Half leather - what's the point?
Discussion
Prompted by the "why leather" post to a degree.
Now I like a leather interior, I think it's classy and practical.
But I've never understood half leather, where the outside edges of the seat are leather and the centre sections are cloth.
It just screams "wanted leather, couldn't quite afford to do it properly though" to me.
Now I like a leather interior, I think it's classy and practical.
But I've never understood half leather, where the outside edges of the seat are leather and the centre sections are cloth.
It just screams "wanted leather, couldn't quite afford to do it properly though" to me.
Ari said:
Prompted by the "why leather" post to a degree.
Now I like a leather interior, I think it's classy and practical.
But I've never understood half leather, where the outside edges of the seat are leather and the centre sections are cloth.
It just screams "wanted leather, couldn't quite afford to do it properly though" to me.
I think you've just answered your own question. That's a particularly gruesome example you've posted up there.Now I like a leather interior, I think it's classy and practical.
But I've never understood half leather, where the outside edges of the seat are leather and the centre sections are cloth.
It just screams "wanted leather, couldn't quite afford to do it properly though" to me.
You get leather where you can feel it (back of the legs if you're wearing shorts, backs of the arms etc etc), but cloth where your arse and back is, which keeps you firmly planted in the seat when you're cornering.
My S60 had half leather seats and they were great seats, I would have preferred full leather in that car though, as I doubt you would slide much on the leater. On the other hand, I decided not to change the seats in my MR2 Turbo for leather or half leather seats exactly because I wanted the grip of ther cloth seats to keep me firmly planted through the faster and tighter corners.
My S60 had half leather seats and they were great seats, I would have preferred full leather in that car though, as I doubt you would slide much on the leater. On the other hand, I decided not to change the seats in my MR2 Turbo for leather or half leather seats exactly because I wanted the grip of ther cloth seats to keep me firmly planted through the faster and tighter corners.
Baryonyx said:
You get leather where you can feel it (back of the legs if you're wearing shorts, backs of the arms etc etc), but cloth where your arse and back is, which keeps you firmly planted in the seat when you're cornering.
This chap has it absolutely bang on - cloth keeps you gripped in the seat better. Leather in the 'high-wear' areas (bolsters etc)./thread.
How bad is some of you guy's driving that you're sliding around in your seats..!? 
I've never had that problem, but then I don't hurl my car into corners like I'm playing Grand Theft Auto!
Remember chaps, smooth in, smooth out, not jerk squeal jerk squeal.
And the same when you're driving your cars...
I've never had that problem, but then I don't hurl my car into corners like I'm playing Grand Theft Auto!
Remember chaps, smooth in, smooth out, not jerk squeal jerk squeal.
And the same when you're driving your cars...
Te be honest, I think more cars should have this option. Leather while looking quite plush is in fact quite uncomfortable to sit on. Too hot in summer, too cold in winter etc. It's only the fact that in the western world leather is seen as a "premium" material that so many cars have it. Most of the Japanese perfomance cars don't have leather seats in their home markets as the Japanese are more worried about practicalites rather then impressing their neighbours.
I do like leather on the dashboard and the bits that wear out as it is a relatively hard wearing material but I'd prefer it if more manufacturers offered a leather\alcantara combination.
I do like leather on the dashboard and the bits that wear out as it is a relatively hard wearing material but I'd prefer it if more manufacturers offered a leather\alcantara combination.
Ari said:
Prompted by the "why leather" post to a degree.
Now I like a leather interior, I think it's classy and practical.
But I've never understood half leather, where the outside edges of the seat are leather and the centre sections are cloth.
It just screams "wanted leather, couldn't quite afford to do it properly though" to me.
I think there is a couple of points to note here:Now I like a leather interior, I think it's classy and practical.
But I've never understood half leather, where the outside edges of the seat are leather and the centre sections are cloth.
It just screams "wanted leather, couldn't quite afford to do it properly though" to me.
1. Some half leather seats then have alcantara centres. Personally I think these are far superior to full leather seats in almost all cases. More comfy, less slippery and less prone to getting too hot or cold.
2. Same idea as the alcantara seats, but using cloth. Again I think it often just makes them more comfy.
3. Are you sure these seats are actually half leather? I say this, because most leather seats aren't actually leather. Only the face of them is, the sides and back are usually a form of PVC.
So in your pic above I highly suspect they are cloth and PVC seats, not leather at all.
Carfiend said:
It means it is only half as cold in the winter and half as hot in the summer.
Exactly. In less you have heated seats full leather in the winter is awful, i end up perched on the edge of the seat until the cabin warms up. In the summer if you wear shorts you end up stuck to the seat.
Full leather looks great and is wipe clean which balances things out!
Ari said:
How bad is some of you guy's driving that you're sliding around in your seats..!?
I've never had that problem, but then I don't hurl my car into corners like I'm playing Grand Theft Auto!
Remember chaps, smooth in, smooth out, not jerk squeal jerk squeal.
And the same when you're driving your cars...
How slow are you driving that you're not sliding in your seat? Maybe your driving is just slow but doesn't feel that way to you. In the MR2, I suspect leather seats would give some serious slide, as you can pitch the car quite hard into corners at high speeds with the low centre of gravity (and by rules of good cornering, exit even faster!). I recall driving an MX5 with leather seats, cornering in it was such that you'd slide outwards the door or over the transmission tunnel. I decided when I got one I'd definitely go for cloth seats just to give me that extra grip! I've never had that problem, but then I don't hurl my car into corners like I'm playing Grand Theft Auto!
Remember chaps, smooth in, smooth out, not jerk squeal jerk squeal.
And the same when you're driving your cars...
On the other hand, my Focus had leather seats in it and sliding was not an issue there as it wasn't fast enough to exert any real cornering force on your body, and the suspenion (which was very well judged for UK roads) soaked up the rest of the cornering forces with body roll.
Both My S3 Esprits have half leather as opposed to full. Ive found that when these cars have full leather the following happens:
- you tend to slide around on your seat when cornering or braking hard.. (big problem)
- Any wear and tear is more obvious on leather which i belive to be more fragile.
- The leather gets sweaty when hot...
I prefer the look of half leather to..
- you tend to slide around on your seat when cornering or braking hard.. (big problem)
- Any wear and tear is more obvious on leather which i belive to be more fragile.
- The leather gets sweaty when hot...
I prefer the look of half leather to..
300bhp/ton said:
Ari said:
Prompted by the "why leather" post to a degree.
Now I like a leather interior, I think it's classy and practical.
But I've never understood half leather, where the outside edges of the seat are leather and the centre sections are cloth.
It just screams "wanted leather, couldn't quite afford to do it properly though" to me.
I think there is a couple of points to note here:Now I like a leather interior, I think it's classy and practical.
But I've never understood half leather, where the outside edges of the seat are leather and the centre sections are cloth.
It just screams "wanted leather, couldn't quite afford to do it properly though" to me.
1. Some half leather seats then have alcantara centres. Personally I think these are far superior to full leather seats in almost all cases. More comfy, less slippery and less prone to getting too hot or cold.
2. Same idea as the alcantara seats, but using cloth. Again I think it often just makes them more comfy.
3. Are you sure these seats are actually half leather? I say this, because most leather seats aren't actually leather. Only the face of them is, the sides and back are usually a form of PVC.
So in your pic above I highly suspect they are cloth and PVC seats, not leather at all.
I had the same in my last car and loved them. Comfy whilst supportive, wore well and didn't boil you in the summer. Best of both worlds. Now I have some kind of fake suede half leather rubbish that probabily cost about 20p per unit and it shows.
We have half-leather in both of our cars (not intentionally, they just both happened to have it).
The Octavia is like those pictured above, leather bolsters and cloth centres, which I think is a fairly good idea because you get the grip of the cloth centres with the resistance to wear of the leather bolsters.
The Elise is the other way around, which is just moronic.
The Octavia is like those pictured above, leather bolsters and cloth centres, which I think is a fairly good idea because you get the grip of the cloth centres with the resistance to wear of the leather bolsters.
The Elise is the other way around, which is just moronic.
Baryonyx said:
How slow are you driving that you're not sliding in your seat? Maybe your driving is just slow but doesn't feel that way to you. In the MR2, I suspect leather seats would give some serious slide, as you can pitch the car quite hard into corners at high speeds with the low centre of gravity (and by rules of good cornering, exit even faster!). I recall driving an MX5 with leather seats, cornering in it was such that you'd slide outwards the door or over the transmission tunnel. I decided when I got one I'd definitely go for cloth seats just to give me that extra grip!
Brisk but not stupid. Full leather, properly adjusted seats, absolutely no problem whatsoever.I hope I'm never coming the other way when you're cornering so fast that you're sliding over the transmission tunnel!!
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