I'm having fun with the Porsche configuration tool on their website picking the goodies for my upcoming C2S purchase. The interior leather options are a little confusing and I could use some help.

Do you have to pick all the pieces ala carte (instrument, seat backs, headliner etc.) or does the full leather interior come as one option?

Does anyone out there have the leather headliner? Opinions? If it isn't leather, what is the standard material? Did you have any complaints with the quality or texture?

I have a thing for lush, beautiful car interiors. I trust the rest of the C2S will exceed my expectations but I am spending some time with the interior because that is how i will interact with it the most.

Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. I like to have this all worked out before I see a salesman.

My color is the two tone black/sand beige in a seal gray exterior.

 

Headliner in the S is alcantera. Reeeeeally nice. IMO, no need for trying to improve it with leather. Not sure about the non-S.

I didn't get leather interior because I didn't like the extra lines from the stitching being everywhere. Added even more bizzyness to the interior and reminded me of the Western Raw Hide look. The stock dash "plastic" is good looking, appropriate for car as long as you don't ruin it's attractive matt finish with a glossy armorall-type product.

IMHO, Don't get too hung up on a getting "lush beautiful" interior because the PCM kinda ruins it with it's cop-car look of functionality.

Take a good look at the interior: I think is it very busy with lots of styling elements going on. shapes, lines, textures, volumes, materials, colors, zig-zags, get a light color and see even more with the "kerf" lines and black holes everywhere.

Salesguys are overrated; alot of them don't know very much. Boards like this one will help you thru the buying process and sell you the car.

 

The car configurator is not the best way to resolve option issues. It does not actually show many of the available options and the graphics often do not match. Get the 997 order guide(Coochas, a Rennlist member, has a web page with the file.). Print out the interior diagram and refer to it against the option list.

By the way, with Porsche, everything is a-la-carte. If they could charge you with the air you breathe when you order the car, they would do it.

If you like a rich and elegant look, don't let anyone talk you out of the full leather interior, it includes dash and door panels. I think the two tone is full leather anyway. I don't like two tone anything, solid beige will look better. Black/beige is OK with black paint, but not gray. Be careful of too many different colors and finishes in the car.

The sport seats & some steering wheel options are gray plastic, incompatable with sand beige. Be careful of which wheel you order and consider getting the leather seat backs. With standard seats, the vinyl backs will probably look OK. Get power seats with heaters either way.

The PCM faceplate is gray plastic(Can be had in leather, I think) and some dash/wheel parts are aluminum.

Consider leather door finishers(handle, surround of lever & compartment cover) and console. Consider also the various dash options & leather visors. The pillars and all sorts of small parts can be leather covered.

Unless you plan to keep the car a long time, don't even think about ordering a lot of leather options, the costs cannot be recovered on resale. Be preparerd to spend $5K to $10K. Good Luck.

 

I have the full leather dash and like the look of the stitching. It is obviously personal preference. I also had the aluminum that runs across the front (a/c vents, and the trim piece) done in leather and I feel it cleans up the way that it looks. It was too distracting for me with the aluminum.

 

I have my car on order and I included most of the leather options available. I know It probably is not a good investment dollar and sense wise, but I plan to keep the car for quite some time and I am more focused on the overall "package" at this point.

 

Don't forget
CVZ Bose Subwoofer Outlets Leather $220

As if you can see them or touch them

 

I have to be honest. I have full leather and a few extra leather bits and I am not satisfied with the quality. I have a big line in my dash and dents in my door panels. I am sure I could have it repaired under warranty but then you face potential other problems.

 

I applaud you wholeheartedly.

I love my car and am basically satisfied with it. That being said, there's no contradiction in seeing it's flaws.

However, there's a list of things I do not like about it and I'm not afraid to tell people.

Matter of fact there's a couple things about the car that make me angry.

If Porsche keeps insisting they promise "Excellence" I have every right to expect it and be pi**ed when it isn't delivered.

It's part of the fun owning therse cars.

 

Vinyl dents, rips like paper. Go full leather and add a little CF to dress it up.

 

To me the ideal pcar would be black (or atlas) exterior, two tone black/sand interior with makasar wood steering wheel and trim and a painted rear center console in black to match the ext color. The bland gray color scheme of this car's interior is just begging to be livened up but in a tasteful way. I know that some people feel that wood is not appropriate in a pcar and that it should look spartan inside but I disagree.

In fact that's probably how I'll order my TT (in a few years after I've put a few miles on my 997 and the market for TTs is not so tight).

 

Personally I love the full leather interior on Porsche's and think the qulaity is as high as I've seen on any car at any price. Yes, there have been a couple of defects which the dealership has happily addressed and there have been no consequences of the repairs (i.e., no rattles or change in functionality).

Good leather will have some markings just like humans have scars from incidents throught their life. The trick is for the leather masters to identify those and not use that part of the hide. It seems that Porsche does let a few sneak in, but if you express dissatisfaction they seem to be happy to fix it. One should argue that shouldn't be required, but hey it is a business trying to make money and if someone is willing to live with it like 996Toomey, then they've saved money using that hide instead of tossing it.

I think the quality of the leather is fantastic and if I ever ordered another Porsche I'd get every leather option possible for visible parts that I could touch (i.e., no subwoofer leather ). I can say that if I had a coupe, I'd probably stilck with the Alacantara leather headline because it looks and feels great. It is harder to keep clean, but headliners usually don't take much abuse in my cars. Alacantara is better for the sound system too than the regular leather, so I'd probably stick with that.

If you like quality leather and interiors, I HIGHLY recommend it and buy as much as you can afford. Start with full leather, then consider the steering wheel (thicker with smooth leather), console, visors and door finishers as the first ones to upgrade. After that it is all gravy, but nice.

Embossing the center console and headrests is a cool option too. I get lots of complements on my embossed headrests in my car.

If I had a track car like a GT3 I'd avoid Alacantara like the plague, which is why I'm absolutely perplexed as to why they are doing it standard in the new GT3. It seems to be the latest trend, but it is stupid if you ask me because that stuff will look like *** in a year or two. Sure, it has advantage in that it keeps you in place better, but it gets dirty,wears too easily, and is too hard to clean in my opinion.Of course, if I was using it as a track car, I probably wouldn't even want the upgraded leather as I'd want to have a low maintenance interior that I could just wipe down with a spray bottle of water.

 

I went with natural brown and with certain colors has to be the way to go. It costs the most but is truly the best.

http://members.***.net/edgyforward/_DSC0911.JPG

http://members.***.net/edgyforward/_DSC0912.JPG

This car has several odd pieces not normally ordered--rears of the Adaptives in leather and leather console, door finishers, etc.

Dan

 

Hey Edgy, your car looks alot like my baby but different !
2006 Cab 997
Z4 Basalt Black
V9 Black Top
06 NaturalBrown
249 TiptS
Wheel Caps with Colored Crest
P74 Bi-Xenon
498 Delete Model Desig
267 Self Dim Mirrors
342 Heat Front Seats
XX1 Front Mats w/"Porsche"
Bose High End Sound Package
692 Remote CD (6 Disc)
670 Navigation for PCM
801 Makassar PKG.
451 Makassar Str Whl Multifctn
998 Leather Interior Natural Lthr
P15 Power Seat Package
982 Supple Front and Rear
640 Sport Chrono
482 TPMS
666 Module for Tel
Mods:
Clear Bra
SRX Escort
Clear Side Markers
Tubi Exhaust
Tubi Headers
XM Radio thru PCM
Red Powder Coat Calibers

 

Each car is different, no two are alike, the uniqueness of our Porsche's is a wonderful thing!!!

 

My 911 is my daily driver, 365 days a year. For this reason, I wanted the interior to be luxurious and went with the full leather. Frankly, my next car will likely be a 997 TT in a few years and I will likely go nuts on the little leather optional goodies.
I don't look at Porsche as simply a sports car, I look at it as a luxury sports car.
Some like leather, some don't.
Some love gauges, some don't.
Some like NAV, some don't.
et cetera
There is no 'right' answer.
After all, as the saying goes, opinions are like ******** - everyone's got one, and everyone thinks theirs doesn't stink.