The EDD for my blue MYP is Sep 1 - Sep 29, so I'm getting a few mods lined up in advance. One of the first things I want to do is get rid of the horrible brown cheap-looking fake wood trim on the dash and doors. I think the Tesla interior design team must have been smoking crack when they came up with that idea.
Requirements
Disclosure
I have no affiliation with any of the manufacturers I discuss below. I paid full price for the dash I eventually ordered and nobody asked me to write or omit anything - I'm doing this of my own volition. All opinions are mine and mine alone. Where I quote anybody I have asked and received permission to do so. I have not and will not receive kickbacks, commission, or any other financial reward, compensation, incentives, etc etc. I'm just a guy buying a Tesla looking for a good dash and sharing my findings with y'all. Ok, onto the good stuff.
Vinyl Wrap / Covers ($10 - $20)
I quickly ruled out the budget options of 2-piece vinyl covers from the likes of Aliexpress, Amazon, etc. They look even worse than the OEM faux wood and meet non of the requirement criteria:
Nope nope nope.
Hydro Carbon Fiber Coated Covers ($200)
The next step up is a one-piece "carbon fiber" cover that goes over the OEM faux wood. For example, RPMTesla do a hydro coating "dash cap":
This looks almost as bad as the cheap Aliexpress versions. There's no depth to the carbon fiber, it looks fake and shiny, and the fit is terrible - the cap literally protrudes over the edge of the original wood trim.
Again: nope nope nope.
Genuine Carbon Fiber Dash Cap ($300 - $400)
The step up after hydro carbon fiber coating is real carbon fiber molded into a cap/cover that goes over the OEM dash trim, like that offered by Teslarati:
This is slightly better than the previous solutions in respect to having a chatoyant effect, but also worse in that the application of the carbon fiber is sloppy and the diagonal lines are wonky, wobbly, and inconsistently stretched. There's a weird horizontal line all the way along the length of the trim and it looks cheaply made with poor quality control.
Nope.
Genuine Carbon Fiber Dash Replacements ($800 - $1200)
The most premium solution is to get a complete OEM dash trim that comes with a carbon fiber panel instead of a wood one. This type of carbon fiber dash is the only one that I gave serious consideration. I looked at two options:
RPMTesla
The fit looks excellent. The matte finish is nice. The 3D effect looks great. But look at the way the fiber has been stretched at the bottom right of the trim piece! It looks weird and wrong. I only noticed this after ordering a set of dash + door trim (the Fremont MYPs are coming with wood trim on the doors now), so I emailed RPMTesla with my concerns. They were happy to refund me in full (the order hadn't yet been shipped) and I accepted.
Note about RPM: before reaching out to RPMTesla I had never met or interacted with them in any way. I'm not a shill. I'm just a customer, nothing more. During my initial email interactions they were slow to respond and took 3 days to answer a couple of questions. However when it came to canceling my order they were super responsive and helpful.
Fusion Motorsports
To y eye this was the best-looking of the bunch. Great chatoyancy, really nice matte effect... but it too suffered from wonky lines where the fiber folds over the lip at the bottom of the trim piece. Just like RPMTesla I emailed Fusion Motorsports and they had this to say (reproduced with permission):
A note here: before reaching out to Fusion Motorsports I had never met or interacted with them in any way. I'm not a shill. I'm just a customer, nothing more. Anyway, I pestered Alex (who seems to be the CEO/owner) quite a lot with questions and he was responsive, patient and helpful.
This is the new look Fusion dash (photos were sent to me by email and are reproduced with permission):
This is (in my opinion) easily the best-looking dash trim I found during my search. The matte effect looks great, it's really 3D/chatoyant, and it's the only one that doesn't appear to have a sharp lip where it folds over at the bottom of the trim. I ordered it immediately after Alex sent over the updated photos. When it arrives I'll update this thread with photos and thoughts.
I hope this is helpful to someone.
Peace and love y'all!
Requirements
- Must be matte. No shiny gloss.
- Must be made of real carbon fiber, not hydro carbon fiber coating.
- Must exhibit chatoyancy (an optical reflectance effect seen in certain gemstones, woods, and carbon fibre that gives a 3D effect).
- Must fit well with no overhangs or obvious signs of being tacked on.
Disclosure
I have no affiliation with any of the manufacturers I discuss below. I paid full price for the dash I eventually ordered and nobody asked me to write or omit anything - I'm doing this of my own volition. All opinions are mine and mine alone. Where I quote anybody I have asked and received permission to do so. I have not and will not receive kickbacks, commission, or any other financial reward, compensation, incentives, etc etc. I'm just a guy buying a Tesla looking for a good dash and sharing my findings with y'all. Ok, onto the good stuff.
Vinyl Wrap / Covers ($10 - $20)
I quickly ruled out the budget options of 2-piece vinyl covers from the likes of Aliexpress, Amazon, etc. They look even worse than the OEM faux wood and meet non of the requirement criteria:
Nope nope nope.
Hydro Carbon Fiber Coated Covers ($200)
The next step up is a one-piece "carbon fiber" cover that goes over the OEM faux wood. For example, RPMTesla do a hydro coating "dash cap":
This looks almost as bad as the cheap Aliexpress versions. There's no depth to the carbon fiber, it looks fake and shiny, and the fit is terrible - the cap literally protrudes over the edge of the original wood trim.
Again: nope nope nope.
Genuine Carbon Fiber Dash Cap ($300 - $400)
The step up after hydro carbon fiber coating is real carbon fiber molded into a cap/cover that goes over the OEM dash trim, like that offered by Teslarati:
This is slightly better than the previous solutions in respect to having a chatoyant effect, but also worse in that the application of the carbon fiber is sloppy and the diagonal lines are wonky, wobbly, and inconsistently stretched. There's a weird horizontal line all the way along the length of the trim and it looks cheaply made with poor quality control.
Nope.
Genuine Carbon Fiber Dash Replacements ($800 - $1200)
The most premium solution is to get a complete OEM dash trim that comes with a carbon fiber panel instead of a wood one. This type of carbon fiber dash is the only one that I gave serious consideration. I looked at two options:
- RPMTesla (2021+ | Model 3 Dashboard & Door Panel Replacement Kit (3 Pieces) - Real Molded Carbon Fiber)
- Fusion Motorsports (Tesla Model 3/Y Matte Carbon Fiber Dashboard Replacement)
RPMTesla
The fit looks excellent. The matte finish is nice. The 3D effect looks great. But look at the way the fiber has been stretched at the bottom right of the trim piece! It looks weird and wrong. I only noticed this after ordering a set of dash + door trim (the Fremont MYPs are coming with wood trim on the doors now), so I emailed RPMTesla with my concerns. They were happy to refund me in full (the order hadn't yet been shipped) and I accepted.
Note about RPM: before reaching out to RPMTesla I had never met or interacted with them in any way. I'm not a shill. I'm just a customer, nothing more. During my initial email interactions they were slow to respond and took 3 days to answer a couple of questions. However when it came to canceling my order they were super responsive and helpful.
Fusion Motorsports
To y eye this was the best-looking of the bunch. Great chatoyancy, really nice matte effect... but it too suffered from wonky lines where the fiber folds over the lip at the bottom of the trim piece. Just like RPMTesla I emailed Fusion Motorsports and they had this to say (reproduced with permission):
--Alex @ Fusion MotorsportsThe details and design of our products is our biggest focus. Additionally, the photos you used as a reference was the first matte carbon fiber dashboard we ever built. We are aware of the carbon fiber appearing stretched/elongated and took measures to ensure that all future dashboards would not have this design. We will get those photos removed soon.
I have went ahead and attached some photos depicting our recently built matte carbon fiber dashboard. The flat area that curves downward now has an even design that does not appear to be warped/scratched.
I would also like to clarify that if you do decide to proceed with this, you are more than welcome to return the dashboard/door-trim at no cost to you if you feel you are not 100% satisfied with the design.
A note here: before reaching out to Fusion Motorsports I had never met or interacted with them in any way. I'm not a shill. I'm just a customer, nothing more. Anyway, I pestered Alex (who seems to be the CEO/owner) quite a lot with questions and he was responsive, patient and helpful.
This is the new look Fusion dash (photos were sent to me by email and are reproduced with permission):
This is (in my opinion) easily the best-looking dash trim I found during my search. The matte effect looks great, it's really 3D/chatoyant, and it's the only one that doesn't appear to have a sharp lip where it folds over at the bottom of the trim. I ordered it immediately after Alex sent over the updated photos. When it arrives I'll update this thread with photos and thoughts.
I hope this is helpful to someone.
Peace and love y'all!