In my view, the pros of Alcantara (pseudo-suede) are: driver-seat contact better than leather, less temperature sensitive than leather, looks great! Cons: more expensive than leather, will wear poorly in cold, wet climates like the central midwest where I live. <p>Can anyone share their experience with seats covered with Alcantara-like material?<br>

Some car had it before ....maybe a S2...or a 90CQ...something had it before. They said that thru time it started to look like a wrinkled pair of corderoy (sp?) pants...it apparently wrinkles alot when a hot body is on it. I dunno for sure if this is true, but I can imagine something like that happening. It is for this reason that I would seriously consider the FULL leather seating in the S4 sport seats.<p>Steve S.<br>97 2.8QM<br>00 S4 (feb?)

What i was concerned about was that suede in any form, holds dirt well. All I need is nice color combo, and dirty blue suede. Just imagine the mechanics climbing into your car...<p>-Pete<br>

If you look where the Alcantara meets the leather, it already looks a little wrinkled and I don't think this car was driven much at the time.<p>Noel<br>'00 S4 Santorin, Silver Leather

I have seen plenty of Audi genuine leather, and I don't think it wears well. For that matter, leather in general does not wear well. I do not want to worry about it. I love the stickiness that it will provide and the blue look! My leatherette wears better than the genuine Ecru leather on the 2.8, IMHO. And I'm not that impressed with the leatherette's wearability. Hey, what do I know? I just can't wait for my '00!!!!!!<br>Conker 98 1.8TS-tip

Alcantara was (and is?) most used and associated with the Italian Manufacturer Lancia. I had 2 cars with Alcantara seats, one was all over alcantara, the other was (oddly) the reverse of the S4, it had alcantara on the side cusions, headrest etc, but the centre was fabric. <br>Both these cars were 5 years 70k milers by the time I sold them, and the alcantara stood up pretty well. In terms of cleanness, Alcantara is washable synthetic suede, so stains can be sponged off just fine, mine were unblemished, and those inevitable coke/chocolate/bigmac stains came right off if I made them. Lancia being an italian marque of less than legendary reliability plenty of mechanics graced these vehicles with their greasy overalls, but dry cleaning fluid would remove any stains w/o spoiling the fabric.<br>The main problem I had was wear on seat side bolsters, which gave a slightly ridged and worn look, but these are leather in the audi anyway. The seat backs were AOK after 70k/5yrs.<br>Incidentally Alcantara is 3-4 times as expensive per foot as leather, so expect to pay extra.<br>

Some Miatas have the leather/alcantara combo. Saw one that was like the blue offered in the S4. It's probably the best way to get a feeling of what Alcantara really looks and feels like. One thing, I wasn't that impressed - hope the Audi Alcantara is better.

You might check out an A8. I saw one at BH BMW a few weeks ago. Leather/Alcantara is an option on the A8. MSRP option price is $3,500 and the invoice price is $3,080. The headliner is even alcantara. I believe only the seat inserts and the door panels on the S4 will be alcantara, but I bet that the option price will take many by surprise.<p>Wes

Hello<p>I have black leather/blue alcantara seats in my<br>S4. You are right, it provides a better contact<br>in the sens that you slip less as the sport<br>seats are not so sport (narrow). You have<br>already mentionned all pros and cons. My<br>experience is that it wears out quicker than<br>leather, it is more delicat and you have to be<br>carefull when you seat in winter (snow) or when<br>it is raining. Ok it is not sugar but... Also <br>forget about cleaning any spots on it. Spots mean <br>direct return to your dealer for cleaning, so<br>if you are a windsurfer who enjoys drinking coke <br>and eating burger while driving go definitely for <br>the leather ;-)<p>Hope this helps<p>Greetings Laurent