I see so many cars today with carbon fiber pieces and alcantara, I personally think it looks awful and just I don't see the beauty in either. Anybody else feel this way?

 

I did like cf when it had a lot of lacquer on it (eg the XKR-S spoiler or the Mina cf bonnet vents) but it is really overdone these days and I would rather gloss black than cf.

Alcantara isnt my cup of tea at all, nothing but leather for me and it has to be a semi analine.

 

It be old to me when OEM's start making lots of fake printed CF over molded plastics. Until then, whatever they want to do.

I haven't experienced alcantara yet, so I cannot commend on that part of it.

Right now, for me, it is the vapor deposited shiny finish on plastics that drives me nuts. It is part of nearly all modern cars these days.

 

I have no objections of it being in a $100K + race car but not in a $100K + exotic road car. The difference between champagne and beer where both are good but each have their place.

 

Maybe I don't know what Alcantra is, but aren't the A post pillars on our cars covered with Alcantra?

 

Yes Alcantara is heaven-sent, it provides durability without weight. I had real suede in my maserati which has no acoustical dampening properties and gets weighted down with humidity, plus its 10 times the weight.

 

I personally don't care for the look of either.
Call me old school.
Give me chrome, leather and wood!

 

It's the current fad. Hopefully in 20 years it won't look like crap.

When the safety standards came into play in '68 most interiors went bland. A lot less chrome to prevent glare problems and protruding stuff to bang off of during a wreck. The 70's and 80's were vinyl. The 90's and up have been plastic. I think it's nice to see some other materials on the interior. I've been impressed with how the interior is assembled on our cars. The '90's stuff would destroy itself coming apart. One way Christmas tree clips that wouldn't work twice and poor plastic choices make keeping them in good shape difficult.

I don't see Alcantara covered steering wheels lasting long at all. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

Alcantara is great for the headliner and seat inserts. Looks fantastic and wears well. If you track your car, the Alcantara is like Velco to keep you in place. Carbon fiber has to be real and then it makes a "nice" interior finish. I prefer bulleted aluminium or traditional wood, but carbon fiber can look sharp.

 

What am I missing- is there an alternative to Alcantara headlining??

Or are we talking about the steering wheel material only.

 

I think that our XE has alcantara on the dash. It looks OK but gives off a chemical smell on hot days. Leather is so much nicer.

 

On the for sale ads the early cars have fabric on the A pillars and the later ones the alcantara type material. My '07's headliner was also a polyester type fabric.

 

My 2012 convt has the headliner listed as the leather option. Also my A pillars are leather.

 

You gonna replace it when the time comes with Alcantara. Its just a trade name for suede microfiber.

 

I'm Old School and a fan of traditional British style and craftsmanship. I bought my Jaguars because the gorgeous interiors are genuine leather and real wood veneer.

Car manufacturers are in the fashion business and make what customers want. Carbon fiber and Alcantara are the current fashion trends. Whatever happened to "real Corinthian leather" and Naugahyde?

Ricardo Montalban took all the remaining Corinthian leather with him when he died. Sadly, those poor little Naugas are now extinct. And nobody cares today. So it will be with carbon fiber and Alcantara. But genuine leather and real wood will always be here, thanks to Mother Nature.

 

I don't "get" carbon fiber. Really - my brother got himself a fancy porsche about 10 years ago and it had some cool-looking panels in the interior that were, what, plastic over aluminum, it looked like? "What?? No," my brother sniffed, "those are CARBON FIBER."
Whatever. Rapped on it with a knuckle. Sure sounded like plastic.
Oh, and, one of those XKR-S's I posted about? Guy had a pic of his original window sticker. The car had, as an option, a carbon fiber engine cover. $2,000.
TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. For an ENGINE COVER. I don't even like engine covers. (When did they become a Thing?)
I have determined that "carbon fiber" is the saliva of virgins, distilled down and spun into a miracle product.
Here's that link again for that XKR-S. Window sticker is one of the last shots.
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...&modelCode1=XK

 

CF is the new wood panels.

 

And I found this, about Alcantara. Perfect:
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WOW - Talk about depreciation. More than $100K in 5 years.

 

They don't. A common mod for the CTS-V guys is to recover the wheel with real leather, or just swap for a leather wrapped wheel. I drove one prior buying my XKR, and the Alcantara wheel was matted down and just foul. It's the only time where I wished I had a pair of gloves to wear while driving. However, I think it's an acceptable material for a headliner or dash, or some other low- wear location where you don't want any glare coming from.