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I'm considering a purchase of a used RL, 2007-2009. One of my pet car peeves is that I don't want to spend 30k on a vehicle with "simulated" or fake wood, aka "plood." Can someone tell me whether any of the RL's I'm considering would have either all real wood or no wood at all?
You have to follow the use of real wood through the years at acuranews.com through the archives, comparing year by year. In general, the use of real became less and less over time. As I recall, the only real way to figure it out was to compare the dot charts in each brochure on a yearly basis. As time went on, real wood became more scarce unless you got the ACC/CMBS/PAX model. I believe the wood trim on the door panels was always plastic wood ("plood" as used in numerous posts). At some point, they started using a gray colored wood/plood with the gray leather (taupe?), in addition to the brown colored wood/plood, but I don't have the details on that.
In 2005 and 2006, they said
STYLING AND MATERIALS
The quality of materials, fit and finish have received close attention to reflect the spirit of the new RL. Genuine curly maple wood trim sweeps across the instrument panel...
Wood Gear Selector Knob...
In 2007 they said
STYLING AND MATERIALS
The quality of materials, fit and finish have received close attention to reflect the spirit of the RL. The large, bright navigation system display is positioned up high, in the center of the instrument panel within easy line of sight of the driver and passenger. Below the navigation system screen, the satin metal finish of the climate, audio and navigation controls has a clean, technical look. And an available upgraded wood interior sweeps across the instrument panel... [I added bold emphasis, and recall that the brochure said that only the ACC/CMBS/PAX had the genuine curlywood maple...]
In 2009 and 2010 they said
STYLING AND MATERIALS
The quality of interior materials, fit and finish have received close attention to reflect the discerning nature of the RL owner. The large, bright navigation system display is positioned up high, in the center of the instrument panel within easy line of sight of the driver and passenger. Below the navigation system screen, the satin metal finish of the climate, audio and navigation controls has a clean, technical look. An available upgraded wood interior sweeps across the instrument panel, is fit to parts of the steering wheel and adorns the shift knob.
Two offered accessories are the shift knob, made out of real wood, and the steering wheel, made out of plood...You can see this on the Acura accessories site...
the Wood Select Knob has a description
...Made of the same wood featured in the RL interior...
while the steering wheel is described as
...Wood-look and leather steering wheels are available in all three interior trim colors to complement the RL interior...
Acura did not make a distinction between real and fake wood in the accessories in Acuranews
INTERIOR ACCESSORIES
A variety of high-quality genuine Acura accessories is available for the 2005 RL. Designed specifically for the vehicle, they add to luxury and improve the car's usefulness. The accessories include:
...
Wood-Trim Steering Wheel (available in three colors to match interior colors)
...
You can also trace the wood/plastic through on-line catalog part numbers. You will see a piece for the front fascia in a 2006 Tech Package (ACC/CMBS/PAX) says Dark Curlywood Maple, $1400+, and in a 2008 base model, just the same front fascia, now plastic, described as, New Dark Olive, is only about $500+.
The real wood is a thin veneer, these are not complex shaped blocks of maple...someone pointed out, that in an accident, you do not want wood shrapnel spalling off into the passengers, as in the old wooden warship days...
I believe the wood trim on the door panels was always plastic wood ("plood" as used in numerous posts).
Is there any model year where there was either real wood or at least no fake wood used on the door panels? And the related question would be why can Lexus, Infiniti, and BMW, use only real wood but not Acura?
I didn't think that real wood was used on steering wheels for years by any manufacturer because if its shattering potential upon impact. The steering wheel was one of the first items to be subject to safety requirements which date back to the 70's or 80's.
Any car that uses real wood is using veneer. It allows it to be pliable and molded to complex shapes. As mentioned, solid wood components would not meet crash regulations. Likely the largest wood component is the shift knob, on any car.
The real wood is not intended to appeal as a solid structure. The real wood is intended to offer a unique element as each tree is unique in grain pattern, luminescence and color.
But that uniqueness adds to other arguments. One tree can be shaved into a hundred of veneer layers...all very much alike with the slightest of variation. And then you have people who complain that the unique wood trim does not exactly match the components which may or may not be real wood.
Like leather, no two pieces are exactly the same. Some find that characteristic valuable. Some find that annoying. If you want consistency that is unnatural, plood and pleather offer many near matches.
Bottom line...does it please YOU in whatever form it is in?
you can't have real piece of wood on dash, it's not safe.... if u r ever in an accident, that piece of wood splinter might drive straight into your body.... that won't be pretty.... most of the wood are veneer like Tempa said.... he knows what he's talking about.... I think I have a thread with picture of the center console wood piece.... check it https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ood+dash+color
Is there any model year where there was either real wood or at least no fake wood used on the door panels? And the related question would be why can Lexus, Infiniti, and BMW, use only real wood but not Acura?
Most of the wood in these cars is thin strips of real wood glued ontop of plastic. BUT in some cars, such as the 7 series, and roll's royce's, real wood is used on some ares of the car. For example the drawers on my 7 are solid wood pieces, but the dash piece is made of thinner sheets of wood overlaid on top of plastic because of splintering during an impact. You do have to remember that BMW does use veneers on 99% of their wood trim, only the 7 series get's extended wood, and that too can be veener or solid depending on the Model and Year. IMO a 100K+ car should have real wood. 50+K car, maybe, 30+K car, I wouldn't expect it.
The wood veneer is covered with a clear coat. Treat is as you would a painted surface. A damp cloth is fine for regular maintenance. I have used Aerospace 303 for it's UV protection as well as detailer spray / quick wax which tends to fill any fine swirls.
If you have scratches a mild polish may remove them. As it is an interior purpose clear it is not as hard at the exterior clear coat, so I would not try anything to aggressive, and hand polish only.
Is obsessing over tenths of a second in speed for a pedestrian sedan which spends most of it's life in commuter traffic any more logical? Plenty of that to go around.
Some like hand painted artwork, Some are happy with a print.
Some like Italian silk neckties, Some wear pre-tied polyester.
A friend few days ago noticed a color difference on the wood. Took me since then to find this thread. Seems the doors are fake for all 2G RLs, but certain ones have real wood on dash. mine does.
The real wood is going to have natural color variations. Anytime you have two different pieces of real wood, you can get a slightly different shade. That said, the plastic will be more consistent and is consistently more red than the real wood. This was most noticeable on my RL in the steering wheel.
A friend few days ago noticed a color difference on the wood. Took me since then to find this thread. Seems the doors are fake for all 2G RLs, but certain ones have real wood on dash. mine does.
But does anyone also have this color difference?
Mine doesn't match perfectly but it isn't as obvious as yours. I haven't taken a picture to analyze it but to the naked eye it is obviously a different shade.
RL09, I have a color difference just like yours, and it's easily noticeable.
Your photo also illustrates the visual difference between RL dashboard wood and RL dashboard plood. The real wood has a three-dimension look that lets you "see into" the depth of the grain. The plood has a reflective quality built into it, sort of like foil under a gradiated paint job, but not three-dimension depth. I looked at wood and plood RL dashboards once specifically to learn whether I could see a difference, and that's what I saw.
I'm pretty confident SSJ's info about the dashboards is correct. Also, in brief:
Steering wheel: Always fake
Shift knob, 05-08: Always real
Shift knob, -09-12: I have no idea
Steering wheel: Always fake
Console, -09-12: Always fake
Thanks it's reassuring, but you may have your conclusions a bit off; I'll paste in SSj's from his post above:
All 2G RL's have fake wood trim on the doors..
All 05's & 06's have genuine wood trim on the dash..
07's & '08's
Base: Fake wood on dash. Tech: Genuine wood on dash.
ACC/CMBS: Genuine wood on dash.
'09's & '10's
Base: Fake wood on dash.
Tech: Fake wood on dash. ACC/CMBS: Genuine wood on dash.
So your conclusions become:
The doors are always fake regardless which 2G you got.
The shift knob always real regardless as well.
Steering wheel always fake (for safety)
Dash/console : Depends; as per above.
I disagree about safety. If there were no way to make real wood veneers safe from a splintering standpoint, they wouldn't be on dashboards either. More to the point, they wouldn't be on the steering wheels of numerous modern cars, including multiple Lexus models.
I recall an early Lexus ad that boasted of how they made sure their wood wouldn't splinter. I think "veneer" is the key word here.
Drifting off the safety topic slightly, I certainly grant everyone the right to their own personal taste, but mine has never been tickled by the RL plood wheel. To my eyes, the tiger-striped rim doesn't match the rest of the interior, and it doesn't look very convincing as wood either. Worse yet, it's functionally less comfortable in extremes of heat and cold than the standard leather-wrapped wheel it replaces. Again, just one man's opinion.
I disagree about safety. If there were no way to make real wood veneers safe from a splintering standpoint, they wouldn't be on dashboards either. More to the point, they wouldn't be on the steering wheels of numerous modern cars, including multiple Lexus models.
I recall an early Lexus ad that boasted of how they made sure their wood wouldn't splinter. I think "veneer" is the key word here.
Drifting off the safety topic slightly, I certainly grant everyone the right to their own personal taste, but mine has never been tickled by the RL plood wheel. To my eyes, the tiger-striped rim doesn't match the rest of the interior, and it doesn't look very convincing as wood either. Worse yet, it's functionally less comfortable in extremes of heat and cold than the standard leather-wrapped wheel it replaces. Again, just one man's opinion.
Yea sorry about that console mix up - my bad. You didn't mention the dash on ur list i thought the console was the same thing.
I absolutely find that steering wheel slippery. The shift knob is world class - but the wheel does slip and then stops where that plood stops.
I have probably slightly harsher weather than you, but I'm blessed to have a garage to park indoors. It's a blessing around here not just for your engine, but for your otherwise blue-turning fingers scrubbing ice.
One of my pet peeves is having a car with the world's most advanced torque vectoring systems in it and it having something as archaic and structurally dubious as a dead tree in it...not really.
06-08-2010, 03:31 PM
