Although, the wierd thing is it seems that the Hard plastic holds up better then the "Soft-Touchy-Feely" material. Ironic.

 

Two totally different cars but still an example of why interior quality isn't just a question of how much you massage and fondle your dash.

Materials quality is VERY apparent to me without even touching the dash, really.

 

I have a love hate relationship with my Cobalt SS/SC but it could be that I'm just picky.

I wished the clutch wasn't so damn hard. Any reason why? The 2.0l Turbo'd Saab has a lovely clutch compared to the Cobalt and it's 250hp.

I'm also dissapointed with the electonic throttle. The increase in throttle response is good but I find the car hard to launch under certain conditions.

Other than that, the fit and finish is inconsistent. The dash pieces all fit great and it all feels solid but the window switches bezel fits poorly. You'd NEVER see these things on a car coming off the line in Oshawa.

Overall a great car with minor imperfections that can drive people away. Why can't GM build the perfect car. For what this car is.....it came close.

 

The 07 AVEO's interior will put a lot of small cars' interiors to shame......especially the Yaris.

The Koreans have very nice interiors for the money, even better than the Japanese competition in some cases.

The new Civic has much more hard plastics than the previous generation in order to save cost. They tried to make up for it by having a wierd design and funky gauges. The whole setup looks awful to me.

 

I'm with Joe. You guys are a bunch of dash fondlers.

 

exactly my point, its such a nicer feeling being surrounded wiht better quality materials, at any price range

 

Most car buffs WILL notice the quality of materials just as people that work in the industry.

It all comes down to that "perceived quality" concept where you'd ask yourself: "if they're able to put cheap materials in the cabin to cut costs, where else did they cut corners to save a penny?"

It's a pretty understandable reaction. Now if you put an awesome interior and surround the driver with plenty of thoughtfulness, you'll get the impression that nothing on the car was neglected or sub-par, quality wise.....even if it's not necessarily the case.

 

I traded in my 00 3.8L camaro for a brand new 06 SS/SC with performance package. And i'm telling you its like night and day. I have every option available except onstar and the final price after taxes was 23080.

This interior/ergonomics makes my old camaro seem like a joke, seriously. My best friend just bought an 00 camaro SS so i can constantly compare the two. The trunk is enormous, the back seat is roomier than my stepbrothers jetta GLI (4dr sedan) ,the recaro seats are AMAZING and the only thing you hear going down the road is the supercharger whine if you go WOT.

Dodge has recently killed the Dodge neon srt-4. So the cobalt SS/SC (and saturn ion redline) has become the fastest car in the country for 20K brand new.