Prime Cuts: We Chop By means of Trim to Uncover Out What Tends to make a Bentley Expense $300,000

We chop via trim to locate out what separates a $ 300,000 Bentley from the bottom of the barrel.

Aluminum and carbon-fiber trim pieces may possibly be trendy in vehicle cabins these days, but nothing classes up the joint really like the appear of wood. Which is not to say that all lumber is produced equal. To examine how automakers trim their vehicles with trees (or fake ones) at diverse value points, we collected samples from 3 castes of the Volkswagen Group and dropped the miter saw on them.

1. Bentley Mulsanne

Dark-stained, .02-inch-thick burl walnut on strong walnut backing. Pleasingly hefty.

Entertaining Reality: Bentley normally uses 24 veneers sliced from the root ball of a single 80-year-old tree to ring a Mulsanne cabin in wood.

2. Volkswagen Passat SEL

Not wood. Printed burl walnut appliqué on the finest plastic. Flimsy. Nevertheless costs $ 104 at your neighborhood parts counter.

Enjoyable Reality: Made in America. U-S-A! U-S-A!

3. Audi S8

Velvet-brown fine-grain ash veneer on magnesium-alloy backing. Light. Stiff. And the very same .02-inch thickness as the Bentley’;s burl walnut.

Entertaining Fact: This wood trim piece is half an ounce lighter than the exact same portion rendered in Audi’;s copper-twill carbon fiber.

The Devil Is in the Details

Bentley book-matches its veneers, which means it aligns thin wood sheets to develop a seamless mirror image. The process bespeaks high quality and craftsmanship, but sometimes it benefits in disturbing faces. Even though Jesus has however to seem in Bentley’;s Crewe, England, wood shop, the craftsmen occasionally conjure unholy figures.

The Much more Expensive the Automobile, the Heavier its Trim

Shown right here: how numerous ounces a square inch of every single car’;s trim weights.

Other Stories You Might Like

Prime Cuts: We Chop By means of Trim to Uncover Out What Tends to make a Bentley Expense $300,000