Alcantara or Leather

[Justcallmemac]

Due to a bit of a balls up, my arranged viewing in Poole didn't happen.

I've since spec'd my car and paid the configuration deposit but remain unsure whether to go for the nappa leather or alcantara interior, albeit I'm leaning towards the alcantara, which I've optioned, with yellow stitching, for now. (Steering wheel will be alcantara)

What's the general opinion here and what are buyers going for, although I appreciate that may well depend on usage and whether it's a daily, a weekender, a track car, or a balance of everything, when mood and conditions allow. To those of you who've seen the car 'in the flesh,' what was your impression and was the leather representative of the final product? Unfortunately, the material swatches I've seen don't help.

FWIW I have a 981 GT4 with the 918 seats, which are a combo of leather, (bolsters, wings, headrest) and alcantara, (seat and back) and the quality is excellent, with no signs of wear and tear at all during the 4 years I've owned the car. (She's well cared for.)

Cheers!

 

[Daz]

Due to a bit of a balls up, my arranged viewing in Poole didn't happen.

I've since specc'd my car and paid the configuration deposit but remain unsure whether to go for the nappa leather or alcantara interior, albeit I'm leaning towards the alcantara, which I've optioned, with yellow stitching, for now. (Steering wheel will be alcantara)

What's the general opinion here and what are buyers going for, although I appreciate that may well depend on usage and whether it's a daily, a weekender, a track car, or a balance of everything, when mood and conditions allow. To those of you who've seen the car 'in the flesh,' what was your impression and was the leather representative of the final product? Unfortunately, the material swatches I've seen don't help.

FWIW I have a 981 GT4 with the 918 seats, which are a combo of leather, (bolsters, wings, headrest) and alcantara, (seat and back) and the quality is excellent, with no signs of wear and tear at all during the 4 years I've owned the car. (She's well cared for.)

Cheers!

I’ve seen the car this week and the only thing I can say is that the leather/alcantara seats are ( as Tina turner would say) simply the best - hope this helps

 

[Justcallmemac]

I’ve seen the car this week and the only thing I can say is that the leather/alcantara seats are ( as Tina turner would say) simply the best - hope this helps

Many thanks for the quick response. That's interesting. As those pics appear to show a mix of materials, (might just be the light), are they representative of the leather or alcantara option? Cheers.

 

[Daz]

Many thanks for the quick response. That's interesting. As those pics appear to show a mix of materials, (might just be the light), are they representative of the leather or alcantara option? Cheers.

I think that they are the alcantara option, I think the leather are ‘all’ leather and,according to the lotus rep, the base model will probably come with a cloth option

 

[TomE]

I saw and sat in the blue show car at Goodwood and also saw the interior of the grey dynamic prototype, which has the V6 manual full leather version of the interior. Bear in mind both are still pre-production and the seats are definitely not the production versions.

I'd originally been thinking full leather interior for mine, as I've had that on my Evora and our family cars.

I then got a lot more time with the blue show car at Bell & Colvill and am now seriously considering the alcantara instead.

The dash and doors are still mainly leather top and bottom but with alcantara sections in the middle.

The seats have leather bolsters and a centre strip, rest is alcantara.

I like having the option to do the contrast stitching, which isn't available with the leather. I'm going for Hethel Yellow and it'll be a weekend car with occasional track days, rather than daily driver, so I think a brighter colour and a more technical interior fabric will work well.

The alcantara interior looks very smart.

And this is the leather interior of the grey V6 manual.

 

[Justcallmemac]

I saw and sat in the blue show car at Goodwood and also saw the interior of the grey dynamic prototype, which has the V6 manual full leather version of the interior. Bear in mind both are still pre-production and the seats are definitely not the production versions.

I'd originally been thinking full leather interior for mine, as I've had that on my Evora and our family cars.

I then got a lot more time with the blue show car at Bell & Colvill and am now seriously considering the alcantara instead.

The dash and doors are still mainly leather top and bottom but with alcantara sections in the middle.

The seats have leather bolsters and a centre strip, rest is alcantara.

I like having the option to do the contrast stitching, which isn't available with the leather. I'm going for Hethel Yellow and it'll be a weekend car with occasional track days, rather than daily driver, so I think a brighter colour and a more technical interior fabric will work well.

The alcantara interior looks very smart.

View attachment 801
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View attachment 804

And this is the leather interior of the grey V6 manual.

View attachment 810

Ta very much for that Tom. Very informative.

Think I'll be sticking with alcantara. Ironically after being set on either Magma Red or Hertha Yellow, I decided to 'dull down' the colour to Nimbus Grey, (silver / grey in more natural light?), to be a bit less 'shouty' than my Guards Red GT4. Thanks again. Appreciated.

 

[DF_Toronto]

Due to a bit of a balls up, my arranged viewing in Poole didn't happen.

I've since spec'd my car and paid the configuration deposit but remain unsure whether to go for the nappa leather or alcantara interior, albeit I'm leaning towards the alcantara, which I've optioned, with yellow stitching, for now. (Steering wheel will be alcantara)

What's the general opinion here and what are buyers going for, although I appreciate that may well depend on usage and whether it's a daily, a weekender, a track car, or a balance of everything, when mood and conditions allow. To those of you who've seen the car 'in the flesh,' what was your impression and was the leather representative of the final product? Unfortunately, the material swatches I've seen don't help.

FWIW I have a 981 GT4 with the 918 seats, which are a combo of leather, (bolsters, wings, headrest) and alcantara, (seat and back) and the quality is excellent, with no signs of wear and tear at all during the 4 years I've owned the car. (She's well cared for.)

Cheers!

They look amazing and that’s likely what I’m going for, and I think complete the car. That said I assume you need to use a bit more caution vs. Leather such as no eating a granola bar in the car where a crumb or chocolate chip may fall into your lap, or sunscreen/sweat after coming off the golf course etc. I’ve always been curious though currently driving an 8 year old Mercedes cabrio, is it possible/feasible to get a new wheel or re-covering from factory after time if you don’t mind spending whatever it costs?

 

[VL3X]

Definitely Alcantara... unless you like sliding around the seat during those high speed turns!

 

[Leonard]

Definitely Alcantara... unless you like sliding around the seat during those high speed turns!

Normally this all day long. But I do think the Emira interior looks very dark and the only way to lift it would be leather....

 

[JimH]

Might be of interest.....

Cleaning Alcantara A Step By Step Guide

We feel its time to share some tips and tricks on cleaning the more exotic materials used such as Alcantara.

www.autofinesse.com

Leaflet from the manufacturer website....

 

[TomE]

is it possible/feasible to get a new wheel or re-covering from factory after time if you don’t mind spending whatever it costs?

Yes, re-trimming a steering wheel is a straightforward job for a car trimmer to do and a few hundred pounds/dollars.

 

[Flipper]

Due to a bit of a balls up, my arranged viewing in Poole didn't happen.

I've since spec'd my car and paid the configuration deposit but remain unsure whether to go for the nappa leather or alcantara interior, albeit I'm leaning towards the alcantara, which I've optioned, with yellow stitching, for now. (Steering wheel will be alcantara)

What's the general opinion here and what are buyers going for, although I appreciate that may well depend on usage and whether it's a daily, a weekender, a track car, or a balance of everything, when mood and conditions allow. To those of you who've seen the car 'in the flesh,' what was your impression and was the leather representative of the final product? Unfortunately, the material swatches I've seen don't help.

FWIW I have a 981 GT4 with the 918 seats, which are a combo of leather, (bolsters, wings, headrest) and alcantara, (seat and back) and the quality is excellent, with no signs of wear and tear at all during the 4 years I've owned the car. (She's well cared for.)

Cheers!

I like the Alcantara on everything except the steering wheel. I saw the blue car at Lotus Bradford yesterday and the seats looked great. Hopefully they soften them up for production.

 

[DJS]

All, I was told at my viewing that the optional coloured stitching is a double stitch on the production car and not a signal stitch that you can see on the show car.

Does anyone know if there is any truth in this as this could be the deciding factor in the alcantara vs leather choice?

 

[mr_joshua]

Alcantara will be easier to clean. I know that sounds counter intuitive since it's a nappy material but the reality is that it's synthetic suede. And as a synthetic, you can use cleaners that you would normally use on suede (read: things that don't have alcohol or other agents that would dry or make the natural oils evaporate) as well as heavy duty cleaners (true soaps) to clean out stains. With a leather interior you always run the risk of drying the leather with harsh cleaners (creates cracks) or over moisturizing with lotions (shiny spots).

I would recommend those who go with Alcantara keep a suede shoe cleaning kit (or two) handy. It'll be a stiff (but not wire) bristle brush, an eraser (that usually contains a dry chemical cleaning agent) and a foam spray cleaner (again usually no alcohol). It'll make keeping the alcantara clean and smelling nice with ease.

 

[JimH]

All, I was told at my viewing that the optional coloured stitching is a double stitch on the production car and not a signal stitch that you can see on the show car.

Does anyone know if there is any truth in this as this could be the deciding factor in the alcantara vs leather choice?

If it's like this (from the original online brochure) then I'm in for the seats - this (render?) doesn't show dash or centre console stitching though.....

Dash and centre console stitching from the blue show car :

 

[Leonard]

If it's like this (from the original online brochure) then I'm in for the seats - this (render?) doesn't show dash stitching though.....


View attachment 812

Now that just unfair as that pic looks like black leather with yellow stitch which would be the ideal! Probably just the render tho I know

 

[PaulP]

Might be of interest.....

Cleaning Alcantara A Step By Step Guide

We feel its time to share some tips and tricks on cleaning the more exotic materials used such as Alcantara.

www.autofinesse.com

Leaflet from the manufacturer website....

vacuum daily... lol. Yah, not gonna happen.

 

[Johnson]

I'd locked in Alcantara with red stitch... but the past couple of days I'm really considering changing to tan leather (red exterior). I can't say I'm particularly fond of contrast stitching... my mum would say they were too lazy to change the bobbin.

Plus, we can't get matching stitching on the steering wheel in the manual car... so two types of stitching. Small detail I know, but...

 

[DF_Toronto]

I'd locked in Alcantara with red stitch... but the past couple of days I'm really considering changing to tan leather (red exterior). I can't say I'm particularly fond of contrast stitching... my mum would say they were too lazy to change the bobbin.

Plus, we can't get matching stitching on the steering wheel in the manual car... so two types of stitching. Small detail I know, but...

I really hope they go back on this as a wheel can be installed right before shipping. Supposedly the reason it’s not offered on FE manual is because that’s what the majority of the orders are and they weren’t able to get enough wheels made in time - but surely this should only affect the very first cars and they could catch up, and now that they are officially delayed as most probably anticipated - haven’t they been able to get more wheels at this point to meet shipment date? Worst case they should have offered it but told buyers their car may not ship until ____ date when they receive colour trim wheels…

 

[Green]

I had alcantara leather combo in my Nissan GTR and I always thought it looked drab. I choose they grey leather to brighten the interior. I know Alcantara is supposed to be more exclusive but I think it is mostly hype. Personal preference of course but to me leather is a lot more classy. Most non car people think Alcantara is cheap carpet.