The covering material with registered trademark.
The Detroit News recently published an article highlighting the benefits of trimming vehicles in Alcantara as opposed to leather. The piece doesn’t shed a lot of new light on the fabric — especially for auto trimmers already familiar with it. Alcantara is a very nice and strong suede-like material. It comes 57-58 to 60 inches wide. The right side similar to suede it forms shades while passing your palm over…so at the time of upholstering something take into consideration how it combs to get an even shade. I have alcantara inserts in my leather seats and really like it-looks and feel. However, I didn't like the alcantara steering wheel and shift **** - these are high wear/contact points and after 2 years didn't look good at all so I replaced with leather. Quote: Originally Posted by waizone.  Re: GTS ...Alcantara vs Leather. You will all laugh but what I really want is black full leather with the red stitching..I drink coffee when I drive and live in my car because its just a car..I like real leather opposed to fake suede.. Alcantara is trademark so when then say Alcantara it is Alcantara. Sorry to bust your bubble but just check others Porsche site such as UK and the Alcantara is placed below partial leather. See the capture below. There is no argument that Alcantara is great for racing car due to the extra grip it provides. That's because the fundamental difference between Alcantara and Ultrasuede is that Alcantara is made in Italy. That's really it. It has a fancier name and a more automotive-luxury-seeming country of origin, but, really, your Alcantara steering wheel on your AMG is an Ultrasuede steering wheel. A common myth about Alcantara is that it's made from the skin of the wild Alcantar — a llama/ostrich hybrid from the borderlands between Peru and Greece whose massive thigh haunches are used to make those huge cones of gyro meat. dammit I am not reading any further. Alcantara feels a lot like suede, but it is not made from leather. Nor is it a woven fabric, said Andrea Boragno, president and chief executive of Alcantara S.p.A., the Italian company that manufactures the product through proprietary technology. Alcantara is a very nice and strong suede-like material. It comes 57-58 to 60 inches wide. The right side similar to suede it forms shades while passing your palm over…so at the time of upholstering something take into consideration how it combs to get an even shade. The dash in Alcantara would (again, for me) look tacky and unfinished. Leather is a lot better. I would of course get an Alcantara wheel and shift knob (which I have yet to do on my car). I have a GT3 Porsche wheel on my 997 (the Alcantara one with the center yellow stripe) as well as the shift knob and I love it.  Alcantara in Lancia Y. Alcantara is the covering material with registered trademark, the result of a unique and patented technology, manufactured and marketed by Alcantara SpA. Alcantara is being used currently as a flame retardant driver seat covering material for Formula One race cars, including the Williams Formula One 2011 FW33 car. It is also used in the ear pads material for the high-end, headphones Sennheiser HD800 and the Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear. 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. Alcantara is being used currently as a flame retardant driver seat covering material for Formula One race cars, including the Williams Formula One 2011 FW33 car. It is also used in the ear pads material for the high-end, headphones Sennheiser HD800 and the Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear.
http://www.thehogring.com/2014/01/28/the-benefits-of-trimming-cars-in-alcantara/ http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/997/228618-alcantara-standard-leather.html http://www.planet-9.com/981-cayman-and-boxster-configurations-and-ordering/102495-gts-alcantara-vs-leather.html http://jalopnik.com/what-the-hell-is-alacantara-anyway-1604799947 http://www.thehogring.com/2014/01/28/the-benefits-of-trimming-cars-in-alcantara/ http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1202310 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcantara_(material) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcantara_(material)
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