When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
While it will still be many months before there is a C8 in my garage, I keep obsessing over the interior (and exterior color). As far as the interior goes, I previously had a 2007 C6 LT4 with a two tone interior tan/black that I absolutely loved. When I first began to configure the C8 online, I jumped on the Natural Napa leather package given it is a two tone setup. Then I saw the Natural Dipped package and immediately switched over to it with the Red Mist MetallicTintcoat exterior.
It was at this point that I recalled my initial displeasure with the tan leather interior in my wife's Cadillac XT5. The tan leather dash gives an annoying reflection in the windshield. Since we've had the XT5 for a couple of years now, I've gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me as much as it initially did, but it is still there if I concentrate. Given this experience it is beginning to concern me about the Dipped Natural Interior on the C8. Has anyone with the Dipped Natural interior had this issue? Do you continue to find it annoying? Have you done anything to minimize or alleviate the problem?
I have the Natural Dipped interior and there is a reflection in the windshield during certain conditions. Darker dash colors also have a reflection but it isn't as obvious. I use polarized sunglasses when driving which significantly reduces the reflection but it is still there. My brain has adjusted and I don't even notice the reflection anymore.
Some people have replaced the hood with a black hood but you will still have a reflection from the side pieces. It sounds like you have adjusted to the reflection in your wife's car but the C8 will be similar. Some people can't adjust to the reflection. Only you can make the decision on whether or not it bothers you enough to go with a dark dash.
Also, the only Napa leather in a 3LT interior is in the seating surfaces.
I imagine the windshield reflection problem could be worse in a Corvette due to the reflective coating on the windshield to make the heads up display work. ?
Another very happy Natural Dipped 3LT owner here with the Natural Napa leather dash. Yes there is a reflection if you fixate on it, but you should be focusing your attention on the road, and by doing that, most brains filter it out. Ours do, and neither my wife, nor I even notice it any more.
There are apparently some people who can't manage to do that. If you get it stuck in your head to the extent you keep staring at the reflection, you'll keep seeing. If you get into a habit pattern of staying focused totally on what's outside your windshield, you won't.
If I look for it, I see a dash reflection on the rest of our cars with black dash tops.
Have had my Natural Dipped Tan color Mulan (GM's coined name for faux leather) Dash for 3 years. In fact, see below, it has more black next to the windshield than my 3LT 2014 tan Kalahari interior. Just like I did for 3 1/2 years with my 2014 I see right past the "reflection" as I did with the 2014.
Since I never tried Polarized glasses and have seen folks post they solved the issue, I bought clip-ons to try. One tint did nothing, the other completed eliminated the refection. I was amazed. BUT those clip-ons have been in my center console for 3 years. Not needed!
SIDEBAR
Just emphasizing the Napa leatheryou mention, IS NOT LEATHER. In fact, IF you opt for the synthetic sueded seating surface you get no tanned animal hide (well perhaps the Drive Mode Wrist Rest and a steering wheel part.) The ONLY real tanned animal hide is the "seating surface." Not even the Bolsters are real tanned animal hide (see pic below.) They are Mulan faux leather. All the same color beit real tanned animal hide seating surface, Mulan or even Vinyl surface textured like Mulan to look like real leather.
Here are some pics.
For the C8 only tan "reflection" in line of sight is the Hud area and some on the side. Most is black and the "moon crater" texture used reflects little.
For the C8 GM finally admits, what was known indirectly for the C7, the Bolsters are NOT real tanned animal hide. Still don't say what Mulan is. With the C7 it was leaked it was Bonded leather that is Vinyl with some finely ground real leather scraps as a filler. But someone posted they bought a C8 3LT Dash part that said it was Polyurethane NOT Vinyl (PCV.) My Ultraleather Street Rod interior is the higher cost Polyurethane, and the company prides itself in using zero dead animal parts! Does Mulan in the C8 have any finely ground-up leather? GM does not say and since it is their coined name it can be whatever they want!
We don't even need the polarized sunglasses with our Natural Dipped dash and don't see the glare anymore, but our windshield is XPEL XR Plus ceramic tinted at 70%. We don't use sunglasses of any kind, because they aren't necessary with virtually all the UV and IR filtered out.
Get the Natural & Black 2 tone and the seats will be easier to keep clean with very little windshield Glare and a Gorgeous flashy Interior ! Done.
My Natural Dipped interior gets more comments than any other aspect of the car. I have had the car for 22 months with 22,000 miles and have never had to clean the seats. As far as glare, my brain blocked it out within 5 minutes of driving off the dealer lot. At Ron Fellows, my car had a black interior and it also reflected in the windshield. A word to the wise... dump the natural mats since they will be filthy within a day. Get black mats and the contrast is OK. Did the same thing with my C6 that had a tan interior and tan mats which would show dirt big time.
Last edited by Bob Paris; Jul 28, 2023 at 05:44 PM.
I currently have Red Mist with the Natural Dipped interior. Yes, there is a glare, but I don't notice it unless I fixate and concentrate on it. The majority of the time, I don't even realize there is a reflection. I just ordered my '24 yesterday, and went back with the Natural Dipped....
Get and enjoy.....oh, and agree, dump the natural mats and get black...
We don't even need the polarized sunglasses with our Natural Dipped dash and don't see the glare anymore, but our windshield is XPEL XR Plus ceramic tinted at 70%. We don't use sunglasses of any kind, because they aren't necessary with virtually all the UV and IR filtered out.
With the XPEL XR on the windshield, does it hamper the Heads Up Display? The reason I'm asking that is because in my wife's XT5 with my polarized sunglasses I can barely see the information displayed.
My Natural Dipped interior gets more comments than any other aspect of the car. I have had the car for 22 months with 22,000 miles and have never had to clean the seats. As far as glare, my brain blocked it out within 5 minutes of driving off the dealer lot. At Ron Fellows, my car had a black interior and it also reflected in the windshield. A word to the wise... dump the natural mats since they will be filthy within a day. Get black mats and the contrast is OK. Did the same thing with my C6 that had a tan interior and tan mats which would show dirt big time.
With the XPEL XR on the windshield, does it hamper the Heads Up Display? The reason I'm asking that is because in my wife's XT5 with my polarized sunglasses I can barely see the information displayed.
Try taking your polarized sunglasses off, turning them 90 degrees, and look at the HUD through one of the lenses. If the HUD gets brighter then it means the XT5 oriented the HUD in the wrong direction for standard polarized glasses (or your glasses are polarized in a non-standard direction). My wife's Avalon HUD is polarized in the wrong direction and the HUD all but disappears when wearing polarized glasses. Corvette oriented the HUD projector in the correct direction for standard polarized glasses.
Try taking your polarized sunglasses off, turning them 90 degrees, and look at the HUD through one of the lenses. If the HUD gets brighter then it means the XT5 oriented the HUD in the wrong direction for standard polarized glasses (or your glasses are polarized in a non-standard direction). My wife's Avalon HUD is polarized in the wrong direction and the HUD all but disappears when wearing polarized glasses. Corvette oriented the HUD projector in the correct direction for standard polarized glasses.
After I posted this I remembered that my 2022 RAM 1500 also has a HUD. Why did I forget I had it you ask.....because with my sunglasses on it is virtually invisible. Since I doubt both cars from different manufactures are both installed wrong, I'm going to dry a different pair of sunglasses.... Thanks.
Try taking your polarized sunglasses off, turning them 90 degrees, and look at the HUD through one of the lenses. If the HUD gets brighter then it means the XT5 oriented the HUD in the wrong direction for standard polarized glasses (or your glasses are polarized in a non-standard direction). My wife's Avalon HUD is polarized in the wrong direction and the HUD all but disappears when wearing polarized glasses. Corvette oriented the HUD projector in the correct direction for standard polarized glasses.
Well, you are correct. I did as you suggested with my polarized sunglasses and at 90 degree rotation the HUD is clearly visible in both the XT5 and the RAM 1500. I then broke out an old pair of non-polarized lens and both HUB were visible. I'm going to have to rethink the choice of my sunglasses
No easy answer, as I debated the exact same issues.
In DFW, we have Corvette World, which circulates through a number of incredibly (or suspiciously!) low mile C8s, so I went and admired often, even considering buying a C8 there. What I found, subjectively, is the dipped interior has huge WOW factor, but even on low mile cars they tended to have more noticeable scars very early on. So, for the data samples going through there, the tan part of the interior was vulnerable, and even more so if you go with suede than leather.
Based on the above, and given mine is a near daily driver and I knew I'd regret even the lightest scuffs if the couldn't be remedied, I went with the 2-tone tan/black (black inserts) in 3LT, hoping that at least the seating surface, if taking abuse, would be less inclined to show it. Also, as a side benefit, the center of the dash over the steering column is black, so there's no reflection issue. That said, it's tan both left and right, and those portions certainly reflect into the windshield, but they are at least out of direct line-of-sight. And, as others have mentioned, they diminish considerably with sunglasses.
Flag down an owner and ask if you can sit in it. It's a typical question for all Napa dipped owners prior to configuration. It's especially impressive with the top down. I love mine. Against the Red Mist it has a decidedly European flavor...'course your mileage may vary...
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
Like this:
Dipped Interior question/concern
