Musings on the wood dash

[TBrownTX]

For the love of everything holy, new users PLEASE stop reviving old ancient threads.

I rather enjoyed seeing this old thread. Still relevant and I missed it the first time.

Tim

 

[rrohde]

I haven't seen this thread either, and I am still not sure if that's real wood or vinyl trim we've got by default in our cars...

 

[TBrownTX]

I haven't seen this thread either, and I am still not sure if that's real wood or vinyl trim we've got by default in our cars...

If it’s real wood, it’s at best a paper thin veneer. Here’s pics from my removed, factory dash.

Tim

 

[Yahola Bucks]

Should've stopped at the TL;dr ... this paragraph was just a filler aka BS

What’s wrong with someone expressing their opinion in a club forum? Isn’t that what this platform is for? SMH, I don’t understand the negativity/disrespect towards others’ opinions.

 

[TBrownTX]

What’s wrong with someone expressing their opinion in a club forum? Isn’t that what this platform is for? SMH, I don’t understand the negativity/disrespect towards others’ opinions.

This was already hotly debated in posts #10-#20 in October 2018.

Tim

 

[KleenM3]

I love the black interior, but not so crazy about the wood dash (in pics). I’ll wait to get my M3 to see it in person. It might grow on me. If not, there’s always aftermarket replacements.

 

[terranx]

I love the black interior, but not so crazy about the wood dash (in pics). I’ll wait to get my M3 to see it in person. It might grow on me. If not, there’s always aftermarket replacements.

It's not awful, but not great IMO. I'll probably eventually replace it all with carbon fiber, which is what at least the performance should have come with in the first place.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Funny that way back when this thread began everyone hated the fake wood.
Then reluctantly accepted the fact that it's real wood.

And now pretty much every new car uses the Tesla style wood dash accent, whether it compliments the design or not.

 

[terranx]

Wood trim on the dash was a thing long before Tesla existed. No idea who was first

This is a BMW 7-series from the late 80s

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Yes, that's why they call it a dash "board". Because it was originally a wooden board that blocked the mud when your horses "dashed". Literally the very first dashboard was wood.

But Tesla made popular this incarnation of raw open-grain wood on the horizontal surfaces of a high-tech dash. As opposed to the imitation wood in deep clear plastic that most cars have used on vertical surfaces for decades.

 

[MikeyC]

Wood trim on the dash was a thing long before Tesla existed. No idea who was first

This is a BMW 7-series from the late 80s

Not sure but I remember it in some low end Buicks in the late 80's or 90's. I thought wood went out with chrome. It's one reason I got the white interior: to get rid of the wood and have it match the rest of the car.

Mike

 

[RSpanner]

The OP started out saying he is not an eco-hippy. which is ok, he might evolve into one. Much better than a few of the ones I remember from the time period who I called meat-on.a-stick hippies. Tesla appeals to all of them..me included.

 

[Frank Langella]

Wait, it's real wood?

 

[n2fooz]

If it’s real wood, it’s at best a paper thin veneer. Here’s pics from my removed, factory dash.

Tim

View attachment 651363View attachment 651364

FYI, real wood veneer can be EXTREMELY thin. Depending on species, you can get down below 0.2mm thick.
Here's the company supplies, or at least supplied, Tesla: TABU&Model 3 di Tesla | Tabu

 

[TomT]

Like the wood trim, hate the black souless trim.

 

[MikeyC]

Either white or carbon fiber for me. I say no thanks to splinters.

Mike

 

[TECHNOS]

TL;DR: Initially I was confused about the wood dash but now I "get it" because I am unapologetically in love with this car.


First off, let me preface this by saying I am not an eco-hippy. Buying the Model 3 is about as eco-conscious of a thing I’ve ever done (after composting, which is mandatory in our city anyway). And the purchase was largely for practical reasons rather than environmental ones. Don’t get me wrong, I like our planet, and I have a tremendous appreciation for nature and the outdoors without being an “outdoorsy type.” But I’ve never really been one to fly the flag of environmental causes.


The wood dash always struck me as weird. I am a fairly experienced hobby woodworker, and thus probably have more appreciation for the veneer than most people, but even then I found raw veneer to be a curious choice. I didn’t like it, I didn’t hate it, I just accepted it. As a woodworker I wondered if I ought to finish it properly for protection. I thought about perhaps covering it up with vinyl or carbon fiber or what have you. I wondered what exactly Tesla was going for with this very peculiar choice; surely the suits in marketing would have said customers would prefer the softness of alcanterra or the sleek modern feel of carbon fiber, brushed aluminum, etc. They’ve already replaced the photo of the interior on the Model 3 website. It was a retro vibe that I didn’t love nor hate.


After several months of looking at the wood sideways every time I’m in the car, I have developed a great, possibly even profound, appreciation for what it’s doing there.


I’ve traditionally hated wood in cars. You know - we took this rare, expensive exotic wood, doused it with 80 coats of epoxy so it looks like plastic, and slathered it all over your car so you feel wealthy and pampered and powerful and whatever else that ebony burl makes you feel. In Model 3, the wood looks and feels like wood. What a concept!


As much as the Model X was about hubris and “look what we can do” taking the spotlight, the minimalist Model 3 is about humility (from a design perspective). Even with all of the technological marvels in this vehicle, front and center is a very deliberate reminder of why this car was conceived of in the first place. An appreciation of the natural beauty and vitality of this planet that this vehicle is a small but significant part of saving. Tech and nature can coexist. Even as we propel ourselves hither tither in these glorious missiles of glass, metal, plastic, and rubber, there is a conscious effort not to omit the natural when it would have been easy to do so. Aesthetically and practically, I can think of better materials, and I can understand when people say the wood looks out of place. Philosophically, the choice does this car justice.

EXACTLY how I see it too! In my eyes it a subtle nod to its core purpose poetically placed in the center of all that technology re-enforcing its message without being preachy or elitist!

 

[KenC]

Yes, that's why they call it a dash "board". Because it was originally a wooden board that blocked the mud when your horses "dashed". Literally the very first dashboard was wood.

But Tesla made popular this incarnation of raw open-grain wood on the horizontal surfaces of a high-tech dash. As opposed to the imitation wood in deep clear plastic that most cars have used on vertical surfaces for decades.

View attachment 781097

Oh, so they got the wooden dashboard from horse-drawn buggies, I just assumed they got it from my 1946 wooden boat!

 

[pipestem]

BMW i3

 

[afadeev]

What’s wrong with someone expressing their opinion in a club forum? Isn’t that what this platform is for? SMH, I don’t understand the negativity/disrespect towards others’ opinions.

It's the internet - negativity/disrespect towards others’ is its primary purpose ;-)

Just accept the reality, grow a thicker skin, and prepare to BOHICA.