I was watching one of those "how it's made" shows, and learned where alcantara came from. Hard to catch. Impacts price:

 

I see what you did there and agree.
Looks good on the headliner. It's a deal breaker on the seats and steering wheel. Plus you miss out on the wonderful ventilated seats- best seats cooled seats ever. Maybe if I was a hard core track guy I'd feel different, but just don't need the grip for my on-ramp runs. Plus the alcantara kinda tends to rearrange my pants in areas that create some discomfort (if you know what I mean, without getting too graphic).

 

But is it rich Corinthian Alcantara?

 

First car I ever had it on the seats is my present GTS. I was on the fence about it at first (and my wife thought I was nuts) but the Carmine GTS package looked so great I had to get it.

After living with it a few years,.....i love it! I really could go either way now,...leather or alcantara,....it really doesn't matter now, I just like the choice. My wife thinks its pretty neat now also.

Always like leather on the steering wheel, so I did change that.

 

I like the look of Alcantara on the seats and the hold your a** in place attribute as well. Don't like it on steering wheels as skin oils and hand grime I think would muck it up. Not sure about the longevity of the material and the best way to care for it. And God forbid you spill coffee on it don't know how that would clean up. Wouldn't be a problem for me because if anyone tries to enter my car with a cup of coffee they'll be riding Uber in a jiffy. But at the end of the day, for me, a leather interior can't be beat.

 

I replaced my cheap looking "plasticy" and leather steering wheel with the Alcantara sport and it is a big step up with the 3 silver spokes matching the rest of the interior bits. I really cant believe porsche sold and S model with such a cheap looking steering wheel it really let the whole car down. Also the Alcantara wheel has the nice center ring on it so you can see when it is at 12 oclock.

May do shifter as well so head liner wheel and shift **** match. I do prefer the feel to leather. A previous audi S4 had this and I like it alot but not sure on the wear. From a wear/cost perspective I would stick with leather seats but the steering wheels and shifters are relatively cheap to replace.

 

It's cheap, it wears out very quickly and it feels and looks pretty yucky when it does. Fine for a headliner but clearly not the best material for high wear areas. I'm amazed Porsche charges (and gets) a premium price for it.

 

Well mine is ~3 years old now with some miles on it and it still looks brand new. I do take care of it very well though. More time will tell I guess.

The worst material I have owned in a recent Porsche is the leather seats with the ventilated option. With their multitude of little holes and a less flexible leather it almost looked and felt like 70's vintage vinyl seats. They also collect all sorts of crap in those holes that looks terrible over time. I will never order those again.

Pretty much a to each his own thing I guess.

 

Alcantara isn't for everyone, that's for sure. I understand some of the reasons that people buy it, but I would never buy a car with alcantara. When we ordered my wife's Audi SQ5, we ordered it with "full leather" to eliminate the alcantara bits. When it wears, it looks quite bad.

 

I think the primary point of this material is being overlooked....

It is not meant to be a suede or leather knock off... Rather a high friction material that will keep you planted in your seats and not allow you to slide around. GRIP.

 

I think everybody sees the point of the material, they just don't like the worn-out stuffed animal look. When alcantara is new, it doesn't look that bad.

 

This guy is not a big fan of the material

 

Put me on the pro-Alcantara side. I like how it looks, and how it feels. Also, because I love really good grip on the steering wheel, and love the feel, I drive with grippy tight racing gloves (currently Alpine), and the combo of Alcantara with the gloves is the best I've experienced. I'm an old man, and life is too short to avoid having and doing the truly special thing that I enjoy because someone else looks down on it. Performance cars -- and driving them -- is my one and only extravagance, and I was able to do it only later in life. To take it one step further: I don't own and wouldn't want to have a ricer with a fart can exhaust, because I was lucky enough (and, yes, worked hard enough) to be able to afford more expensive cars. However, if I couldn't afford anything more than an old Honda, I'd figure out a way put a fart can on it. When I see a kid driving hard and enjoying his ricer, rather than look down on him, I see him as a less fortunate kindred spirit, and I thank my lucky stars that I get to have a more expensive, classier toy. It's all about the little boy in all of us (or, the little girl), imaginatively revving the toy car, going "vroom vroom".

 

Hate alcantara and wish my Spyder didn't have any of it. Every time I see an alcantara steering wheel it reminds me of a fuzzy wheel in a lowrider. Even looks thicker to me. Plain leather for me.

 

Then why put it anywhere but the seat bottom/backs? Why put it on the glove box, the console cover, the shift boot...