Real wood grain dashboard trim kits vs. Synthetic wood grain dashboard trim kits
So, you decided to add more warmth, comfort and class to your auto's interior? Well, there is not a better way to go than decorating it with thousand years old tradition - wood trim( I mean houses furniture and so on, I am not sure if there were auto mobiles a thousand years ago, I'll write my next article on that). With technology advancing at an incredible speed manufacturers recently were able to simulate real wood grain pattern and look with synthetic plastic materials. When buying a wood dashboard trim kit for your car or suv, you have to decide if you should buy classic real woodgrain or modern synthetic.
I will try to make this article short and give you straight facts and let you decide for yourself. This section of our site was created without any marketing backbone and is designed to give you straight facts and truth. So here are results of our 8 year experience in dash kit manufacturing and lab experiments, which were conducted for us by NYU professor and students.
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Real Wood Grain Dashboard Trim Kits |
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+ Pros:
- Appearance. It is absolutely true that real wood dashes do look a little better.
- Better match to cars and suvs that have real wood grains installed by the manufacturer, some include- Lexus, Jaguar, Cadilac (excluding Escalate)
- Cons:
- Lab experiments proven real wood's prolonged exposure to heat and moisture expands and contract the wood, creating cracks.
- Over time real wood changes its color. Real wood is a natural organic product and it is in its nature.
- Prolonged exposure to the sun discolorizes the wood. Real wood grain is highly not recommended for convertible automobiles.
- Price. Real wood dash kits from most manufacturers are on average 30% more expensive. Beware if you find an extremely cheap wood dash kit. If the price is to good to be true, chances are it is not. We bought several of these dash kits to test their quality and compare to ours and found that often companies (who will remain unnamed) use printed paper instead of real wood. Paper grain looks almost identical to real woodgrain, but rarely last a year.
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Synthetic Wood Grain Dashboard Trim Kits |
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+ Pros:
- Easier installation. Simulated wood grain material has better flexibility, thus allowing for easier and faster installation.
- Better match to most cars and trucks that have synthetic wood grain trim installed from the factory.
- Better durability of the finish. Lab experiments proved that synthetic wood grains were almost unaffected by the prolonged exposure to UV rays.
- Price. Synthetic material is cheaper and therefore we charge customers less for our dash kits.
- Cons:
- Appearance. Synthetic wood grains do slightly give out an edge to real wood kits in grain and color depth.
- Name. Some people are still hanged on to the idea that real wood is simply better. We do not like to criticize other people's opinions and therefore give synthetic wood grains a minus in this category. May be some day, when new technologies are discovered, todays synthetic materials will become classic and real.
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Article prepared by Alex Detko
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