Car interior tuning

The desire to transform the car interior appeared almost immediately with its occurence. Some people need comfort, while others try to minimize the interior design. In any case, both of them have a huge scope for upgrading the interior of their iron horse. What exactly and how one can transform his/her car interior to make it comfortable and pleasant, we are going to tell you in this article.

Unusual, new and high-quality

Any car owner strives for the individuality of his/her car, and not only from the outside. Everyone wants the salon to be unique, incomparable, original, and most importantly — comfortable. Everyone needs comfort while driving, except for racing drivers. The latter is important to lighten the weight of the car as much as possible, so as a result of tuning there is almost only a steering wheel left in the cabin. But most motorists are not racers, they want to have a car where it will be warm in winter and cool in summer, and you feel comfortable in the driver’s seat and the same for your passengers in the passengers’ seats, etc.

In fact, any car interior tuning involves a number of measures (or one thing, although this is rarely limited to):

1) finishing of some interior surfaces with various materials (authentic leather, eco-leather, etc.);

2) adding led lighting or other additional lighting;

3) tuning design of the gearshift lever knob and steering wheel;

4) installation of stylish seat covers and head restraints;

5) installation of devices that increase the level of comfort in the cabin;

6) use of protective equipment against sunlight (curtains, visors), external noise (noise isolation) and vibration interference.

Something of the above or all at once, undoubtedly, makes the car original, recognizable, and also gives the interior a personality. However, the upgrade must be moderate, otherwise the bad taste and diversity will play Old Harry with the interior. Modernization of the car interior should be considered both in terms of color, and in the choice of materials and equipment necessary to improve the interior. You should not consider your car as a burrow. You should weigh the preferences of a particular car owner, as well as his/her capabilities — interior tuning does not always cost a small amount, although there are budget options for improving the interior design of a car.

Where to start

Undoubtedly, it is important to immediately understand what will be the interior of the car in the end. If these are individual interior improvements, this is one option, and if we talk about full tuning, it is better to start with vibration and noise insulation. The quieter the interior, the more comfortable the driver and passengers feel inside the car. For sound or noise insulation, purchase relevant materials in specialized departments of car markets. Keep in mind that you will have to completely disassemble the car interior and remove the old insulation upholstery. Then the inner surface of the body is lined with several layers of vibration isolation material (to reducie the level of vibration that occurs as a result of driving). A sound-proof pillow is mounted on top of the vibration isolation — in several layers. Keep in mind that you can not ignore hard-to-reach places. A gap of even three millimeters will lead to the fact that the necessary effect of sound and vibration isolation will be reduced to zero. Therefore, it is necessary to work gently and carefully monitor the quality of installation of insulation materials. It will be great if you buy high-quality seals in advance. The last when assembling the interior will ensure a tight fit of all trim elements to each other.

Smooth surface upgrade

Since modern cars in the vast majority belong to the budget price or the average cost segment, their interiors are finished with inexpensive plastic. This does not give the interior a luxurious look. Therefore, the question is how to improve the appearance of various parts with smooth surfaces. For example, it can be a floor mat on the interior floor, door surfaces, and so on. The easiest way is to buy a vinyl or carbon film that imitates various materials.

However, pasting surfaces with such a film require concentration and eliminate haste. Scrupulous observance of the dimensions and dimensions of the parts will allow you to carve out a similar construct from the film and carefully transfer the latter to the tuned surface. On the one hand, the procedure is extremely trivial, and the car owner is quite able to cope with this operation independently. But it is important to remember that the surface covered with the film must be prepared — cleaned of dirt, thoroughly degreased. The glued film should be straightened from the center to the edges with a soft spatula. You can use a hair dryer. The color scheme of the film is not limited, so you can use a combination of different colors in the design of various interior details. The key factor here is moderation in choosing colors. But the film is not resistant to fire, and it is not too strong and wears out quickly. The way out is seen in choosing a more expensive tuning option — using eco-leather, Alcantara or genuine leather if you can afford it. The latter in the car interior upgrade refers to expensive and time-consuming tuning. It takes much more time to design a leather interior. In addition, any damage to the surface will require not just replacing part of the film coating, as in the case of the first version of the interior design, but serious costs.

Ideally, it is better to tune the parts together with the work on vibration and noise insulation, so that the assembly of improved interior structures takes place at the same time. 

Flocking is getting more and more popular nowadays. Let’s find out what it is.

The flocking mechanism for interior elements

Smooth surfaces in the car interior can be easily updated with the help of the so-called flocking — flock application. This is a traditional textile that is chemically processed and sold in the form of short fibers. Finishing by flocking also requires pre-cleaning and degreasing the surface that you want to update. However, this is not all. Then you need to apply a special primer, after which the tuned surface is thoroughly sanded. It is performed with sandpaper with the smallest abrasive. Again, cleaning is carried out — this time it is dry (anti-dust). Apply a layer of glue. Only after that, using a floater, the surface is covered with a uniform layer of float. Excess of the latter is carefully removed (using a regular hair dryer). Flocking allows you to get a completely new interior of the car, while the flocked surfaces are pleasant to the touch, resistant to fading (they retain their original color for a long time), and are immune to moisture.

But the ceiling of the cabin is usually made out not with a flock or a film, but with a so-called carpet. We have a separate article about it, so we will not dwell on this material in detail, mentioning only that the option of upgrading the car interior with a carpet is very practical and inexpensive.

Upgrade of car seats — a striking tuning option

The most popular interior improvements relate specifically to the design of the seats. Every motorist dreams of the seats in the cabin of his/her car to be unique. Some people prefer jacquard on the seats, some — velour, and others — only authentic leather, some choose a combination option, for example, a combination of eco-leather with Alcantara or velour with suede. It is clear that if you buy a premium car, you can discuss all the details concerning the configuration, including the color, quality and features of materials in the interior design, first of all — the seats. But when you buy a budget car, there is often no choice. It remains to wait until it becomes possible to purchase completely new seats or (which car owners prefer much more often) get car covers.

Today there are special workshops where you can order individual covers made of materials, the choice of which is practically unlimited. Even natural fur is used. Eco-leather is quite versatile since it looks good and has good elasticity features. You can choose between a huge palette of colors since the range of colors for car covers is unlimited.

When the car enthusiast reaches a new level, he/she can choose Alcantara — an excellent finishing material in the form of artificial suede, very strong and durable. This is a refined option for those who appreciate royal luxury. Alcantara is made from ultra-microfibre, so it is very soft and pleasant to the touch, easy to clean and wash. In addition, Alcantara has the following features:

– elasticity;

– durability;

– hypoallergenicity;

– wear-resistance (resistance to deformation);

– hygroscopicity;

– fire resistance (non-combustible);

– resistance to pollution and other external influences.

There are the following types of Alcantara as a high-quality fabric:

1. Pannel — a dense and durable material without a backing, which covers the dashboard of the passenger compartment;

2. Cover — a material with a textile backing, which is mainly used for finishing seats;

3. Alcantara with perforation — used as a decorative fabric, as well as for finishing seats to increase air exchange.

Alcantara car covers are washable, but more often it needs only dry or wet cleaning. To maintain the aesthetic appearance of the seats in the car, it is enough to regularly clean dust and small dirt with a vacuum cleaner.

There should always be alcohol-free wet wipes in the cabin. They help to get rid of the most fresh dirt and save the owner from dry cleaning the salon in the future. Covers and interior from Alcantara will serve the car owner for many years, if he/she follows the simple rules of hygiene and care. So it is necessary to:

— weekly vacuum the interior from the floor and seats to the ceiling and panels. You are not allowed to smoke in the car, as the Alcantara textile absorbs and accumulates the smell of tobacco;

— ventilate the interior after dry and wet cleaning to remove the excess smell of detergents;

— since Alcantara is hygroscopic, dry it when its wet;

— do not bleach the covers; choose a delicate mode, and use a medium spinning.

We are going to discuss all other improvements inside the car interior in the corresponding articles. Since the world is blurring borders today, it is better to have an international driver’s license. If you still have no international driver’s license, we invite you to quickly and easily apply for it on our website.