DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Does anyone have a car with Alcantara seat inserts ? I'm wondering what this material is like to live with ? How does it wear ? Is it going to be a pain with kids dropping food etc on it eg will is stain easilly or is it easy to clean ?

Had a car with it covering the dash and it's renown for fading and going brown. Marks very easily and difficult to keep clean, have to say never heard of it being used on seats though.

I had my Golf trimmed in black Alcantara, when I asked the trimmer how I should keep it clean he said 'don't get it dirty'

I'll ask the people here who know these things and get back to you.

Gary71 wrote:I had my Golf trimmed in black Alcantara

Likewise, have to say didnt notice any problems, although that was back in my single days, dont know how it would stand up to the real world of 2 young daughters

Lancia Integrales (evo versions) have full Alacantra seats. Having looked at quite a few I can say that it doesn't wear well with age. I'd imagine not child friendly.

My Cayman had Alcantra seat centres. After 18k miles they were still like new, although I was careful to keep the children's feet away from them.

On the upside, they are cool in summer, warm in winter, don't let you slide across the seat, and IMO look very classy. I wouldn't use it on high wear areas like steering wheel or door pulls though,

SS7

My Integrale and Audi S3 both had Alcantara and my current RS2 has it as well. It's lovely to sit on and lookes very smart IMO when clean, but can get a bit grubby.

thanks I've decided my carbon foot print is way too small so am looking at a 4x4 that has sports seats with alcantara inserts .... seems it has no 'pile' & can be treated with scotch protection so I'm hoping it might be OK ...

My uncle is way into Lancia's and he had a lot of them with the Alcantara interior.

It is a synthetic material that has the feeling of suede and requires a similar treatment to suede in order to maintain it.

You can clean it with foams etc but a repellant just like you use on suede shoes is one way of keeping it clean. I read a post of someone who used Sonax automotive cleaner and his Audi A8 Alcantara interior went all fluffy : i bit like those woolen balls you get when you have an old jumper that is looking grubby.

Steering wheels etc are fantastic to get clean by using a sharp kitchen knife and "scraping" the alcantara so that the relative high pile of the material loose their dirt.

HTH,


Bert

Hi James, a friend of mine has just picked up his new ML with light grey alcantara inserts. Within 2 weeks it was stained blue with the dye from his jeans. Be carefull.

Matt

Thanks for the info Matt The grey is a very light grey though isn't it. I've been told scotch guard can be applied which should help..... lets hope the black interior wears better

My old Dino-engined Stratos replica had black Alcantara seats - they were very comfortable but not particularly hard-wearing ...

Heres mine Hot in my period correct Recaros,its great to sit on and wipes clean with a damp rag,sorry bad picture they look good inrl
I did them myself at a great cost of £18 each