What is the difference between Alcantara and Suede?

[JR Supra]

I wanna buy A new streeing wheel that's fully Alcantara/Suede. The Rexpeed Steering Wheel is made of Suede and is $350 and looks amazing. However, there is an OLM steering wheel that is Alcantara for $550. The Rexpeed Wheel looks thicker which is a plus to me. My question to anyone who has one of them what is the difference and which is the one to get?


Rexpeed:

OLM:

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[J29DB03]

Alcantara is suede, just from one particular company and has become like Teflon is to saying something is nonstick. That said, it’s a top-of-the-line suede and worth the extra money. But essentially the same stuff.

 

[Tsuki]

Suede is genuine leather. Alcantara is a branded synthetic product, often known as micro-suede, etc.

There is zero chance the Rexspeed steering wheel is actually suede. The two wheels there are very likely the exact same steering wheel, made in the exact same factory.

 

[Musa_Hanzo]

Alcantara is a purest form of synthetic leather aka grade A. No recycled scrape of leathers. Kinda like forged aluminum rims.

Suede is a collection of scrape pieces of recycled leather from multiple leather sources (typically used for clothing for its thin, smooth texture) thats been powderized, heat treated into one sheet through chemical process, dyed, and then cold pressed so its thinner to the touch in comparison to Alcantara. Kinda like cast aluminum rims.

Alcantara is typically used by high end cars especially Porsche and Ferraris. In recent years, Mercedes AMG and BMW M devisions use it for the headliners.

Oh..FYI 23 A91 MT also has full Alcantara headliners.

 

[Musa_Hanzo]

I wanna buy A new streeing wheel that's fully Alcantara/Suede. The Rexpeed Steering Wheel is made of Suede and is $350 and looks amazing. However, there is an OLM steering wheel that is Alcantara for $550. The Rexpeed Wheel looks thicker which is a plus to me. My question to anyone who has one of them what is the difference and which is the one to get?


Rexpeed:

OLM:

Sorry but genuine Alcantara will cost twice more than $550.
Alcantara also has an ability to cure itself to the elements vs suede doesn't.
You will be happy with Alcantara in a long run. But of course to the naked eyes, can't tell the difference between the two.

 

[NitroYellowMKV]

Hey please don’t ever buy either of these wheels, extremely dangerous and unsafe to install and run they use aftermarket cores and it’s a serious liability, if you’d like a real Alcantara wheel not made out of some fake garbage that’ll possibly kill you in an accident shoot me a dm, I’d be happy to go over all the different options and versions with you!

One of my real Alcantara wheels -

 

[Supraboi7]

Hey please don’t ever buy either of these wheels, extremely dangerous and unsafe to install and run they use aftermarket cores and it’s a serious liability, if you’d like a real Alcantara wheel not made out of some fake garbage that’ll possibly kill you in an accident shoot me a dm, I’d be happy to go over all the different options and versions with you!

One of my real Alcantara wheels -

Yoooo silly question but do you have a store online for all the things you sell? Not necessarily looking for anything specific at the moment but wanted to see what all you have

 

[tadda]

Alcantara is a brand of faux / fake suede...Real suede is natural and cut from hides...

Side note:

I hate faux suede as it easily gets dirty and over time the material pills, shows wear, and looks like crap....

 

[PikkaGTR]

My plan is to buy a used oem wheel
Retrim with a good local shop to a slightly thicker wheel and Napa leather
Probably cost less than $750 and you have oem safety

 

[Tsuki]

One of my real Alcantara wheels -

Definitely need to get with you on this. Any way you could PM me a quote on something just like your picture? One of the worst parts of this car for me is how thin the steering wheel is.

Thanks!

 

[NitroYellowMKV]

My plan is to buy a used oem wheel
Retrim with a good local shop to a slightly thicker wheel and Napa leather
Probably cost less than $750 and you have oem safety

I can do that for you for the same money using an Oem core!

 

[NitroYellowMKV]

Definitely need to get with you on this. Any way you could PM me a quote on something just like your picture? One of the worst parts of this car for me is how thin the steering wheel is.

Thanks!

Shoot me a text (561) 236-6280

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