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Had and have leather on the wife’s Boxsters, and my C2S but alcantara in the GT3. I am going leather in the RS. Even with gloves at the track I find leather feels better. Maybe it is the just grip pads on the Apline Stars but they do grip it better. On the road with my hands, the alcantara wore badly over 3 years and 20k Miles. I even consciously moved away from placing my hands at the same spots on the wheel, so as not to wear the surface. Took it to a professional detailer to restore it and it looked ok for 2 weeks and became matted again. I am too OCD for that. The wheel is directly in front of me, if it looks bad, I am distracted and that isn’t safe. Leather it is!
Thinking of going with a full perforated leather Steering wheel, just feels that much softer, has anyone done this, I see Audi now has it on their high end RS models ?
Alcantara is an ideal material for headliners due to its fit, ability to be molded and sound absorbing properties. It’s also reasonably well suited for seat inserts as it provides good grip and reasonable wear. It’s a poor choice for steering wheels and shifters due to its eventual matted appearance when contacted with the oils in our skin. Actual suede leather is a superior choice for such areas and has been used for that reason instead of Alcantara on luxury high performance cars such as Bentley’s GT3 R model. For me, leather is always iconic and timeless, particularly after a few years time when it reveals its natural patina.
My .2GT3 is nearing 7,000 miles. For what it’s worth, the Alcantara steering wheel looks like new. Knock on wood. I am just diligent about making sure my hands are clean and brushing off dirt every now and then. Think a lot depends on your own skin chemistry and use of hand moisturizers, sunscreen lotions, etc.
If you keep it clean it will look better longer than leather
Here's my GT3 steering, it had 25k miles, including track days, I don't wear gloves. just regular upkeep with the alcantara cleaner and it stay's looking soft and like new.
I watched the nick murray video posted above where he says it looks bad after 2k miles and destroyed after 10k miles? If you don't wash it sure, but just like anything you touch often in a car it requires cleaning more often.
Side note, some racing gloves wear the alcantara, others don't.
Last edited by C4SGRPDK; 03-29-2020 at 08:07 PM.
Reason: added pictures
06-04-2018, 04:43 PM
