nostatic

Interior design and durability are important to me as well. I have owned several 911s, BMWs, and Audis, and have always been impressed with how great the interiors look after years of ownership. They stand up so well to daily use and the elements.

Nissans newest products use a painted plastic on many interior faces. IMO, they will look terrible after a few years. And that's a risk I'm not willing to take with $50,000 CDN.

The RX-8? I'm a bit concerned about the "piano lacquer" finishes. That type of surface shows minor scratches and FINGERPRINTS. I don't want to be cleaning/polishing those surfaces every few days just to keep the interior looking clean.

My A4 requires very little maintenance to always look clean. As someone stated earlier, Audi goes to great trouble and expense to ensure the the highest quality appearance, feel, and ergonomics are combined in their interiors. My A4 is the Sport model. It has no crappy wood finishes--it's a polished aluminum that looks great against the charcoal interior.

As for great design, I think the Audi TT is a work of automotive art, both inside and out. It's just not for me.

As for comparing cars, in Canada the A4 and RX-8 are comparably priced. The G35 is WAY more expensive. I can get the RX-8 GT for about $40,000, and I paid about $42,000 for a pretty loaded A4. The G35 starts at $48,000. Factor in the taxes and there is a $9,000 difference between a G35 and the RX-8 that I want. They are two completely different price classes where I live.

RXhusker

This is also my fear. My Volvo is almost 9 years old and the car still looks brand new inside and out. The leather seats don't even look like anybody has sat in them (105,000 mi). I really like the interior of the RX-8 and have had the opportunity to sit in it a number of times -- but it was a pre-production unit and the materials were not all final quality stuff. The "piano lacquer" finish in the show cars looked great but was smeared and covered in fingerprints -- obviously there were thousands of people passing through the car. I had the opportunity as a pre-order to sit in the display show car and -- in pristine condition -- it looked amazing :D I just wonder how much work it is going to take to keep it looking that good?

My 2 cents on the Audi Debate -- good clean solid interior but not overwhelmingly the greatest. Some people love the Germanic feel of Audi, BMW and Merc -- some prefer the top notch Japs. Personally, as an admittedly biased individual, I think the new Volvo XC90 and S60R have awesome interiors and of course the best seats in the world.

MattZ

I think this is another major plus for the quality of the German interiors. All of the materials are top notch and wear very well over the years. I'm sorry, but the Japanese interiors don't wear as well.

BTW, lets get off this interior business and start talking about the RX-8 and how great it should be...isn't that why we are all here :D