lagodue

Having just bought a 911.1/Aerokit and feeling pretty good about it, my attention turns to my next ride . . . and a GTS comes quickly to mind.

Most of the ones I have seen all have Alcantara:

Alcantara is a covering microfibre material manufactured and marketed by Alcantara S.p.A. It is primarily used in the design, fashion, accessories, consumer electronics, automotive and marine industries.

The material was developed in the early 1970s by Miyoshi Okamoto, a scientist working for the Japanese chemical company Toray Industries. It was based on the same technology as another product from the same company named Ultrasuede. Around 1972, a joint venture between Italian chemical company ENI and Toray formed Alcantara SpA in order to manufacture and distribute the material. The company is now owned by Toray and Mitsui.

Alcantara is produced by combining an advanced spinning process (producing very low denier bi-component "islands in the sea" fibre) and chemical and textile production processes (needle punching, buffing, impregnation, extraction, finishing, dyeing, etc.) which interact with each other.

Frankly, I find this material CREEPY and would never have a Porsche interior (or pair of shoes) with it. YMMV.

JustBud

This will be one of those threads that will be split down the middle, like NA vs. FI. Personally I'm not a fan of it on seats, steering wheel, dash, doesn't bother me on the headliner at all. I ordered my car with alcantara visors to match the headliner but leather everywhere else. I would order a GTS the same way, although to some that would be heresy.

stout

Like so many things, there are pros and cons. When it comes to function, utility, and appearance, in purely personal terms, I like Alcantara just fine, but prefer leather. That goes for steering wheels, seats, shifters, etc.

Found this interesting:
http://www.aboynamedsue.co/about/ecodictionary/

Alcantara
Alcantara is an artificial substitute for suede, developed in Japan in the 70’s and now only produced in Italy, composed of about 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane.

Cons
-Alcantara is made from synthetic petrochemicals, hence there is the environmetal impact of using/sourcing non-renewable energy resources.
-Non - biodegradable, therefore unless recycled in a special facility, may end up sitting around long after we are all gone, polluting the environment and damaging natural ecosystems

Pros
-Vegan friendly - has the velvety texture of suede that doesn't cost the life of a cow.
-Since 2009, the producers of Alcantara have quantified, reduced and compensated all the CO2 emissions produced by the production processes of its material.
-The company has also supported a number of projects linked to renewable energy and certified by the UN.


Pretty neat website, too.
http://www.aboynamedsue.co/about/our-story/

KenTO

I have a GTS Targa and it is my first car with Alacantara/ Leather. I personally really like it, I feel the seats are more comfortable than leather alone. It looks more sporty and rich due to the varying texture. Coming from a cow is not necessarily better than modern science.

Gus_Smedstad

One of the reasons my wife ultimately decided against purchasing that manual yellow GTS cab in Arlington was that it had Alcantara seats. It wouldn't have been a deal-breaker for me, but it was for her. I do prefer leather though.

GregD

I've always liked it. Mostly on seats... Grips like cloth but looks better, less temps sensitive than leather. it seems very durable on a seat, and you don't end up with all those cracks in the driver side exterior bolsters, on pretty much every leather seat I've ever seen. Also on headliners, it's classy and clean.

But it's not so good on hand-touched surfaces: I've had alcantara steering wheels and shifters or handbrakes, and they invariably look peeled and bald after 4/5 years, sometimes faster... Then they become super slippery ! Also not good at all if wifey borrows the car (and wifey loves hand creams). Folks like it on the wheel when also wearing driving gloves, then it's like both sides of velcro and very grippy, but I don't think I'll ever be OK with wearing driving gloves myself ;-) (we all have a limit on the douchery scale)

Gus_Smedstad

Driving gloves aren't douchery if it's freezing out. If you've got a heated steering wheel, that eventually takes the edge off, but it doesn't help when you first get in the car.

koala

Folks should have their car the way they want it. However, Alcantara is literally plastic.

I like the look of it as a headliner material but beyond that, nope.

911boy

I realize that one advantage is it is grippy........try wearing a fabric coat ....too sticky IMO. Not an Alcantara fan.

jsykes

I like Alcantara for certain purposes. My last two Audis had it on the seats, one I owned for 8 years and over 100k miles, and by then it was starting to look a little ragged on the drivers seat. On the other, it was three years old and looked like new.

For a long term thing, I dont think it wears nearly as well as leather will. However, from a performance standpoint, I like it better since it doesnt get cold in winter, hot in summer, and it grips really well for spirited driving.

On a steering wheel it doesnt wear too well, but great for grip. There is a reason that racing cars have been using suede wheels for decades.

If is a track car, put it all over the place as it will grip well and wear isnt a huge issue. But on a daily you intend to keep for a long time, leather is probably better.

If its a daily you only keep for a few years, get whichever you prefer because the Alcantara will last several years without issue, its just in the long run that it will show excessive wear.

lagodue

. . .

GregD

That's why I said we all have our own douchery scale ;-) People are free to drive with gloves and piloti shoes while wearing a hunziker Tshirt and a porsche branded jacket, with an Urban Ooutlaw sticket on their cars too... If it's cool with some, it's great...

Was just joking *my* personal line is drawn at driving gloves - at least in a 911 - I can maybe see that in a Ferrari 250 Lusso ( and I quite like piloti shoes but they are douchey to most people ;-)

But I think you and I are talking about apple and oranges, I meant the alcantara racing gloves that work well with a GT3 and go beyond the wrist... I once saw a guy driving with sparco racing gloves on his street car (in FL no less), and I laughed for miles... A regular driving glove is likely leather and then it probably doesn't matter grip wise with alcantara wheels... Stay warm ;-)

GregD

quite the look on a street car ;-)

Gus_Smedstad

I was thinking of thin regular gloves, meant to keep the hands warm, or basic leather ones. I find it rough driving with proper winter gloves.

I'm generally unaware of serious racing gloves.

GregD

Yeah if you're cold, you're cold... was talking about racing gloves pictured above, which work great with alcantara wheels for track days - it's very grippy when glove mets wheel. but I don't see myself wearing those outside of track days ;-) nor the cutesy perforated italian style gloves - but....