ORIGINAL: Axel
Soft materials? Is there a company that actually makes soft material or gets away from the plastic these days? I mean I'm sure the more expensive cars may have different materials, but what about the Rams, though those aren't cheap, the Calibers, the Avengers and even the Challengers? Heck, my Mustang has plastic and I'm sure the Chevys are the same way. Just seems that it's the most cost effecient way to go, not to mention the cracking I'm sure is less then the soft material.
You are correct about this for the most part. My point in complaining about that is it wasn't that long ago that Chrysler had softer materials, in fact some of their older models still in production still have softer materials. Ironically the current minivan line that is about to be replaced has extremely soft materials on the dash, but most of the trucks and cars do not. The LH cars had lots of softer materials, but when they switched over to the MB parts bin, they got hard plastics instead. The problem is all the manufacturers are going in this direction despite popular belief. At the last autoshow, I was shocked that models that magazines bragged so much about were over loaded with hard plastics.
The reason why softer materials are many times favored is they look better. There is a difference between cost efficient and cost effective. Cost efficient is always less expensive (quantity over quality); meanwhile, cost effective is buying quality over quantity. Plymouth, Ford, and Chevrolet were designed to be cost efficient;meanwhile, Chrysler, Lincoln, and Cadillac were supposed to be cost effective. This leaves the brands in between to be a compromise at different scales. Despite what one might think, soft materials would be less likely to crack because they are more flexible. The cushioning effect of softer materials are more likely to bounce off if one were to hit the materials because they give a little; meanwhile, hard plastics are more likely to crack because they take the full force of the impact and were designed not to give at all. Do you understand what I am saying?