.

They can't spell Aluminium! (That took 8 goes and I am still not sure I have enough i's and m's in it)

Sadly - and it pains me to admit this - the Yanks are correct in their spelling of aluminium. Sir Something Davy, who discovered it - and, of course, is as English as Afternoon Tea - first called it "aluminum" but then some of his mates later persuaded him to change the name (add an "i") so that it rhymed with other stuff that was nearby in the Periodic Table. It probably all happened over a flagon of ale and seemed like a good idea at the time.

Philip

 

[Shude]

IMHO anything "modern" ends up looking "dated" in a few years. If it were my car I'd have black bird's eye maple. In fact when I configured a new W204 on the MB configurator a couple of days ago I chose wood over the aluminium trim . It's classy and will not date like some other interior trims do.

 

[tromppost]

Aluminium is the way to go with black leather.

 

[verytalldave]

Opinion seems to be fairly evenly split between the 2 choices.
Also, people seem to be quite catagoric about their choice as well. I dont recall seeing anyone say "I dont mind" or "either".
I have a theory..................
I might be very, very wrong and wide of the mark here, but I reckon its an age thing.
I reckon younger people prefer aluminium, whereas the older set prefer wood.
Comments..............

 

[robert.saunders]

I'm 34 in October - is that old? (I voted maple btw - but I don't generally like wood that much (I didn't like the wood in my Elegance)).

The Mondeo has lots of dark trim, silver plastic/aluminium, kinda suits it (and the black half leather/alcantara seats)

 

[Shude]

I might be very, very wrong and wide of the mark here, but I reckon its an age thing.
I reckon younger people prefer aluminium, whereas the older set prefer wood.
Comments..............

I'm 30 and I'd prefer the dark wood. The only problem with being young is that eventually you'll get older, if you still have the same car you might be wanting wood trim for it by then. Might as well get it done now, save yourself the trouble later!

I forgot to mention that the wooden trim is often a better quality than the "other" types of trim, although if the aluminium really is aluminium then it might be pretty good quality.

 

[stats007]

Having just sat in a W204 I'd say the aluminium trim wasn't of good quality...

 

[verytalldave]

The aluminium trim in my 2004 W203 Aventgarde is good quality REAL metal with a nice dimpled/ knurled effect. Its not a cheap plastic look-a-like. I suspect cost to MB is the same for either wood or metal.
BTW........I am nearly 60.

Looks like I might be wrong on the age proposal point....................ah well........

As far as Mercedes ownership goes, I would say 45 would be a good split point.
Anyone below the age of 45 can be considered "young". Everyone else isnt.
Flak Jacket now on...........

 

[Tan]

I prefer the Burr Walnut woods and like the wood/ leather steering wheels and gearshifts.

 

[Ade B]

I prefer wood for lots of reasons.

Historically exotic veneers have always been used to finish fine furniture and musical instruments, I like the association.

I also enjoy the contrast between man made and natural, the depth and pattern of the material against the plastic and leather.

I like the fact that wood is a living thing and each piece is unique which like leather brings a softer dimension to a piece of fine engineering.

Wood is a pleasure to touch.

Aluminium is a relatively recent material, it is used for light weight structures like aircraft, racing cars and take away trays. It has none of the richness of association of wood.

Unlike wood, aluminium is a highly energy intensive material to produce and ages badly (a patina of age enhances wood).

So there you go, imho wood is great for dash trim, aluminium is great for tin foil.

Don't like the 1/2 leather steering wheels though - Nardi type wood wheels look great in 50's sports cars, leather wheels look great in modern MBs...

I'm under 40 btw..


Ade

 

[jaymanek]

This is my order of preference

- Light Burl Wood
- Dark Burl Wood
- Amuminium you have now
- Brids Eye Maple

This is taking into account your car, obviously different materials suit different cars..

 

[Dieselman]

It would be wood for me.
Black Birds eye Maple.

 

[jonm]

Opinion seems to be fairly evenly split between the 2 choices.
Also, people seem to be quite catagoric about their choice as well. I dont recall seeing anyone say "I dont mind" or "either".
I have a theory..................
I might be very, very wrong and wide of the mark here, but I reckon its an age thing.
I reckon younger people prefer aluminium, whereas the older set prefer wood.
Comments..............

I think your opening a real can of worms

Anyway, given that you have 'youngsters' liking wood and i'm 42 and prefer aluminium I'd say that your way off :bannana: :bannana: same for mrs Jonm by the way, we 'once' went to look at an elegance and the immediate response was 'you've got to be joking'.

Takes all sorts..

 

[gbjeppm]

It seems to me that MB got it right by allowing us to choose what we like with regard to all of these options.

Therefore really its up to Malcolm to decide what he wants in the car, rather than us tell him what we would like for him.

So come on malcolm what have you decided?

 

[ROBB]

The 'Elegance' is correctly named.
There is a definite elegance to be had from being surrounded by beautifully finished wood that can never be bettered IMHO.

I'm only 31 btw.

The aluminium look has a place - but not in my Merc

 

[stats007]

So come on malcolm what have you decided?

Carbonfibre

 

[ROBB]

Carbonfibre

If you just take them all off - you could save weight and gain fuel economy..........

 

[television]

It seems to me that MB got it right by allowing us to choose what we like with regard to all of these options.

Therefore really its up to Malcolm to decide what he wants in the car, rather than us tell him what we would like for him.

So come on malcolm what have you decided?

If I get this wood kit thats finished in walnut I will re finish it in black, and it will become "Ebony" I cant redo it in birds eye maple.

I have the choice then of just doing it black, or the black glass effect leaving the black under the top coat (piano finish)

 

[stats007]

Black walnut can look very nice depending on the grain - usually a very thin stain with an oil or lacquer finish.