Upgrade of interior bits to Alcantara - Need opinions
 

In the coming weeks I plan to send some stuff off to Ledermanz and get them rewrapped in Alcantara. Thicker steering wheel + flat bottom & white stripe, shifter knob & boot, e-brake back, and arm rest.

It seems like I will be the first one on the 997 forums to dive into wrapping with Beige Alcantara. I do not have full leather option, and everything is pretty much sand beige. I debated on other colors, like black steering wheel and then adding black carpets + airbag, or gray which just seems out of place in a sea of sand beige.

My decision comes down to actually liking the Carrara white exterior and sand beige interior combo, and the fact that you never see anyone wrap in beige alcantara, you only see black and gray for the most part. I understand it may be more difficult upkeep, but this isn't my daily. I'm also extremely OCD with cleanliness of the interior.

After posting on the other main Porsche Forum and basically hearing crickets, I am posting here to get opinions - good or bad. I'm thinking even if it's not a 100% perfect match to the oem sand beige headliner, but is close enough, it can still come out looking great.

Based on the pictures he sent, Ledermanz beige alcantara and the oem sand beige alcantara headliner match pretty well. The bottom half of the ebay picture and the Ledermanz no flash picture seem to match well. The top of the ebay picture where the light shines on seems to match Ledermanz with flash picture.

Ebay ad - oem sand beige headliner from a 2009 Carrera S (which is the year and model I have)
Attachment 473050

Ledermanz no flash
Attachment 473051

Ledermanz with flash
Attachment 473052

Let me know what you guys think. I plan to pull the trigger next week unless I'm otherwise convinced not to do so.


This served as inspiration to some extent.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...y-picture.html

No one with Sand Beige interior has anything to say? Come on, I know you guys are out there!

While I do not have a sand beige interior in my 997, I can fully appreciate what you are looking to do! I think it's going to look awesome!


I did sand beige alcantara inserts on the doors and seats in an old A4 that I had prior; looked great and believe it or not, the material wore quite nicely! Just be sure not to wear extremely dark denim; the indigo dye may transfer and that could be difficult to clean.


Hope to see pics of it once completed!

Thanks Randy! I shouldn't have that problem since I won't have Alcantara on the seats, only on the shifter knob/boot, steering wheel, arm rest, and e-brake.

I have to say color transfers to Sand beige leather fairly easy as well. I had a friend sit in one of the back seats and their black pants transferred to the seat. It was such a pain to clean. I had to use leatherique and other products, it's still not 100% like before, but for the most part it's out.

Ahhh... That's right; steering wheel, shift knob and boot, ebrake parts and console lid. Not sure why I thought the seats were going to be done as well... I probably just assumed they would with that much getting done! :)


I think that you may see some wear/matting/piling/discoloration on the steering wheel and shift knob since those areas are a much higher frequent contact point for hands... I think if it were me, I'd want to wrap the steering wheel at 3:00 and 9:00 in color matched perforated leather and wrap the top and bottom halves in matching alcantara? Just my thoughts on it...

Contacted Ledermanz and I am getting the ball rolling.

This wheel off his IG account is similar to what I asked for minus color scheme and the tracks/grooves on the wheel. I did ask for the Flat bottom and thicker padding on the steering though.

Attachment 473088

On another note, I randomly came across this Total911 article of their Top 5 steering wheels of all time. Look at which wheel ranked #1.

https://www.total911.com/top-five-po...s-of-all-time/

Do they make a flat bottom steering wheel with the round airbag for the 997.2? If so... I may have to source one with paddles!


:)

I believe he can make you whatever you want. There is one member on another forum that has the sport design steering wheel with paddle shifters, all wrapped in gray alcantara with deviated white stitching. I'm contemplating if I should get the deviated white stitching, or stick to stitching that matches the beige alcantara, since I'll already have the white leather stripe up top. Also if I switch that stitching to white, I may have to do that for everything I get wrapped.

Attachment 473100

Can't deny; that looks pretty awesome!


I think I'd stick to matching stitching over white... Think it will make it easier to match other wrapped parts in the long run...

Yes, good point.

All uninstalled and will ship out this week.

Attachment 473325

Quick update. My parts finally reached Latvia. Looks like the original Alcantara he recommended was too light and suggested this one, which looks like an exact match to the center console! The leather on the steering wheel looks lighter than the new suggestion, but it seems like the color of the leather on the seats match the stock center console more than the stock leather steering wheel (see picture in previous post). So I'm going with the darker beige color he recommended.

Attachment 474177
Attachment 474176
Stock steering wheel, darker beige vs lighter beige samples

Update! The steering wheel and all the bits and pieces are wrapped. I am happy with the outcome, but at first I was expecting something thicker like the black wheel in Post #6, but I forgot I didn't order the thumb grooves/tracks. This wheel is more oem-like IMO and that wheel is a little more tuner. Overall I am very happy with my specs. I based it off the gt3 997 wheel, besides flat bottom + color matched to my sand beige interior.

Specs:
Beige Alcantara
2mm thicker padding compared to stock
Flat bottom
White Leather mark at 12 o'clock
Matching Beige stitching

Arm rest, ash tray, e brake, e brake back, shifter and boot all wrapped in Alcantara.

Attachment 475645
Attachment 475614
Attachment 475615

Now I play the waiting game for delivery. Can't wait to reinstall, get out, and drive!

Turned out great! Looking forward to seeing pics of it all back in place in your car!