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Black obsession - badbusdriver

Scandanavian's do usually have good taste in colour and design, but unless you were reading a Scandanavian motoring magazine at the time, the XC40 in question probably wasn't specced by a Scandanavian. And unfortunately car manufacturers have to cater for people with bad taste as well as good!

As for piano black trim vs matt plastic?, showroom appeal. Piano black looks nice and expensive in the showroom, matt plastic looks cheap, simple as.

Black obsession - Engineer Andy

Indeed - glossy black plastic looks great until the first finger mark.

Black obsession - badbusdriver

Indeed - glossy black plastic looks great until the first finger mark.

Proof, not that any was needed, that most people don't really think as much as they should about what in a car is important, and what isn't.

Image, image, image,

bling, bling, bling

Black obsession - oldroverboy.

Indeed - glossy black plastic looks great until the first finger mark.

Proof, not that any was needed, that most people don't really think as much as they should about what in a car is important, and what isn't.

Image, image, image,

bling, bling, bling

But not as bad as the cream "leather" dashboard top in my lotus eclat in the 80's, terrible for reflrcting in the windscreen.

Black obsession - 72 dudes

badbusdriver is bang on.

The XC40 in the mag will almost certainly be an R Design, for the UK market, with a coal mine interior.

At least with the Volvo you can change the colour of the interior. With Mrs 72 dudes' Audi Q3, the choice of interior was black or black. The rather pleasant Oyster grey was phased out a few years ago.

Black obsession - expat

Try having a black car or black interior here in Australia! It is 37'C today and black soaks up the heat. Leave it parked in the sun for an hour then come back and you will be baked!

www.instructables.com/id/Dashboard-baking/

This is what to do with a black interior.

Black obsession - Engineer Andy

Try having a black car or black interior here in Australia! It is 37'C today and black soaks up the heat. Leave it parked in the sun for an hour then come back and you will be baked!

www.instructables.com/id/Dashboard-baking/

This is what to do with a black interior.

At least it doesn't have vinyl seat covers - time to get out the towels to stop your backside from getting burnt!

Black obsession - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}

Round here, North East Derbyshire and the Peak District, the obsession is black 4x4s. Shows off your mud nicely.

Black obsession - 520i

" Proof, not that any was needed, that most people don't really think as much as they should about what in a car is important, and what isn't "

Why would the styling and visual appeal of an expensive new motor not be important? I really don't understand this attitude that anybody who drives something even vaguely smart is obviously a muppet who has no idea about cars, it's perfectly reasonable to choose something you like the look of when you're spending tens of thousands of pounds on life's second biggest purchase! Maybe the punters choosing piano black trim have got clean fingers or a duster in the glovebox...

Perhaps there's a gap in the market for an Honest John Beige Car Company Limited!

Edited by 520i on 15/02/2018 at 16:45

Black obsession - Avant

People are all different: some think looks are important (and as you rightly imply, 520i, why shouldn't they?), some don't. And people disagree as to what a good-looking car is: I personally think that, for example, the Range Rover Evoque and the Toyota C-HR both look hideous - but both sell well and I'm probably in a minority.

I hope I'm on firmer ground in saying that styling shouldn't interfere with safety. The new XC40 not only has poor rear visibility (hence the 'van' comment above), but the touchscreen incorporates the controls for the heating and aircon, as with Peugeots and Citroens. This is a particular disgrace for Volvo who have for years prided themselves on how much safer their cars are than anyone else's.

Is there any hope that touchscreens will be a passing fad?

Edited by Avant on 17/02/2018 at 00:14

Black obsession - Engineer Andy

People are all different: some think looks are important (and as you rightly imply, 520i, why shouldn't they?), some don't. And people disagree as to what a good-looking car is: I personally think that, for example, the Range Rover Evoque and the Toyota C-HR both look hideous - but both sell well and I'm probably in a minority.

I hope I'm on firmer ground in saying that styling shouldn't interfere with safety. The new XC40 not only has poor rear visibility (hence the 'van' comment above), but the touchscreen incorporates the controls for the heating and aircon, as with Peugeots and Citroens. This is a particular disgrace for Volvo who have for years proded themselves on how much safer their cars are than anyone else's.

Is there any hope that touchscreens will be a passing fad?

I don't mind touchscreens for satnav (as long as most functions can be mirrored with the steering wheel controls and main i-Drive type dials), but I agree about the ergonomic and especially safety related issues with them being used for regularly-used controls such as heater/AC/fan etc - some car makes have gone from one extreme (dashboards full of buttons and dials [just as bad]) to another (almost none at all and most controls solely via the touch screen - the safety issues (taking you eyes off the road to adjust them) notwithstanding, what happens if the screen fails/reboots, whether once or for longer periods?

What I'm amazed at is how many car manufacturers seem to pay (in my view) lip service to in car egronomics, comfort and safety through the non-driving controls, dash layout and trim - the reflections of certain types and colours should surely be tested, and yet often failings get through.

Black obsession - Engineer Andy

Round here, North East Derbyshire and the Peak District, the obsession is black 4x4s. Shows off your mud nicely.

By all accounts, black is now the 'new white' for popular car colours. I was actually just starting to like white for certain cars as well!

Black obsession - jchinuk

Re Piano Black, I blame Apple and most smartphone manufacturers for that fashion, though you are right it's not ideal, even on phones, but you can buy cases to help there.