Good info.
Very curious to see how these numbers change over time. I would imagine more 1 and 2LT will be ordered in the future. But that's just me guessing.

 

But of interest is the breakdown on seat options. How many spent the extra bucks for the optional seats? And which seat did they choose?

 

I wanted the black suede interior with the yellow stitching. Had to get 3LT. It's my dream car, so I'm ok spending the extra money to get the interior just right.

 

I did research on used C7s a while back. Based on the prices I saw, the 2LT and 3LT packages did not hold their resale value that well, maybe $2k - $3k over a 1LT. The Z51 package, however, held almost all of its value on resale. The C8 may turn out to be different, though, especially since the 1LT coupe doesn’t have the rear view mirror camera, and rear vision out of a mid-engine car without that is not very good.

 

Just curious. Do you have ANYTHING official from GM that proves all the leather in the 3LT is Napa? I've never seen anything to that effect, and can't believe GM would be bragging about it if true. The only reference GM makes to Napa is the seat inserts in the GT2 seats. I can't find the word Napa anywhere else in GM's documents or website. (Nor can I find anything that says the materials on the 2LT are Mulan vs. Vinyl or vice versa.)

Everyone should get what they want and feel is worth it. I considered the 3LT to get the black with red stitching, but couldn't justify the extra $3K over the 2LT with GT2 seats. I've sat in both multiple times, and driven a 3LT. The 3LT is nicer if you look closely, but I think the differences aren't worth the cost, for me. YMMV.

 

Could not find that original Quote so copied here.

NO WAY IS ALL THE "LEATHER" Napa Tanned Animal Hide! GM refers to faux leather they call Mulan as leather in their literature- have since my 2014 3LT C7 (perhaps before.) I have been following this very closely since I ordered my 3LT C7. Then I bought a 2017 2LT Grand Sport because I didn't like the "cheapened" 3LT interior GM started in 2016. GM hooked me again with the Dipped Interior for my C8 that required a 3LT. I know I paid ~$3200 for color. Worth it to me! BUT IMO there is NO Extra real tanned Napa leather or tanned animal hide of any type! It's only were GM states it is and that is on the seating surface. In fact GM finally admits in writing with the C8 that the seat bolsters are made from their faux leather, Mulan. Although they don't say in writing, that was leaked for the C7. Mulan, as expected, is "bonded leather" which is man made like Vinyl. That was leaked as well for the C7. But where Vinyl often uses calcium carbonate as a cheap filler, bonded leather uses finely ground real animal hide scraps! In the US (not some other countries) if more than 20% ground leather scraps it can be called leather. So as in the furniture industry were retailers complain of all the propriety names manufactures use with no details on amount of ground up leather scraps or durability! GM is careful in literature to use Napa where it is used and leather where it is Mulan. Somewhat deceptive and similar to Chryslers "Corintian Leather" used years ago! That was a name coined by their ad agency for that bonded leather!

MY LEATHER HISTORY
In 2000 I had my street rod interior done by a very professional "show car" shop. I saw great creative interiors on wining cars at shows and I engaged them to do my interior. It was a 6 month wait (which I knew and planned before my car was ready) as they did one car at a time with the owner and 2 others. I had 6 months of work to do myself to finish the rod. It was a fixed price. I wanted leather and the owner said I can do that and will have to split the leather to get some of the effects I am thinking about for your car (folks can goggle split leather, it's the top surface often used to make gloves.) If I remember, he said it would take 5 or 6 hides as he has to work around defects. He then said there is a synthetic product that costs the same as leather and feels like the best glove leather. It's called Ultraleather. He said he could do more creative things using that material- MY CHOICE. I had a few weeks to make a decision, investigated and selected Ultralleather! Zero regrets. You can see what I brought to them and what this creative group did! I had no idea they were matching the exterior flame motif. Check out the headliner! He even made door arm rest into a flame! Had no idea they were going to do that! Yep its high end, essentially vinyl (made from slightly different material on a continuous production line that is >100 yards long!)

HOW ITS MADE TV PROGRAM
Those who have watched "How It's Made" may have seen RR, Ferrari etc use "real tanned leather" for their interiors. First they have to mark all the places the cow brushed against a barbed wire fence, had zits etc! Then they have to nest all the part templates by hand missing the defects. Lots of waste. Vinyl or Mulan come on large rolls. It's pulled on a table and a computer nests the parts with minimum scrap. (In my former life we sold million dollar CNC cutting machines that did that with steel!) No hand scissors involved. Computer cutting knife, Laser or water jet cuts the patterns perfectly so they can be sewed together.

GM is very careful when they say the "seating surface" is Napa leather as they did for the C7. BUT no other place do they mention Napa or real tanned animal hide. They use the generic word leather. No doubt in my mind that is Mulan. Expect if even the small cover over the Mode Control **** was made from Napa leather, they way GM has been deceptively ambiguous of what is tanned animal hide "leather" it would say, "Even some of the console is Napa leather!" You can be sure IF real tanned animal hide was used they would hype the fact!

Each can believe what they wish!

Pics of what I delivered to the Professional Interior Folks and what they produced from a high end Vinyl called Ultraleather. It's still winning trophies 20 years later. The Ultraleather is still glove soft!

 

Don’t mean to say everything GM says is BS! Far from it, I think Tadge and company are straight shooters. I even thought Tadge’s comments re wide C7 wheels were honest! However, have to read his words very carefully and posts on the Forum may have been washed by GM attorneys! I had 5 attorneys who checked my groups monthly Marketing Bulletin sent to ~3000 distributor folks! No choice!

In a similar “Leather or Not” Thread a respected forum member, also a youtuber, who has close contacts with folks in Tadge’s group, said he was told it was real leather and would double check. He never reported back! IMO Tadge and company has no choice but to be "speaking the company line." Especially marketing issues like interior materials. Probably dictated by a powerful, expensive ad agency and supporting GM marketing manager! (Yep It's "leather" IF you go by US rules that say "If it has more than 20% finely ground real leather mixed into a product made like Vinyl it can be called leather!" It's not tanned animal hide most folks think of a real leather!)

However, recall finding “Marketing Speak” on a technical issue re Why my early (built September 2013) 2014 Z51 did not have a center air dam where my C6 Z51 did. This is the time sequence of why it took over 2 years looking at all GM statements to find the truth:

Why No Center Air Dam on Some C7 Models:
1) John Bednarchik, the Chief GM Aerodynamicist, in an October 2, 2013 published article said it was removed for high speed stability. I read that article when it was published, as I get that car mag. He gave no details of what “high speed stability meant!”

2) A GM engineer said in 2014 it was to get more air to the rear brakes. That didn’t match with Bednarchik said and that engineer made a different statement, with no detail, to the forum member who posted the comment. Sounded like “marketing speak” to me!

3) Tadge at the April 2014 Bash said the center air dam on the Z51 was deleted to balance the lift characteristics. Interesting, similar to Bednarchik’s statement but again no details.

4) Tadge in a 2015 Z06 intro video said it was not used because it was causing high speed oversteer and they require some understeer. (Now that sounded like the real reason! Since I had a modified ’67 Corvair, knew all about high speed oversteer and how the average driver did NOT know how to properly steer to counter a high-speed skid!)

5) Tadge in a 2016 forum post said they carefully control “pitch moment” to provide neutral handling biased to understeer.

6) A 2017 GM Bulletin shows the base models of the Grand Sport (not my Stage 2 Aero Option that doesn’t) and Z06 now have center air dams, minimizing the reason being extra cooling if that was every more than "marketing speak!" (GM, must have good CFM (Computational Fluid Dynamic Computer Models) proving it OK for those C7 variants!)

 

Just wait until the 3LT leather dashboards start delaminating. I don't know that GM fixed this problem that's been around for a couple generations.

 

^^^^
First, I had zero problems with my 3LT 2014 Z51 Kalahari dash. Looking at forum complaints it was not a high percentage problem in the C7. But for some a PIA and costly.

Best info on bonded leather is from the furniture industry. The retailers association say they are frustrated with the many proprietary names that industry uses for bonded leather (like GM's Mulan for the Vette!) No info published and can't compare durability.. They clearly spell out that bonded leather shrinks and can crack when exposed to heat. They recommend avoiding putting bonded leather furniture near where it gets a lot of sun. They also say don't put near floor heat registers. BOTH tough for a Corvette when the sun bakes though the windshield and the interior gets very hot.

SIMPLE SOLUTION
The solution for GM appears to be simple. Use Vinyl on the dash! NO reports of 1LT or 2LT C7s shrinking or having to have the dash replaced. Vinyl probably would stretch with heat! I could NOT TELL the difference in appearance between my 2LT 2017 Grand Sport with a Black dash and my 3LT Kalahari 2014 dash! Maybe GM got smart and used Vinyl. Frankly they never say what is Vinyl or their faux leather Mulan! Only real leather is the "seating surface." They careful say it's Napa leather, which is tanned animal hide. For the first time they publish for the C8 that the bolsters on the Napa Seating Surface Seats Are Mulan! They also say the seating surface on the GT1 seat is Mulan.

My Vette is always garaged when not in use. When parked in the sun it's for limited times and I crack a window. NOT FOR THE DASH, it's to avoid my ESCORT Passport Max not falling from it's "sticky" suction cup mount!

As I did on my 2014 and 2017 C7s installed my C8. The tether holds the detector and mount. When it falls nothing happens to the detector. It only does that when parked and I don't have a window open on a 100+ degree day! Has never happed in 8 years driving the Vettes.


ESCORT Passport Max Mounted on C8. Note Tether.


Tether on Same Detector on my 2017 Grand Sport. Started Use on My 2014 3LT.

 

After sitting in a 2LT and a 3LT there is a major difference. The grain of the leather used in the 2LT is much larger. The 3LT is covered with smooth leather. The quality of the leather in the 3LT seems to be, at least by touch and look, a much higher quality.

So those who are saying there is no difference in the material used in the 3LT and the 2LT, you have it wrong.

I also believe that ChevyDude touched on that in his video reviewing the differences between trim levels.

 

Are you comparing the seats or the dash, or what? Because the seats are the exact same leather, along with the very minor trim lines that extend up into the dash (easier to notice on a two-tone interior). The rest of the material is where they start to stray, where the 2LT is most certainly using a faux-leather vinyl type material vs the 3LT uses real leather.

 

You forgot about the guy who claims to have got one a few months ago for $3,200 under MSRP, LOL.

 

I went 2LT for a couple of reasons:

*I have had a red/black interior in my C5 Z06 for 17 years and absolutely love it, so I knew I wanted two-tone seats and that meant the GT2 seats and the two tone is available in 2LT trim with Napa leather.
*I am not a fan of the natural dipped look in a Corvette (although that Morello dipped is awesome). If I was getting a euro-GT car, I would probably do it. I don't want to dress up the interior of "America's Sports Car" too much :-)
*I was not interested in having a suede option. My experience with it has been that over time, the heavily touched areas tend to "lay down" from being compressed by hands, forearms, etc. I like the idea of using a leather cleaner followed up with a conditioner and in 20 years the leather will look like the day you bought the car.

As everyone has said, this is probably the most personal decision made with ordering a C8, IMO.

 

Yep they can make the faux Mulan "leather" with any "gain" pattern they want since like Vinyl it passes under embossing rolls in manufacture. Yep the Mulan bolsters on my 3LT Napa leather "seating surface," are smooth as is the real tanned animal hide Napa leather. But the "Seating Surface" is the only tanned animal hide on the car IMO and others who have followed this for years. In my case having a 3LT 2014 C7 and then a 2LT 2017 Grand Sport. Other Mulan faux leather can have a coarser grain if that is what is desired and selected by the interior supplier..

Been following this whole "real tanned leather" versus faux Mulan (which is bonded leather with finely ground real leather scraps added as a filler instead of the cheaper Calcium Carbonate used as a filler in Vinyl) for > 8 years.) In the US, if it has more than 20% finely ground leather as a filler, bonded leather can be called leather. That is what is done in the furniture industry. In some foreign counties that is NOT ALLOWED.

The C8 is the first time I have seen GM admit the bolsters on the top of the line GT2 seat are Mulan. It was speculated for the C7, reinforced by a GM engineer who discussed durability test that were done on bolsters BUT not on a Corvette. They, like the furniture industry, say leather when they refer to Mulan. They say "Napa leather" when it is real animal hide tanned leather. You'll only find that in print as it was for the C7 for the "seating surface" on the 3LT seats (well for the C8 you can buy that same seat for $1400 with a 2LT.)

These are GM words.

This is an interesting example of my 2017 2LT Grand Sport that did not come with a seat colored upper dash pad. In 2017 that was only available in the 3LT. I bought a 3LT upper dash pad that was probably Mulan. The dash was no doubt Vinyl as both 1LT and 2LT dashes had no reported shrinkage where a number of 3LT dashes had to be replaced because of shrinkage. The furniture industry warns that bonded leather should not be put where there is heavy sun exposure of near heating vents. Vinyl probably stretches with heat but the key is no forum reports of those dashes shrinking. Sure hope GM leaned from the C7 and my 3LT C8 dash is Vinyl!

 

^^^
And there is only one reference to "Napa" in the entire C8, in any of GM's marketing materials and websites. And that's the seating surfaces in the GT2 or Competition seats. (And if you get microsuede, not even that.) Not once have the put in writing, anywhere, that the dash, doors, steering wheel, console or anything else is Napa.

The dash in the 2LT doesn't even seem to be Mulan. GM's parts database says it's TPO, which is "synthetic leather" (thermoplastic polyolefin).

 

Thanks, the TPO adds to my 8 year accumulation of info about Vette interiors!

Hope GM learned from the past issues on "Mulan" for the 3LT dash. It's their coined name for also faux leather that they don't admit what it is! They have used subterfuge as does the largest interior aftermarket supplier who repeats and comment about a Disney character. All BS to get around the real facts. I get frustrated since everything else on Vettes has been honest, i.e. pushrod engine with same bore spacing as my '56 small block! Must be their ad agency who has the ear of a marketing exec! Recall when we used Young and Rubicam who had that reputation of being so great and had the ear of the Communications VP! I got that changed for a new product we were introducing! Chrysler's ad agency is who came up with "Corintian Leather." It was bonded leather and they hide that fact as well.

The furniture industry retail associate is a good source of info as they face the same issue. Proprietary names and with more than 20% ground up leather scrapes to essentially a product made like like Vinyl and they can call it leather (in the US NOT some countries overseas!)

Won't repeat my post #46 on this Thread but hope GM got smart and use TPO rather than Mulan for my 3LT dash! It shrunk on a number of 3LT C7s and had to be replaced. many not covered on warrantee. (BTW I had no issues with my 3LY 2014 C7 and don't expect any with the C8 as I don't park with the windows shut in 100+F weather!

Heck as stated in my post #46 I know I paid $3200 for a color I wanted and some fake suede on the "A" pillar roof parts. Sobeit. I'm happy!

 

Per the order guide the 3LT dash is leather so I'm assuming it is Mulan leather.
I don't expect the same dash problems with the C8 as the C7 since the "leather" doesn't extend as far towards the windshield.

 

Yep, when I see leather without the words Napa leather IMO it's Mulan.

Hope my 3LT dash is fine. My 3LT 2014 C7 was fine but again I'm no longer working and don't park the car all day in the hot sun. It fact for my prior Vettes had a light colored cap car cover that was easy to install and I could use with the windows cracked!

 

Nothing beats good old "Fine Corinthian Leather." Which I'm pretty sure was similar to GM's Mulan.

But heck, all of it, Napa, Mulan, Corinthian is coated with plastic anyway. Your hands and butt (if you drive naked) never touch real cowhide. When GM gives us real uncoated tanned cowhide I might get excited about it. But that's a lot more work to maintain.