[mgmarsh39]

Maybe I'm weird, but to me Alcantara smells like a new training shoe. Maybe that's the glue smell?

[TheBreeze]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

I prefer alcantara inserts on seats as I find that I slide around more in leather seats than cloth. I don't care for the aftermarket look of making everything alcantara but I don't mind it in moderate doses like seat/door inserts. Visually it provides a nice soft look as well.

This. That in a nutshell is the biggest advantage over leather. As anyone who has tried to track an f80 will tell you, the leather seats suck on terms of keeping you planted. You slide around like your sitting on ice, alcantara/cloth holds you in place WAY better. I actually loved the alcantara seats in my old zhp, best double duty street/track car seat I've ever sat in.

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by mgmarsh39

Maybe I'm weird, but to me Alcantara smells like a new training shoe. Maybe that's the glue smell?

It's mostly the glue, and will be different for every manufacturer to some extent.

[Redd]

Alcantara vs leather = First World problems

[kb2wji]

I guess i'm in the minority - I generally like it. I'm a civil servant, so the closest i've had in my own car was the bolsters in my '11 Civic SI. I did love those seats though.

Someone really needs to bring back Corinthian leather.....now THAT is luxury

[GenXer]

How about this?

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by GenXer

How about this?

Need to wrap the brake calipers, then it's gold.

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by GenXer

How about this?

No surprise... It's a Fiat.

[Housekeeping]

I happen to love it.

[hellrotm]

Alcantara is a lot lighter than leather. The reason you see full alcantara interiors in cars like 488 Pista, where they are counting every ounce. It also provides no slip surfaces for seats while cornering. Some versions of alcantara are flame retardant as well.

[Mingwan]

Alcantara is nice on seats to help with keeping you in place during hard cornering. Downside is your seats will soak up farts and become saturated in them

[309xi]

Originally Posted by GenXer

How about this?

In the famous words of Ish from WCC:

"Too many suede"

[Matt 335is]

If you're in the market for a Porsche one of the things that makes the GTS models so attractive is their use of Alcantara. Looks and feels incredible. It's the #1 reason I'm willing to stretch my budget over an S model.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by GenXer

How about this?

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Matt 335is

If you're in the market for a Porsche one of the things that makes the GTS models so attractive is their use of Alcantara. Looks and feels incredible. It's the #1 reason I'm willing to stretch my budget over an S model.

THis

[HeelToeShift]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

THis

Agree here too.

Plus, let’s also not forget that there’s Alcantara (the branded stuff) and then there’s “alcantara”. They are worlds apart in my experience. Think Mercedes Dinamica, which is alcantara like material but not Alcantara. While it largely looks and feels the part, it’s not the same in term of durability, quality, and so on.

Personally, I don’t particularly like the all Alcantara interiors like the Pista, where everything is swathed in it. There, it looks cheap. I prefer a mix of leather and Alcantara to make a mix of textures. Also Alcantara doesn’t get a hot in the summer nor as cold in the winter.

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by HeelToeShift

Agree here too.

Plus, let’s also not forget that there’s Alcantara (the branded stuff) and then there’s “alcantara”. They are worlds apart in my experience. Think Mercedes Dinamica, which is alcantara like material but not Alcantara. While it largely looks and feels the part, it’s not the same in term of durability, quality, and so on.

Personally, I don’t particularly like the all Alcantara interiors like the Pista, where everything is swathed in it. There, it looks cheap. I prefer a mix of leather and Alcantara to make a mix of textures. Also Alcantara doesn’t get a hot in the summer nor as cold in the winter.

Alcantara is just a brand name of synthetic suede, like Michelin is a brand name of tire. Over the years I've had real Alcantara (my buddy's Fiat X1-9 had it in 1988), and I've had many fakes, and sometimes the fakes are better than the original. The problem is that you never know how it's going to be until it's too late. A lot of the old Ferrari stuff was trash, as was Ferrari back in the 80's. Some of the Aston stuff is off the charts good, better than the quality of the entire car. Audi was one of the founders of the stuff, so theirs is fantastic as well.

[babyboss]

Alcantara for me anytime anyday ..

Makes the car look more sporty & the grip makes u feel u goin Faster ..

Winter days even more special u don't freeze ..

[SteveinArizona]

I like the seat inserts in Alcantara and the headliner. I don't like the steering wheel (I don't think it will hold up to daily use and I am not about to start driving with gloves) and I don't like too much of it. Alcantara seat inserts with Nappa type leather on the rest of the seats is my choice.

[..Rush..]

Let's bring back the interior of the late 70s Cordoba lol

[NickyC]

This picture makes me feel hot, and nauseous

[Flacht3]

There's something about Alcantara that just looks, feels and smells so perfect. It gives a certain type of sensory recall that leather just doesn't; hard to explain.

I'll just leave this here: