Interior Materials

Disciples: do you remember the materials in the interior such as the IP (plastic, vinyl/TPO, PUR, ...?), door panels (vinyl, leather, alcantra, ...?), seats/seat inserts/seat trim along the edge, and anywhere else?

Okay, I'm really disappointed. I was at the autoshow yesterday and was able to sit in the Camaro. One of the biggest thing I've been worried about are the materials of the interior. Well, I sat inside, felt the door panel and the instrument panel and they were both very hard plastic. I'm hoping this is just a very very pre-production car because that's even worse than the vinyl-covered dash of the 4th Gens. Very unappealing and I'm very unhappy if that crap makes production.

If anybody that's been either inside the Camaro or on the design/engineering team can attest to different, please make me a happier man.

Interior Materials are supposed to be smilar to what's currently inside the Impala.

If that's true, then there better be an aftermarket company doing packages to wrap the interior in leather or something. The production interior is unacceptable for a car so nice.

thats been my fear.

Yeah, i wasn't really impressed with the interior either. I guess they had to cut cost somewhere.

If that's the case and it is as bad as people are mentioning, then I'm really disappointed. It will represent another tragically flawed Fbody. The interior was one of the main reasons I sold my 4th gen. :(

I don't expect an interior that rivals an Audi in my Fbody. Heck, GM doesn't do that with the Corvette which is at a higher price point.

At the same time, it ought to be on par with what's in my new Dodge products. If it's comparable, then that's fine with me. My 05 Dakota is extremely comfortable on long trips.

It's kinda early to draw conclusions about the fit and finish of the production interior. I don't believe any physical examples of the final production interior have been revealed yet for people to see and touch in person.

It's kinda early to draw conclusions about the fit and finish of the production interior. I don't believe any physical examples of the final production interior have been revealed yet for people to see and touch in person.

The interiors of the Camaros that I have sat in were production saleable units.

I just want to clarify that although the plastics were hard to the touch, everything fits together quite well. It's a vast improvement over the 4th Gen but doesn't feel as good as a Malibu

Some people were talking about "grained" interiors going into the show Camaros in the NAIAS thread. Was the red NAIAS Camaro a production grain interior?

FWIW, I say "grained" because technically everything has a grain to it, it's just that the grain can differ. I doubt you'll ever again see an interior piece w/out a grain to it. Even painted interior panels have a "technical grain" for the paint to adhere better.

I don't understand how a 35k car can have a worse interior than my moms 19k Malibu? Does GM just assume camaro fans dont care?

If you have not seen the interior in person, then you shouldn't make a judegment like this. I have only seen tons of pics of this car and was kind on the fence about the interior, but after seeing the interior in person this weekend (a few feet away behind a roped off area), I have absolutely no reservations about the interior or anything else. You can tell just by looking at it in person that it is right up there with the rest of GM's recent great interiors that they have been building the past few years ('09 CTS, '09 Malibu, '09 Enclave, etc...).

no way you can compare the CTS to the camaro.

It's not as bad as some of you are saying. Would it have been nice to be more CTS-like? Absolutely. But that would have driven the price up.
It's not hard plastic. There is some padding. The Colorado has hard plastic and the Camaro is nowhere near that.
I would say the interior materials are more inline with the GMC Acadia.

It's not hard plastic.its ALL hard plastic except the arm rests. and the plastic looks cheap for what they are asking.

its ALL hard plastic except the arm rests. and the plastic looks cheap for what they are asking.

Maybe you were looking at a pre-pro.

The door panels & dash on the one I touched at Indy had some give to it; there was some padding there. Not much, but it wasn't hard. The binnacles around the gauges might be hard, I can't remember.
And I think the surfaces had like a pebble graining to it, IIRC.

no way you can compare the CTS to the camaro.

I wasn't directly comapring it to the CTS, just saying that it is pretty nice interior. Is the CTS a better interior? Yes it is, but it is also a luxury sedan that starts $15K more than the Camaro does.

Maybe you were looking at a pre-pro.

The door panels & dash on the one I touched at Indy had some give to it; there was some padding there. Not much, but it wasn't hard. The binnacles around the gauges might be hard, I can't remember.
And I think the surfaces had like a pebble graining to it, IIRC.well i sat in it at a car show so i'm sure its production spec and i did touch the dash and it was all hard and the binnacles looked awful. the padding on the center console was nice tho.

I wasn't directly comapring it to the CTS, just saying that it is pretty nice interior. Is the CTS a better interior? Yes it is, but it is also a luxury sedan that starts $15K more than the Camaro does.even the malibus interior is nicer.

sat in production car in Calgary this weekend. I was shocked at how cheap it is.

The door panels are all plastic---look awful. The whole dash looked cheap too and every where was black.

Although..isn't there some kind of upgraded interior--where they have 2 colour scheme going? that would help...a bit

My 89 Formula looks so much better.

Nice seats though.

HARD PLASTICS except the arm rest just like Andrew said. The door pads have either a fabric insert or the painted/clearcoated insert <----hard plastic.

I was disapointed with the feel of the clutch, It felt too stiff, I'd hate to be stuck in traffic with one. The 4th gens were easier imo.

HARD PLASTICS except the arm rest just like Andrew said. The door pads have either a fabric insert or the painted/clearcoated insert <----hard plastic.

I was disapointed with the feel of the clutch, It felt too stiff, I'd hate to be stuck in traffic with one. The 4th gens were easier imo.the fabric insert i like.

the clutch felt fine to me but my old 97 had a real stiff one. i don't like them too soft.

I'm glad everyone is satisfied. :lol:

At the auto show here I went from Mustang, to Camaro to Challenger, back to back, several times. It is at the very least on par with it's direct competition if not better. I was paying more attention to switch gear and all that, but it was world's better than a fourth gen.

And how long after it got home would you really be mashing your fingers into the plastic anyway?

I'm glad everyone is satisfied. :lol:

At the auto show here I went from Mustang, to Camaro to Challenger, back to back, several times. It is at the very least on par with it's direct competition if not better. I was paying more attention to switch gear and all that, but it was world's better than a fourth gen.

And how long after it got home would you really be mashing your fingers into the plastic anyway?
well i never sat in the 2010 mustang(they were locked) but i did sit in a challenger and the camaro and the challenger is leaps ahead with the interior materials. its all nice soft touch black plastic. looks a lot richer. the big deal is it just looks cheap and when you pay a lot of hard earned money you want something that looks like it was worth it. it camaro falls short in that department. its a shame tho as i know it will be an absolute wicked drive and it has some cool features in it. plus the exterior is well done.

well i never sat in the 2010 mustang(they were locked) but i did sit in a challenger and the camaro and the challenger is leaps ahead with the interior materials. its all nice soft touch black plastic. looks a lot richer. the big deal is it just looks cheap and when you pay a lot of hard earned money you want something that looks like it was worth it. it camaro falls short in that department. its a shame tho as i know it will be an absolute wicked drive and it has some cool features in it. plus the exterior is well done.

I thought the interior of the Challenger was horrible! I really do not like that car at all, exterior is nice though, but it really is a big boat. When I sat in it, it just felt like I was sitting on a big recliner chair in my living room, very roomy but not sporty at all. Dash was too plain and typical Chrysler blandness.

Judging from pictures, I'd say the Camaro has the most attractive interior out of the 3. I've sat in the Challenger, and I thought the interior was alright. I've heard the Mustang (2009) has a pretty cheap and bland interior, but I'm sure it's not all that bad.

I think people complain too much personally. But that's just my opinion.

I'd say a cheaper interior is just the price you have to pay to get an American muscle car.

I thought the interior of the Challenger was horrible! I really do not like that car at all, exterior is nice though, but it really is a big boat. When I sat in it, it just felt like I was sitting on a big recliner chair in my living room, very roomy but not sporty at all. Dash was too plain and typical Chrysler blandness.it is big but the materials used are leaps better.

Judging from pictures, I'd say the Camaro has the most attractive interior out of the 3. I've sat in the Challenger, and I thought the interior was alright. I've heard the Mustang (2009) has a pretty cheap and bland interior, but I'm sure it's not all that bad.

I think people complain too much personally. But that's just my opinion.

I'd say a cheaper interior is just the price you have to pay to get an American muscle car.the current mustang is pretty bad and i wouldn't pay MSRP for one (my old 07 GT was 38k! and i leased it at 24k new).


people want to feel they got their money worth and spend most time inside the car so thats where their focus is.



how many are buying americian muscle cars? keep in mind the f-body was put on hiatus and dodge hasn't had one in decades.

The design of the interior is subjective from person to person. That's not the problem.

The problem is that the materials are crap. I love the ambient lighting; the competition doesn't have this in their vehicles, and that's a plus. However, the Challenger's IP is a thick padded vinyl, like our '97-02s. The Camaro has a hard plastic IP, like my Cobalt. The Mustang I cannot judge because it's a new model and I haven't been inside it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hope to God there's someone in the aftermarket who can cover my panels in leather or something better than hard plastic. The Camaro is far better and ahead of the competition everywhere else, so I can't really complain because they had to cut back somewhere. But in a world where interiors dominate, I'm shocked they didn't spend the extra couple bucks for a padded vinyl IP at the very least.

even the plastic used is bad. i can understand if they used hard plastic if it at least looked nice....

Hmm, I guess I'll just have to wait until I see it in person.

Still doesn't change how I feel about the Camaro though. :D

I sat in a Camaro today. It was a 1LT that they are not selling because they want to keep the car in the show room. I too was very dissapointed with the interior. While the riding position was nice and it fit like a glove, the materials were crappy. Hard plastics and way too barren. I guess I expected more, at least to the level of my '05 GTO. I think the refreshed Mustang has a much better interior. I have sat in both.

I sat in a Camaro today. It was a 1LT that they are not selling because they want to keep the car in the show room. I too was very dissapointed with the interior. While the riding position was nice and it fit like a glove, the materials were crappy. Hard plastics and way too barren. I guess I expected more, at least to the level of my '05 GTO. I think the refreshed Mustang has a much better interior. I have sat in both.

Material quality (or lack thereof) has also been mentioned in more than a couple of magazine reviews. The actual design is polarizing, I get that, but material quality was the one thing I actually was NOT worried about (see: Malibu). Shame.

Wow. Yes, the Camaro uses some hard plastic but it doesn't ruin the car. All cars use some. It's already a heavy car, I'd imagine using fancier stuff would worsen that. The only place I saw overuse of it was the center console/gearshift area but there aren't many other things to make that particular place out of. Also, the e-brake should be leather wrapped, at least on a 2SS/2LT.

People seem to want super soft and leather wrapped everything today though, which is easier to damage than the hard plastics.

I put on 600 miles this weekend , I didn't pay much attention to the plastic , :D but its grain is like BMW and it is hard . You don't really touch it for any reason and its appearance is fine .