George Knighton

For whatever one man's opinion is worth, that wood trim is very un-Honda and I think that most of us would prefer to be without it.

I appreciated the aluminum, business-like look of the trim in the 4G TL, and find the wood trim to be a step down as far as practicality goes and as far as what we expect out of a car. At least, I think that most of us coming from another Honda would prefer it to be a little different.

My biggest gripe with the wood is the very polished section ahead of the centre storage bin, next to the gear shift.

It is so highly polished that it reflects street lights and reflected even the recent full moon to such an extent that sometimes when I'd make a turn I'd have to look down to see why I was suddenly seeing a distracting bright light in the centre console.

I'm not sure what to recommend in its place, and it's certainly not much worse than the real wood in an Audi A6 or Mercedes E350, but it's still something that I believe we could improve upon.

:-)

holografique

I was never really a fan of wood trim either. but I do have to say that the RLX is the first car that I really like it in. The primary reason I shifted away from the Lexus GS450 (or any Lexus for that matter) is their horrendous use of wood trim. Especially on the steering wheel. It's gawd awful ugly.

I love how in the RLX it's very subtle, and blends in perfectly with the overall aesthetic of the interior. It doesn't lose it's modern, sleek elegance, and helps keep a small touch of class to a very clean design.

George Knighton

Perhaps I am in the minority!!

At night, are you ever distracted by reflections in the highly polished wood in the console?

weather

^^ I am not a big fan of the wood in the RLX either. That being said, in the MDX top trim here in Canada, the wood is really nice and I would be willing to put up with it.

I am baffled why the MDX would have a nicer wood than the RLX......

jim_c

I sometimes think I might move to an RL after my current TL, but that "wood" trim is a total turnoff to me. I'm an old guy; I guess they think old people like that sort of crap. Wood, plastic wood, composite wood, whatever, has no place in a modern vehicle, MHO.

weather

^^ At least they keep the wood inside now...remember those old station wagon with wood panels on the side?!?! What an atrocity that was......

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

there is always vinyl wrap.

i'm not a fan of wood trim which is all the more reason i choose black interiors. the faux wood in the MDX is black with some subtle wood grain look to it. the 2.5 gen i believe they added a dark brown wood in it's place to "compliment" the black interior (or it's part of some wood trim accessory pkg). the black interior of my TL...has a carbon fiber and aluminum look which i prefer.

for whatever reason car makers think wood and lots of chrome accents make a car more luxurious. some...maybe, in excess i think it looks to blingy and tacky. looks and tastes are subjective however.

holografique

not really. The only reflection I really notice is the slight warm glow of the console reflecting the amber colored interior overhead ambient lights. I have the seacost interior, so that may be offsetting it some too since the interior of my car at night has a more ambient light to it with the light "beach sand" colored leather already reflecting a lot of the interior and dashboard lighting.

sotiri

guess I'm in the minority, I like the wood trim.
if it didnt have it, it wouldnt affect my decision, on the other hand, it didnt affect my decision to buy it either.
I was buying on the pedigree of honda's engines and overall reliability.
If you keep a car for more than 3 years, thats what counts

CFoote

You could always order the aluminum trim from the base model RL, but my guess is you are talking 7-8 hours of dealer labor to swap everything out...

This is assuming the trim on the door panels are separate pieces and not molded into the entire panel.

Chris

cincinnatikid

One of the reasons I only brought the Navi model. I don't like the wood trim, in addition to not liking 19" wheels. Also, some of the features of the Advance is a fun novelty, but I would not use it often enough.

Fabvsix

My 2004 Acura RL has fine real wood from an exclusive wood maker in Japan....Its mentioned in the Salesman book I snatched up from a dealership telling how to sell the car against its competitor (its a 30 page comprehensive book).....Why they dropped real wood in the RLX is beyond......

Colin

I'm reasonably certain that the 2004 3.5 RL used simulated wood trim around the shifter. Back in 1996 through 2000ish there was a real wood trim piece located over the glove box (aprox. 2" x 15" piece between the vents), but this was later replaced with a leather piece that is shown in these photos: http://www.boldride.com/ride/2004/acura-35-rl#gallery/3

When the 3.5 RL was replaced with the all-new 2005 RL, it featured genuine curly maple woodtrim over the glovebox area. However, this was replaced later as they looked to trim costs with a new base RL trim level in 2007. Higher trim levels kept the maple wood.

Fabvsix

Not so Colin....I will take a picture of that book and post it tomorrow....Its all real wood....

Colin

I am curious to see what you have. I have a "RL Driving Innovation" handbook from the intro and it shows "curly maple".

Fabvsix

Colin,
I can't size down the pictures I took.....do you have an email address? Private email me if you want to the the 2004 RL Fact Guide....

George Knighton

I seem to be getting used to the shiny wood and dealing with it. I no longer notice the reflections at night.

It's such a surprising car in so many ways, especially when you press it hard, I can deal with shiny wood, I guess.

If you'd left it up to me, I'd have picked something else...but, whatever....

:-)

holografique

Yup, that's the trick. I think initially people are somewhat hesitant to push it hard because the overall aesthetic design of the car isn't one to invoke that type of driving desire.

But when pushed, it will perform, and then some.

George Knighton

Look how flat the car gets when it's driven harder than we'll do on our daily commutes.

George Knighton

Ha ha ha ha ha....

Experienced Honda person: Lots of shuffle steering, and uses his fingertips.