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Such contrasting info, well, good to know others have had good experiences with it. I know I would be **** about it, but I left it on the wheel as a small diameter alcantara wheel just screams "race car" to me and I'm a poseur, so I like the feeling if not the reality.
Ok, you lost me on the wheel. I gotta think it's gonna mat down and be a bitch to keep clean there, given all the oils on your hands. I've never been a fan of alcantara wheels.
The key is to get is in medium/dark grey like Porsche does.
Light colours do not do well over time. The Grey hides subtle changes even better than black.
Ugh, Tavarish, the so-called auto journalist that finds nothing more despicable than people buying a new vehicle instead of putting the same amount of money on a bunch of castaway Mercedes AMGs and any free time you have for the upcoming month getting it to run.
Ugh, Tavarish, the so-called auto journalist that finds nothing more despicable than people buying a new vehicle instead of putting the same amount of money on a bunch of castaway Mercedes AMGs and any free time you have for the upcoming month getting it to run.
lol yes, those are definitely the style of articles he writes
The alcantara parts on the LWB seats are held by hook and loop and are easily removable, washeble etc. Without the use of any tools but your hands. You can get spare parts in leather i believe. If not you can have them upholstered as you whish. M2c
The alcantara parts on the LWB seats are held by hook and loop and are easily removable, washeble etc. Without the use of any tools but your hands. You can get spare parts in leather i believe. If not you can have them upholstered as you whish. M2c
My CGTS came with Alcantara. I opted for leather steering wheel and shifter because a friend has a BMW with Alcantara and they definitely get stained and matted from hand oils/moisture. However they're easily enough cleaned with mild soap and water and a soft brush to bring up the nap. And, they definitely feel nicer on your hands.
My dearly departed 997 GT3 had alcantara everywhere. It's superior to leather on the seat inserts, from a grip perspective, and showed zero wear after 4 years/30K miles. And I greatly preferred its feel and softness vs. leather.
However, for the wheel and shifter, I'd definitely go leather...the alcantara gets matted and shiny from skin oils and looked like crap after about a year.
i've never had alcantara on a car I've owned, so I was quite excited that so much of it was on the interior of the 981 Spyder. However, after reading this article I'm getting concerned wondering whether it gets dirty and/or wears this badly?
My only memory was my dad had a lancia thema when I was young in italy, it was beige and to be honest.. with us kids it had some serious dark spots on it by the time the car was sold... but I had never made the connection until now..
has the material improved since the mid 80's?
Jalopnik's quality has been declining for quite some time. It's pretty much clickbait nonsense at this point, so I would take it's "journalism" with a grain of salt.
Jalopnik's quality has been declining for quite some time. It's pretty much clickbait nonsense at this point, so I would take it's "journalism" with a grain of salt.
I happen to disagree, i find they are on a constant quest for diverse content and improvement. But this point aside, the article was an opinion piece and it has been interesting for me to read just how differing the opinions are regarding alcantara on this thread alone. Consensus seems to be that it's too delicate for the steering wheel, but ok for other areas which aren't in direct skin contact. My order is in at this point and I'm concerned about changing it because of the LWB issue. I'll deal with the alcantara wheel wear.. I'm frankly excited about a small suede steering wheel in my car
I am a big fan of AlcantaraŽ. I had it on my '03 Audi RS6, '07 997 Carrera S, '07 MB CL600, '12 Boxster Spyder, '11 Audi R8 Spyder & currently
on my '15 gt3.
Here are two examples of posts I have previously done in Rennlist trying to explain the benefits & popularity of AlcantaraŽ:
AlcantaraŽ* is offered by the world's leading sport car manufacturers on their sportiest models. That includes Ferrari,
McLaren, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Porsche. Personally I love it. In my opinion, the biggest drawback at the
moment is the inability of Porsche yet to create a ventilated seat solution using this grippy material. Alcantara S.p.A.
offers square and round perforation options, but PAG & its seat supplier apparently do not feel comfortable enough with
its longevity (resistant to tears due to its perforations on the fabric) to offer a ventilated seat covered in this 'artificial
suede' material.
I anticipate auto manufacturers will increase their offerings of AlcantaraŽ in different colors in the future (PAG has used
'charcoal' & 'bordello red' in some of their models) and expect alcantara to continue to grow in popularity among sport
car aficionados!
*AlcantaraŽ is manufactured by a specialized company based in Italy and now fully owned by the Japanese - Toray
and Mitsui.
"For the past few years Porsche has offered AlcantaraŽ as an upgraded seating surface, steering wheel covering and headliner
material but many people do not know what 'Alcantara' really is. The appearance and tactile feel of the material is similar to
that of suede, and it may be incorrectly identified as such, or as "Alcantara leather", on occasion. The truth is, AlcantaraŽ is a
composite material composed of 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane. It is this mixture of materials that gives Alcantara its
increased durability and stain resistance. There are currently three versions of AlcantaraŽ available: cover (made for seating
surfaces); panel (made for door/dash applications); and soft (made for headliners).
The material was developed in the 1970s by Miyoshi Okamoto, a scientist working for the Japanese chemical company Toray.
In 1972, a joint venture between Italian chemical company ENI and Toray formed Alcantara SpA in order to manufacture and
distribute the material. AlcantaraŽ has the luxurious look and feel of fine Italian lamb suede. It is soft to the touch and makes
a beautiful compliment to leathers used by Porsche. When used as seat covering inserts the AlcantaraŽ provides a unique "grip"
when making tight cornering maneuvers."
09-29-2015, 10:52 PM
I opted for leather steering wheel and shifter because a friend has a BMW with Alcantara and they definitely get stained and matted from hand oils/moisture. However they're easily enough cleaned with mild soap 
and water and a soft brush to bring up the nap. And, they definitely feel nicer on your hands.
