b4i4getit

Can anybody make a qualitative statement about the leather seat quality on the 3LT ? Is the Nappa leather actually that much better ?
I was never a fan of the C6 leather and my drivers seat has many creases and wrinkles. I don't know if the 2LT or 3LT would be a better choice with regard to wear and don't know much about leather.

Br0

Google:

Types of Leather

In the tanning process that gives us leather from animal rawhide, several steps are performed to remove the animal hair, skin, etc. Depending on degree of this processing and which of these steps are or are not performed, we get four basic types of leather.
•Full-grain: This is the kind of leather in which the epidermis of the animal skin has not been removed. Also, no corrective processes have been performed on full grain leather to get rid of the natural marks that may be present on the skin.
•Top-grain: This is the kind of leather in which the top grain and split layer has been removed. This is softer than full-grain leather, also cheaper, and less susceptible to spoiling.
•Corrected-grain: This kind of leather has an artificial grain applied to it, to hide the corrections made. Also, this kind of leather can be given various artificial colors by pigmentation.
•Split: Split leather refers to the leather made out of the fibrous part of the animal rawhide that is left over after the top-grain has been removed from it.
Nappa Leather

Nappa leather is a kind of full-grain leather. It was first made by Emanuel Manasse in the year 1875. Manasse worked for a tanning company in Napa, California. That is how the leather gets its name. As stated previously, Nappa leather is a full-grain leather. The leather is made from kid, lamb or sheep skin, and it is 'unsplit'. The tanning process for this leather makes us of artificial tannins such as aluminum sulfate, chromium sulfate and other such salts. Nappa leather is typically dyed so as to obtain various colors.

Properties of Nappa Leather

1.The leather is very soft and pliable. It is not hard like other leathers and does not crease.
2.The leather is tough and durable in spite of being soft. It is not easily spoiled.
3.The leather has an intact top-grain. Hence, it is more "breathable" and does not retain moisture.
4.The leather often develops a patina over the years that adds to its aesthetics.

BTW, Nappa is only available in the 3LT iirc

vincent_esq

I just got back from shopping for leather couch and so was educated a little on this by the saleswoman. Please correct me if I am wrong, but she said that leather can be split into three layers. The top layer is called top grain leather. That is second to the best, and is usually on high quality leather sofas. The second middle layer is called split grain, and I think that's what most leather are made from. There is even a bottom third layer, and I forgot what she said about that. I think they use that combine with polyurethane to make what is called "bonded leather", which only consist of 17% leather. It's sort of like hardwood (real leather) and particle board (bonded leather).
Last but not least, Napa leather is the best. It is full grain, which means, the full 3 layers of the skin are used. It is the most durable and the softest, and are usually on high end furniture and high end autos.

KenHorse

b4i4getit

Thanks for the info. I am leaning toward the 2LT but will wait until someone here with 2LT can advise about the quality.

Br0

Nappa is overrated imho

VNAMVET

I have a 2 LT Z-51 with red adrenaline leather. It is very soft and supple and feels great like a high end pair of gloves. the stitching is red and perfect I hope that helps.

Jimbob26

Dang, I thought I was getting Corinthian Leather.

Daekwan06

Would be very helpful if the dealer had both 2LT and 3LT samples so we could tell the difference ourselves.

Bandit's Vette

I have sat in both about a few weeks ago at the dealership. In my opinion, I can feel the difference. I like the 3LT feel more than the 2LT. But is it worth the $4k price tag? I think so, thats why I ordered my vert in the 3LT package

JerryU

From what I have seen, it depends on what color you’re getting. If Black, I wonder if it really makes a lot of difference. If Kalahari, 3LT is the best choice (in my opinion) as you get most of the dash in that color. Note the front ~5 inches by the windshield is black leather so there are no reflection issues. The other colors kind of fall in-between. I have the 3LT Kalahari with Crystal Red Tint Coat and love it. Can’t compare leathers but my seats feel great. Have had lots of folks say how rich it looks.

c5vette73

I personally think the 3LT kalahari is overdone.

Way too much kalahari on the dash.

It would have been nicer if they would have followed the adrenaline red and gray pattern on the dash.

Trackaholic

I agree. I like the Kalahari color, but would go with 2LT for the reason you mentioned. If they had done the strip of color as on the red and gray, the choice would be more difficult for me.

-T

Carnut12

I think it is worth the price difference, if I ordered a Car I would absolutely get the 3LT. Then again I usually buy all my cars fully loaded.

KenHorse

Much like my women!

(I ordered a 2LT though)

NoOne

I think the amount GM is charging is high considering the quality of the 3LT leather is sub par for the cost.

You'll pretty pretty close in price to doing an aftermarket leather interior if you do not consider the NAV price.

Your at 4K, slightly more than that will get you something from Carvaggio but your picking the color you want and a much higher quality of leather.

Since GPS is useless to me I'm going with 2LT and an aftermarket interior with something from Carvaggio. I went back and forth between 2LT and 3LT but in the end the little extra money spent, and it may not even be extra depending on how far I go, will get me much higher quality materials and workman ship.

The only thing it did was making picking the exterior color more difficult.

JerryU

If you’re not going to have someone install custom leather – the 3LT is a good choice. For those who don’t want to spend the extra $$’s for the 3LT you can justify the difference by quoting a $4000 premium but it’s really $3000. [$8005-($4210 + $795 for NAV) = $3000] Perhaps you like watching your smart phone for navigation but I think the NAV info going up to the HUD when you’re close to a change in direction is a great feature. Usually not a good time to take your eye's off the road-if there ever is! Had NAV in my C6 and the C7 NAV is better. Again, you can argue the price if you don’t want to spend the money, but having the audio system automatically mute when an important change in direction is needed is worth it to me.
Assuming you want the NAV option, is $3000 worth the improved leather and better-looking (in my opinion) extra leather? A subjective decision. But then again so is a $1995 carbon fiber look roof-I sprang for both!

NoOne

Several nav apps uses BT to mute the car stereo and play the directions, same as how it interrupts for your phone to ring.

The biggest reason car nav is useless to me is the lack of ability to use it while moving in the least bit. They are almost always slower than phones to so even using it when stopped its difficult to get it finished at a stop light.

I've had NAV in my past 3 cars simply because I could not get a car without it and never touched it except to check it out the day we bought the car.

Considering my contacts, meetings in calendars with locations, etc its much more convenient on the phone.

Stingray23

lol. And I suppose the leather in your 3 series is better? I HATE that crap leather in BMW's.

lve2xlr8

The m3 has Nappa also