Textile Interior

[Kipernicus]

I wanted to capture thoughts and pictures on the basic interior in its own thread.
Francis Lau took some great pictures at the Fremont test drive on 6/23/2012 here
http://flic.kr/p/cjBBaQ

Please share your opinion and impressions of the microfiber seats compared to the leather!
Thanks

 

[kevincwelch]

I wanted to capture thoughts and pictures on the basic interior in its own thread.
Francis Lau took some great pictures at the Fremont test drive on 6/23/2012 here
http://flic.kr/p/cjBBaQ

Please share your opinion and impressions of the microfiber seats compared to the leather!
Thanks

I think the microfiber looks great and it blends nicely with the rest of the interior. I don't think I'll be getting because of my prejudices: a car as expensive as the Model S deserves to be seen and experienced with leather.

 

[AnOutsider]

Agreed, it does look good. Looks much less dust-prone than some other cloth seats I've experienced.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Yes, it does look good in the pics. 8-way (essentially, missing the circular dial that controls lumbar with the leather seats) is reasonable.

And, not sure if one'd miss the lack of the heating aspect given that the textile may not get/feel as cold as leather?!

The real major 'problem' is the lack of seat memory. But, in situations such as mine (my wife doesn't want to drive this 'big' car), it doesn't/shouldn't matter?!

 

[kendallpb]

Please share your opinion and impressions of the microfiber seats compared to the leather!

Thanks for posting this. It looks...more grey than black (I thought it was black), or are the pix just overexposed?

Anyway, I like the look. this is what I'm leaning towards. What're the non-fabric parts made of? I wonder how that part feels...yeah I don't even remember if the beta I sat in weeks ago was leather or fabric! ;-) If they were fabric...these seats look different.

I don't think I'll regret not having seat memory, and I believe gg's right about heating. I have fabric now and the problem on cold days is...the freaking cold air! Not the seats. ;-) On hot days, in shorts, I think fabric's better than leather (I've never seen "cooled seats"), although the black will feel warmer than a lighter colour.

I think I'm more worried about the head "rest" which seems to jut forward a lot. I don't want my head pushed forward at a weird angle. I hate having the head rest touching the back of my head while I drive....

 

[SCW-Greg]

I wanted to capture thoughts and pictures on the basic interior in its own thread.
Francis Lau took some great pictures at the Fremont test drive on 6/23/2012 here
http://flic.kr/p/cjBBaQ

Please share your opinion and impressions of the microfiber seats compared to the leather!
Thanks

Nice set of pics. Thanks Kiper for sharing so quickly!

Yes the black fab interior is over exposed, which isn't so bad because it shows detail that would otherwise be lost.

 

[jerry33]

Yes the black fab interior is over exposed, which isn't so bad because it shows detail that would otherwise be lost.

Too bad that's not the actual colour of the cloth seats, because that colour really looks great.

 

[efusco]

Thanks, am really torn on the cloth v leather myself. Glad to know that the microfiber is nice.

How did the dash material look in person compared to the fancier custom ones? I' concerned that it'll look like cheap black plastic and get spotted with finger prints easily.

 

[kendallpb]

I think I'm more worried about the head "rest" which seems to jut forward a lot. I don't want my head pushed forward at a weird angle. I hate having the head rest touching the back of my head while I drive....

I'm an idiot: I looked at my own car and realized it looks like my seat back does something similar, and if the angle's a little more on the Model S's headrest, it's not much more. I didn't notice it when I sat in a beta some time ago, but it's easy to overlook something like that, leaning forward to look at everything. ;-) Anyway, I don't think this'll bother me a bit.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

One more tidbit from the Palo Alto test drive event yesterday.

Disclaimer: don't mean to get anyone's (mine included) hopes up too much here. So, no guarantees here.

The product specialist that I was talking to suggested that the default cloth interior may have seat memory after all! There are no physical buttons inside the car to toggle between multiple seat memory settings so, it apparently all comes down to the software and the key fobs. He recalled that the mention of seat memory was dropped from the leather option in the Options page quite a while ago.

The differences from cloth to leather (apart from plants/plastic vs animals) would then come down to 8-way vs 12-way power seats (essentially the 4-way lumbar adjustment) and the heated aspect.

I'll take that!! Tesla, please make this happen!

 

[nrcooled]

I think the microfiber looks great and it blends nicely with the rest of the interior. I don't think I'll be getting because of my prejudices: a car as expensive as the Model S deserves to be seen and experienced with leather.

Agreed 100%. I worry about resale of an expensive car without leather. You can't even get a 5 series now without leather (faux or otherwise)

I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the textile interior was. It really blended nicely with the car. The textile feel was really nice and the application of the leather like inserts really looked sporty. Iit didn't hurt that they had it installed in the Sunset Red MS which is, hands down, my favorite color and one I will be ordering on my car.

The biggest drawback for me is the lack of memory seats. The memory seats are a big deal in my house since I am 6' tall and my wife is 5' tall and obviously drive in very different positions. I can't even get in the driver's seat with her adjustments.

 

[nrcooled]

One more tidbit from the Palo Alto test drive event yesterday.

Disclaimer: don't mean to get anyone's (mine included) hopes up too much here. So, no guarantees here.

The product specialist that I was talking to suggested that the default cloth interior may have seat memory after all! There are no physical buttons inside the car to toggle between multiple seat memory settings so, it apparently all comes down to the software and the key fobs. He recalled that the mention of seat memory was dropped from the leather option in the Options page quite a while ago.

The differences from cloth to leather (apart from plants/plastic vs animals) would then come down to 8-way vs 12-way power seats (essentially the 4-way lumbar adjustment) and the heated aspect.

I'll take that!! Tesla, please make this happen!

If this is the case then I would gladly get the textile! Tesla MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

 

[tdelta1000]

I wanted to capture thoughts and pictures on the basic interior in its own thread.

Please share your opinion and impressions of the microfiber seats compared to the leather!
Thanks

The new red Model S with the Black cloth interior looks smashing and does make it a little bit more difficult to make an interior material choice . Now, if TM gave another paneling choice like Aluminum, i think it would be even harder.

 

[VolkerP]

GG, while you jump on seat memory (OK for couple of drivers with big difference in tallness) I'd like to have the heated seats option migrate from the leather to the textile interior

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

GG, while you jump on seat memory (OK for couple of drivers with big difference in tallness) I'd like to have the heated seats option migrate from the leather to the textile interior

Why not? Not a very common thing (heated cloth seats), it seems; here are the few cars that do have them.

 

[ddruz]

Does anyone know whether the textile front seats have that little kangaroo pouch in front like the leather seats do?

 

[zdre]

Not a very common thing (heated cloth seats), it seems; here are the few cars that do have them.

My 2011 VW Golf TDI has heated cloth seats. They are nice to have since the Diesel engine takes >10 minutes to warm up in the winter. Not sure that there would be a benefit of heated seats in Model S since it preconditions the cabin.

 

[Rifleman]

Here are a few pictures that I took at the LA drive event. Sorry for the poor picture quality, they were taken with a cell phone.

 

[AnOutsider]

Not bad at all! Was this black or gray? Thought I remember seeing a version with a deeper, darker color.

 

[smoothoperator]

I really wish the textile looked like mb-tex, the textile insert line patterns (on the Model S) looks like something that belongs on a mid 90s Dodge Neon!