At the risk of going a bit off-topic (sorry Aaron), here is more information I got from the web on Porsche & Alcantara:

"For the past few years Porsche has offered Alcantara 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, Alcantara 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 Alcantara 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. Alcantara 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 Alcantara provides a unique "grip" when making tight cornering maneuvers."

In my opinion, the reason we are talking about it here is that Porsche, along with most other luxury sport auto makers, have taken to Alcantara in a big way! Porsche has adopted an Alcantara headliner for all 911's since the 997.1 and selected Alcantara (as standard or options) in door panels, seat inlays, shifters & steering wheels ONLY for their top performing models- gt3, gt3 RS's, gt2's, gt2 RS's, Spyders, Cayman R's and 911 GTS's. So designers at Porsche, for reasons we can surmise but can't prove, have associate in customer's minds that Alcantara matches up with 'sport', 'performance', 'racing' and 'gt'!

As to 'why does it cost so much', it looks like Alcantara Spa owns the business and has few, if any, competitors. That is one reason for the high cost. And it must meet strict industry requirements for lightweight, ease of use and safety. I personally love the look of Alcantara. But I must admit that it's an acquired taste. And as Marine Blue states, I rather have Alcantara than vinyl on my interior. The particular vinyl Porsche is using on its modern sunvisors is (surprisingly) not the best quality and looks rather cheap. That is why Steve Colletti, Aaron (mile2424) and I chose leather or alcantara as an alternative!

Finally, real suede must not breath correctly for auto application and also weighs too much for consideration. I have never seen it used by any auto manufacturer.

Saludos,
Eduardo

 

"Sight unseen" brings back Porsche memories... I bought my 911SC sight unseen. Back in those days (1980s), "gray market" cars were the hot ticket. I knew a buyer that went looking for 911s. He found what I wanted near Berlin and I wired the $$,$$$ to him. First time I saw it, it had just cleared customs and I drove it home... scary. Black leather "seating surfaces" and a lot of black vinyl, wrapped up in a guards red sunroof coupe. Daily driver for 10 years.

I'll give you that... alcantara beats plain-jane vinyl for sure. I think they're ripping us off on what it costs though.

 

Being in manufacturing I know what Porsche is doing, they aren't charging us for the cost of the Alcantara, they are actually charging us to produce a custom piece which is not part of their standard production. Think about it this way, the Japanese and American car companies do not offer any type of customization on their cars, they have a standard list of options and that is it. Mini offers lots of options but even they charge a good chunk (not as much as Porsche though). Porsche also knows that most of their customers can pay for the options if they really want them. What is unfortunate is that they don't standardize some of these "options" like the alcantara or leather visors. What's up with that!