Yes, I know there are a few photos (very few) floating around of the Midnight Sapele wood trim package, but I'm confused. The photos I've seen clearly show a brown veneer but all of the descriptions I've read on the forum call the wood black or grey. I'd love to have an alternative to the pseudo carbon fiber look in the V interior, but brown wood definitely has no place in the interior of this car.
Can we please get some photos by forum members of their cars with the wood trim?
Here's the photo off the Cadillac website and the wood is clearly brown, however I think that's plain old "sapele wood" from a regular CTS as opposed to "midnight sapele" from a CTS-V:
I'll try to take some of my car tonight. I think it looks great and I absolutely love it, but it is not easy to photograph well. The wood is very dark, with almost no brown or burl color like you see in the pic you posted or in, say, a Mercedes. Here's a pic I found in an eBay listing that has it; as you can see it just looks "black" in the picture, but in person it's a very deep rich color with even some dark reddish highlights in certain light. It's really very unique and, IMO anyway, miles better than the faux plastic "carbon fiber" stuff that comes standard. Well worth the upgrade I think!
Here's a link to another, better picture of the Midnight Sapele Wood Trim from the press kit for the V Wagon; note the crazy amount of suede all over the interior. Nonetheless, this picture captures the color/texture of the wood trim quite well. Not sure I could do better in any photos of my car honestly.
...Here's the photo off the Cadillac website and the wood is clearly brown, however I think that's plain old "sapele wood" from a regular CTS as opposed to "midnight sapele" from a CTS-V:
Yes, that is "regular" Sapele wood, as available on the regular CTS, which is what I settled for installing into my 2009. I wanted the Midnight Sapele wood, but, at least back when the 2010s were first being delivered, I would have had to buy the complete door skins, which would've been way too expensive...
Did you check the sticky photos thread (more towards the end)? It is a very dark finish--almost black with dark slate gray-like accents; matches the mission of this car perfectly in my eyes...
Agreed. It is much, much darker in normal light. And, indeed, badass. If anyone wants to switch, let me know. I'm going to try to see if I can find this trim to replace what I've got.
For those of you with the 09, how much did it cost you to buy it, and how hard was it to install? I would love to replace my carbon fiber, but only if it isn't that difficult (and doesn't cost too much).
I ordered mine from the factory that way. It was one of the first factory
installed wood trim packages. It was strange, because I lost the optional
steering wheel grip by ordering the wood trim.
Well, to each their own and color is clearly in the eye of the beholder. I have never once looked at the MSW trim in my car and thought "gray" (or even "grayish").
I owe you the apology. I sometimes just can't restrain myself...I had just finished a discussion on Darfur, and tried to get my mind back on solid ground by looking at a TED video that talked about the fact that an African child dies every 43 seconds from malaria...a disease we eradicated here sixty years ago...I was a little on edge to say the least, and the word "urgent" struck a strident chord...not your problem...its mine.
I wouldn't own a V without it. The fake carbon fiber silver pieces look cheap and the Midnight Sapele Wood trim makes the interior look richer and gives it a more of a higher end appearance.
If you are going to order the car, don't skimp on the little things like the wood trim. Get the wood trim and DO NOT get the sunroof. The sunroof is more headaches than it's worth. Trust me on this!
"Carbon fiber" should not even be mentioned when talking about the base CTS-V trim.
It is silver-painted plastic with a black-stripe grid pattern over it.
It is not unattractive in the context of the overall V interior, but make no mistake: it isn't trying to look like carbon fiber, and thus looks nothing like carbon fiber, not even to your great aunt who has only heard about carbon fiber.
It doesn't look like aluminum, either. If a silver-painted piece sounds cheap to you then it'll probably look cheap to you. I got it because it's lighter than the wood and I figured I'd probably have all the gloss trim repainted anyway. Just haven't gotten around to it yet...
The wood veneer is classy but there's still a brown tint to it -- the wood hasn't been bleached and then stained, just stained.
Totally worth it. I have it in my '11 silver sedan and I think it really classes up the interior compared to that "carbon fiber". Runs a panel on the doors, along center console and on the dash a bit (if I remember right) and it absorbs the sunlight during the day, giving a nice deep rich look but can also look very swirly and scratched in the wrong light. Kind of a bi$ch to keep clean because it collects dust it seems but I really enjoy the look of it!
My only gripe, is that my isn't quite as figured in the grain as the advertising, but it look like real wood. The fake carbon looking stuff is bad, and doesn't belong in the car.
The only regret I had with my V in '09 was that I hadn't seen the sapale wood trim before pulling the trigger. I might have bought the V in Burlingame, CA instead of San Antonio just for that...
I finally saw the "wood" trim today on a 2014. I'm not impressed. It's too grainy. Doesn't look like a real piece of wood. Maybe it's a slight upgrade over the carbon fiber, but not a deal killer.
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