Brushed aluminum beltline trim... any good pictures?
 

I'm looking at some so-so pictures of a Mugello Blue RS4 with brushed aluminum beltline trim. I have not seen this in person and would like to know if anyone on the list has it and how they like it.


Thanks.

Don't do it!

It looks very good with the Euro wheels, but I still prefer carbon

There are a few pictures here:
 

<ul><li><a href="http://www.penneck.com/rs4gallery/?gal=Interior_Charcoal">http://www.penneck.com/rs4gallery/?gal=Interior_Charcoal</a</li></ul>

Some may think CF dashboard trim on a 4000 lb sedan is silly.
 

I was--and am--among them. It does look good, though: I was going to have the CF switched out for Al trim, but once I saw it in pictures the dealer emailed to me, I changed my mind. A little silliness never hurts, I suppose. ;) It is a bummer they use coated plastic instead of real aluminum, though.

from a weight-savings standpoint, it's silly on ANY car.
 

I was never under the impression that CF interior trim pieces were for that purpose on any car....it's simply a sporty-looking material to use on sporty cars. Now if we're talking about a hood or doors or fenders in CF, that's a different story.

Bob, i'm becoming convinced
 

that some here don't have a good grasp of weight's relationship to a car. some of the things ascribed to weight problems, and some measures taken(by owners) to reduce weight are truly laughable, sorry to say.

i agree with your stmt here entirely. mfgrs cannot(and don't) attempt weight savings with accessories, trim pieces, or the thickness of sound deadening material. any weight differences attributed to those things is negligible at best.

the body structure, the type of steel used, the body skins(alum vs steel, or considerably lighter high strength steel), and the mandated safety equipment(larger bumper beams, door reinforcement beams), multiple air bags and their components, larger/heavier trans/clutch, brakes, suspension pieces is where the bulk of the weight is, and where measures can be taken to reduce weight in a meaningful way.

unfortunately, Audi seems intent on ignoring these areas mainly due to higher costs of the very materials that can save weight. in other words, they're taking the cheap route, driven by need for higher profit.

as a result, the cars continue to get heavier, and HP gets pumped up constantly to offset the ever growing weight. it's a losing proposition because the cars then no longer handle as well, and all sorts of other methods are then employed to offset that too...which just add again to the weight. it's engineering gone AWOL, IMO.

i speak of the Germans here, as the Japanese and even Americans seem to be able to keep a car from becoming unduly heavy...often by 100's of pounds advantage over the comparable German cars.

i gave a couple examples here in the recent past, and it's quite enlightening how nothing is sacrificed, and equip is item for item the same in many cases. what are the Germans doing? how can they ignore this very real issue and just keep "growing" their cars in lbs?

when you have an S6 that weighs as much as a typical medium sized SUV, it's bad news.