In my quest to rid my XKR of its ugly and useless satnav, I sent my elm veneer centre piece off to England so they can match the grain and supply me with a 3-gauge version. To cover up the nasties in the meantime I picked up a CF panel on eBay for a few € and I actually kind of like it...

It sort of matches the black centre console/buttons, carpets, wheel, dash top, etc. and I am now wondering if I ought not to keep it. I was going to canibalise it for the chrome rings once the elm veneer part is back, but now I'm not so sure. The elm panel is ordered now anyway, but notwithstanding that, what do you think?

 

It doesn't look terrible, but I do love the look of the wood dash, IMHO

 

I agree with you. It works vertically, but does look a bit strange next to the two gorgeous veneer panels.

Ant there's something slightly out of place about CF on an XK8/R, IMHO. Like putting ceramic brakes or 20" wheels on an E-Type

 

I think you either need all CF or all wood. The CF center piece looks out of place.

 

The Cf changes the nature of the car, rather like from classical music to rock. Maybe better or not but depends on taste. It does change it.

 

Needs to be Wood!

 

Not bad, I could live with it long term, but agree that all wood is nicer. What's with the black shift knob? I've had my Xk8 only 2 weeks, and could be mistaken, but I'm sure it's wood.

 

I'd definitely stick with the elm. This looks nice, might be nicer if the gearshift surround was also CF, but I'd still prefer the elm.

 

So we're all in agreement, then: it doesn't look too bad as a temporary solution, but the elm will look nicer.

Sold!

All the other bits of trim, including the gear knob, are 100% stock, but my car is one of the very last XKs to be built (August 2005) and was therefore given just about everything Jaguar and their suppliers had lying around.

 

I think your steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car!

 

I wish my XKR were right hand drive. lol

 

+1 on retaining the wood veneer. I'm rather liking the light piping on the floor mats, however. Stock item or aftermarket?

 

hahaha I was just about to post that.

I'm not so sure I like it Frog. I'm not a carbon fibre fan to begin with, just doesn't look classy. It's like what wood happen if Beethoven suddenly switched to an accordian, harmonica and knee clappers.

 

I ordered the mats from www.autostyle.co.uk with magnolia leather trim around the mat only. By default they will do the driver's side heel pad trim in the same colour, but I asked them to do that black, (a) because I thought magnolia there as well would look cheap & nasty, (b) because it would get dirty very quickly and (c) because I wanted to get as close as possible to the mats that Jaguar originally issued on the run-out 4.2S XKs.

The magnolia isn't an exact match for my ivory seats, but you can't really tell.

 

The more wood the better the car

 

I must admit I am not a wood fan, I am probably in the minority, I am not not necessarily saying I prefer the carbon, but I do like the piano black

 

Yes, piano black is gorgeous, but I bet it's terrible for fingerprints. Also, it's becoming a bit common now and can look a bit plasticky.

 

I like it..

 

Thanks, but I think you're in the minority. I should receive my elm veneer panel back from England in a couple of weeks, so we'll see which looks better

 

Yeah, probably.

I want more wood in my car. I'll be getting my full set re-veneered and the side panels done as well:



/drool