I disagree... I mean, it depends on the car, but for any sedan or SUV, I would want wood. It warms up the cabin atmosphere.
have you guys been in a car with real wood trim before..... you can actually smell it, most cars don't use real wood except high end audis, bentlys etc. you literally pay for the dead tree!
What do you mean... the 3 series BMW and the C class mercedes even use real wood (when optioned). The ML320 used fake wood, but I think at the arival of the ML350, it now uses real wood. My mothers Lexus RX300, which had a base price of only 30 grand, had real wood as standard. Its not all high end cars that use real wood, its just every car company that likes to make high quality, and astheticlly good looking cars (inside and out).
Your question was "Do any American car companies use real wood in thier cars?" Why would you use balsa wood on the dash.
Yes, they and they always have, but the amount of care that is put into them now is nothing compared to how it used to be. Bentley, by the way still has solid pieces of wood. Bentley puts more into wood than anyone.
really real wood eh? (option maybe)but standard... no ... why because those cars for one thing are too mass produced, second prove it by giving me an article please that specifies that they use real wood, and not worked thier way around the truth...... why may you ask i don't beleive it, because i use to work with a man here at my other dealership i use to work at..... and beleive me, ive been around the damn lexus and bmw... maybe as options im sure... itll cost a damn arm and a leg. anyways..... thats what everyone in the car business says.... the wood isn't real, or is some cheap fake composite of "some real wood and 90% fake materials." anywyas all i ask is prove it to me.... working in the business of cars and working around people, some of who actually own cars we will never own obviously, all have told me its not real.
The cabin floor. It is used to make a sandwich with carbon fiber reinforced plastic as the bread and balsa wood as the meat. These panels are then bonded to the frame rails and central tunnel adding ridgity to the car. They were originally going to use foam, but the balsa wood was lighter/cooler/helped with noise and vibration. The balsa wood in this configuration is not highly stressed, it is there to take up space and connect to the two sides of the carbon fiber. It seavers the same purpose as aluminum honeycomb or nomex honeycomb on a carbon fiber monoqouque (ala enzo). You can see the panels and the balsa in this picture.
I doubt there's much real wood in any American car anymore. Too bad, as I like the warmth that real wood gives to the interior, especially combined with leather. the wood that IS used is just veneer, for many resons. Light weight is one, but safety is a big one. You don't want solid wood splintering in an accident. Veneers are much safer. And if coated in modern coatings that are designed to last teh life of the car, they tend to look more fake than fake plastic wood does...
For the 3 series and C class, wood is an option, not standard. But for the 5 series and E class, and up, wood is standard. And real wood was standard on my moms RX300. Here you go (for the RX) "This is real wood not the plastic stuff found in so many other cars and trucks" http://www.dealtime.com/xPR-Lexus_2002_Lexus_RX_300~RD-61918645892
There is no american car that can compete with mercedes (not right now anyway), but cadillac could be making a comeback soon.
Lincoln is way ahead of you on the all-wood car thing: p.s. Don't pretend like that interior isn't awsome looking, not that there's a chance it'll make production...