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I haven't been able to find a post that states the 3LT dash is PU material or how that was substantiated. What I do know is there is a supplier chart that says the interior wrap material is Alura Elite (a TPO material) supplied by Haartz corp and the C8 leather is provided by Bader which has both lines of real leather and bonded leather. GM claims the dash is "leather" in the 3LT which means it is real leather (which is highly doubtful) or bonded leather (much more likely). The only real leather GM claims to use in the C8 is the Napa leather in the GT2/comp seat seating surfaces.
I haven't been able to find a post that states the 3LT dash is PU material or how that was substantiated. What I do know is there is a supplier chart that says the interior wrap material is Alura Elite (a TPO material) supplied by Haartz corp and the C8 leather is provided by Bader which has both lines of real leather and bonded leather. GM claims the dash is "leather" in the 3LT which means it is real leather (which is highly doubtful) or bonded leather (much more likely). The only real leather GM claims to use in the C8 is the Napa leather in the GT2/comp seat seating surfaces.
Napa leather in only on the center sections of the seat. The bolsters, bottom and sides are Mulan bonded leather. That would lead me to think that Mulan is more resilient to abrasion.
It was posted that a 3LT dash part was polyurethane TPU leather in the description. I don't have a copy of the reference. See SIDEBAR showing why the material may have been listed.
My reason for mentioning, is the material used for my street rod interior is high end Polyurethane and more expressive material than Vinyl or Bonded Leather. The company with the tradename Ultraleather quotes there product as: "With half a century of craftsmanship and leading technology at the core of our process, we continue to reshape the world of animal-free performance fabrics."
My point is Mulan may not contain any finely ground real animal hide scrapes mixed with the base material. It's GM's option, GM can specify and change at will what is used.
Researched the differences in real tanned animal hide leather versus Ultraleather in 2000. Had to make the material choice for my Street Rod interior as I was given the exact same fixed price quote for either. The Corvette dash issue was raised for my 2008 C8 3LT, 2014 3LT as it is with the C8 3LT. Have followed GM's deceptive description of interior materials for all three since ~2007 when I placed the order for the C6.
Since GM got cheap in 2016 and changed the 3LT interiors to what I thought looked like a 'Patchwork Quit." I bought a 2LT 2017 Grand Sport with Red interior. Decided to add what that year was ONLY on a 3LT, a seat colored 'Upper Dash Pad." Took pics and could not see or feel any visible differences in the 2LT (probably Vinyl dash) versus the Mulan (bonded leather C7 material.) Mulan being bonded leather was leaked by the BG manger to a person writing about the plant. It's been a secret since my 2008 C6! Probably a GM not just Corvette edict so the good folks at Corvette won't/can't say!
Some can see and feel the difference. My 2LT Vinyl dash felt soft to the touch as it probably had a foam material behind the embossed Vinyl that looked like real tanned animal hide leather. Yep the 3LT C8 interior overall does look somewhat nicer than a 2LT. Is it ~$3000 dollars nicer (assuming you opt for the GT2 seats) you decide.
Below are some pics. GM got cheap in 2016 and made 3LT interiors look like a "Patch Work Quilt" IMO. Why I opted for a 2LT 2017 Grand Sport.
All below are 3LT Interiors.
I opted for a 2LT for my 2017 Grand Sport because I did not like the 3LT interior. BUT bought and added a 3LT Upper Dash Pad.
This is pic I made of my 2LT dash and the 3LT Upper Dash Pad I added. Both manmade AND embossed to look like real tanned animal hide. On a C8 Only the seating surface not even the bolsters are real tanned Napa Leather in the GT2 seat. The GT1 seat is made from Mulan, GM's faux leather. GM uses the word "leather" for the fake material and "Napa leather" where it's real animal hide. That is on the seating surface of GT2 (and competition seats.) Not even the Bolsters, which GM states in writing for the C8, are Mulan.
SIDEBAR
I sell an inexpensive 22 foot long leather cable/hose cover made from pieces of "real animal hide leather" sewed together. From my website: "Leather has unique properties that make it resistant to welding spatter. It contains roughly 20% water which provides spark resistance."
I also sell a flexible, PVC (Polyvinyl Choline) custom made hose and when requested (as I have been by Boeing etc) must supply a MSD (formerly MSDS, Materials Safety Data Sheet) for the PVC hose. One key reason is when burned, PVC, Vinyl cloth etc has choline as a decomposition product. In the Firefighter section of the MSD must tell what they are being exposed to in a fire. So not unusual to mention what a product is made from. Polyurethane does not have the same decomposition issue, as it's not made from salt as is Vinyl!
Where did you get the dash pad from or did you make it yourself? I think that’s the way I would like to go. Get the 2LT to avoid the delaminating issues down the road and add aftermarket accents.
Where did you get the dash pad from or did you make it yourself? I think that’s the way I would like to go. Get the 2LT to avoid the delaminating issues down the road and add aftermarket accents.
Upper dash pad was from GS Creations $312. They had the cheapest, lower than a Chevy Dealer. The lower dash pad was from a Chevy dealer $72.
In fact Chevy "copied my idea for the 2018 2LT! Don't believe they copied what I did which was soon after I got it, well before the 2018's.. The key cost issue is matching the door panel. I used a cheap approach as replacing the driver's door panel is very expensive.
The 3LT comes with a hidden feature. (the dash will bubble up 90% of the time)
BS, my 3LT C6, 2014 C7, 2020 C8 never bubbled. Dash remained perfect. Been active on forum since 2007, small % with issue. As usual overblown.
However like the difference between Recession and Depression. If your neighbor is out of work it's a Recession. If you're out of work it's a Depression!
BS, my 3LT C8, 2014 C&, C8 never bubbles. Been active of forum since 2007, small % with issue. As usual overblown.
However like the difference between Recession and Depression. If your neighbor is out of work it's a Recession. If your out of work it's a Depression!
I think environment is also a big factor here. I’ve been looking at several C7s and see it quite a bit on the 3LTs in my area. Just test drove a 2016 last week and it wasn’t terrible but was starting to delaminate around the edges and was “squishy” in the middle. No obvious bubbles but it was pulling away from the windshield and dash.
I think environment is also a big factor here. I’ve been looking at several C7s and see it quite a bit on the 3LTs in my area. Just test drove a 2016 last week and it wasn’t terrible but was starting to delaminate around the edges and was “squishy” in the middle. No obvious bubbles but it was pulling away from the windshield and dash.
I agree, my 2014 C7 3LT never had an issue, but it was always something that I monitored. My 2017 Cadillac XT5 Leather dash was replaced because of delamination and bubbling. My C8 will be a 2LT for that reason. Call me paranoid but one less thing to worry about hopefully.....
I've actually seen 2 '23 C8 3LTs sitting on the showroom floor with 3 miles and both showed signs of delamination / bubbles...One was on the leather shroud above the instrumentation display and the other was on the passenger dash...
Napa leather in only on the center sections of the seat. The bolsters, bottom and sides are Mulan bonded leather. That would lead me to think that Mulan is more resilient to abrasion.
That doesn't quite compute to me. So on seating options with MF inserts, I was under the impression that the remainder of the seat was Napa (real) leather. Is this not the case?
That doesn't quite compute to me. So on seating options with MF inserts, I was under the impression that the remainder of the seat was Napa (real) leather. Is this not the case?
GM only claims the seating surfaces are Napa leather so if you replace the seat inserts with MF inserts the only remaining leather is Mulan "leather".
They're smooth. The 1 and 2LT have a grain. Its very noticeable same as the dash pads.
I've had 3 3LZs never had an issue. My buddy had an issue his car was left outside daily in 100f days windows up and 10f days. That plus UV doesn't make fomagic durability. My cars are garaged in climate control year round.
That doesn't quite compute to me. So on seating options with MF inserts, I was under the impression that the remainder of the seat was Napa (real) leather. Is this not the case?
Yep you have no Napa (real tanned animal hide) Leather. See what GM States for C8 Seats below. For the C8 they admit the bolsters are their Faux "leather" Mulan whatever it is! Can be anything as like Chryslers Corinthian faux leather that was coined name by their ad agency. SIDEBAR
It's possible a few other parts are Napa leather. One that comes to mind is the Mode **** Wrist Rest. There was an interview of their C8 interior manager. His cleverly worded statement said they used more leather in the C8 (read more faux Mulan leather) and mentioned the Napa Leather wrist wrest as a new an ergonomic part. Never said anything else was real tanned animal hide leather (because there isn't!) One reason I get mad at what I consider deceptive ducking the "What is Mulan" and what parts of the interior use what. Everything else with Corvette is typically straight forward and honest. Tadge and his execs have no choice this is a GM Cooperate issue.
Reminds me when our Division used a top NY Agency Young & Rubicam ad agency. The VP Communications was tied to that ad firm. We did not spend like a P&G and got some old, not creative account rep. They screwed up our new MIG welder intro designed for autobody shops. My Market Development Manager for that product segment came up with a cleaver name for the intro of "Body Beautiful." The flyer they produced had a guy weightlifter on the cover! It was late and in blue line so could not change! I was livid. (Made them make another flyer with a gal and let the distributors pic!)
I insisted another ad agency be used for a very significant shielding gas product we were about to launch. He found a new upstart agency called Poppe Tyson. We got Poppe himself versus our old timer with Young & Rubicam. Very impressive. Funny that was 1984/1985 and just googled: "Poppe Tyson Inc., one of Silicon Valley's most high-profile marketing communications agencies."
He did a great job. Came up with a great name for the product, our technical Industrial Gas sales/field engineers accepted, Stargon. That compared to our usual technical names that defined the product like C25 (25% CO2 in Argon.) Did not tell folks exactly what it was so a fabricator would try and not say, "tired that before!" He developed a whole introduction package including exactly what field sale/engineers were required to do to get the distributor past the first few accounts. Essentially hold their hand and make the sale for the distributor salesperson. Gave us the support material to show the logic and for them to use! Was a great success.
Someone needs to take a financial management course, because $3K is still $3K whether you’re comparing it to an $80K automobile or a cup of coffee. Simply because we’re talking about an automobile, doesn’t diminish the buying power of that additional $3K. That whole, “we’re talking about $80K, what’s another $3K?” is a negotiating trick used by real estate agents, car salesmen, etc to get you to spend more money. Don’t fall for it.
Here’s another example. I have about $3K in GM MasterCard points available and I intend on using them. Would you also tell me, “it’s just $3K, don’t bother using those points”? Does that really make sense? If that doesn’t make sense, why does it make sense for the OP to indiscriminately add 3LT and pay the $3K upcharge if the 3LT features are something he does not cares about?
Agreed, I went with the 2LT with GT2 seats and saved the $3K for future warranty extension. I also stayed away from the 3LT because I didn’t want to deal with the leather delaminating on the upper dashboard.
I'm not worried about delamination. I'll probably have a dashmat on that thing week 1. Something like this will definitely be in my future. I love the mat I have in my current vehicle, and I loved the one in the vehicle I had before that too.
Don't believe they copied what I did which was soon after I got it, well before the 2018's.. The key cost issue is matching the door panel. I used a cheap approach as replacing the driver's door panel is very expensive.
