Differences in Leather vs Cloth
 

Howdy,

I know the option differences between the leather and cloth interiors, but is there any difference in the seat itself (aside from the heated and power part) between the leather and the cloth? Is the substrate material inside the seat different? Does the Leather have more support? Anything like that? I see people selling the leather covers on the forum and want to know if I'll feel any difference if I replace the cloth cover of my seats with OEM leather covers. Thanks in advance.

haha

all i know is that

the leather feels nice :)

never sat in cloth seats before

same seat, different material

The seats are completely different.

The cloth seats have cloth all around. The rotary hole in the chair can be moved around by pushing on it.

The leather seats have a hard plastic backing around most of the chair. The rotary symbol is not movable.

It's a much better chair, more than just what covers it.

pic of the back of leather seat:

one more

hmm interesting I never noticed that.

yeah... primary reason I got the GT was for the leather seats. I could have gone cloth and had them put leather on it, but I decided the OEM leather seats would be superior to cloth + aftermarket leather.

The leather seats are also power adjustable, while the cloth are manual (same adjustments though). The cloth seats really hold you in place - I love 'em.

I've had leather on all my cars for the past 10 years. But I really like the cloth used on the RX-8 and went for that as a change.

It has a suede-like feel that reminds me of the seats on my old '93 RX-7 R1. Plus, I believe it's a lighter seat, due to no leather, no plastic backing, and no electronic motors. (Less weight = more speed.) And it gives a subtle two-tone gray/black look to the interior.

I have cloth seats in mine. I like em just fine they are still a two tone color black and look and feel great to me!

Not to say that I wouldn't rather leather, cause I would, but there happens to be nothing wrong or uncomfortable with the cloth.

-Rupes

I would have preferred the grey on the cloth seats to be a little darker though. In bright sunlight they tend to look greenish.
Otherwise the cloth seats are among the nicest I've seen on any car.

I'll tell ya the real difference between cloth and leather. Cloth you enjoy and don't worry about, and leather you are always afraid of scuff marks. I love my leather, but I admit I dread that way when it gets it's first nasty scuff mark.

I've had leather in all my cars as well--I have cloth in my RX8; but I'm going to be adding aftermarket leather as well--the package price didn't justify it; I'm in Texas-don't really need seat heaters, and only the drivers side is power operated in the GT. I love the cloth seats but I want to go back to the leather--and aftermarket leather is of higher quality than OEM--at least they are more supple.

I personally prefer cloth much mroe since it isnt slipery, and in the Florida sun, leather can be unpleasant.

However, I will say that my fat ass has noticeably worn the cloth after 9 months. I clean the interior religiously every 2 weeks (1 week if it's looking dirty). Note that I do spend a lot of time in the car. At least more than the average person here it seems.

Cloth: Cheeper than leather, holds you in the seat better, cooler in summer, warmer in winter, breathes, lighter weight.

Leather: More durable, less prone to tears, looks more expensive (if this matters to you), smells good.

I have the leather seat, recently seat in a cloth one, feels that the cloth seats are more cushiony. Feels slightly more support then the leather.

The leather seats have adjustable lumbar support (and it actually is supportive)

The cloth seats have no lumbar support, and no adjustment for it.

That made the difference for me.

I've had leather in all my cars until now. I actually thought the cloth looked nicer in the RX-8. Feels great too....

To me, the added $$$ wasn't worth the trade off. Cloth is just fine.

It's so funny reading through all of the posts and seeing the contradicting statements about factual issues:

"The seats are the same"

"They're completely different"

"Cloth offers more support"

"Leather offers more support - lumbar adjustment not available with cloth"

The question I have is, if you want leather then why buy cloth only to pay someone else to add it later? If you don't care about the GT package options and want leather seats then why worry about the quality of the seat? Just scrap them and get a nice set of Recaros.

Personally, I love the look and feel of leather seats. I care for my seats like I care for the rest of the car so I'm not real worried about them getting damaged. Besides, when a cloth seat gets worn from routine use it looks like hell and there's little you can do to bring it back to life. If you take care of your leather seats and use a leather conditioner on them they'll last a lot longer and will wear nicely. Just my $.02.

-Eric

Can someone post a pic of the front and back of the cloth seats pls?

dust can also be a factor with the cloth seats