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leather vs cloth seats in my 94 M

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Old 11-20-2007, 02:12 PM
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Default leather vs cloth seats in my 94 M

I have a choice between the two, and personally like the look of the black cloth vs the tan leather, but I was wondering if you had any opinions on why I shouldn't ditch the leather?
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Old 11-20-2007, 02:19 PM
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No
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Old 11-20-2007, 02:26 PM
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Leather is comfortable, sucks *** trying to hold yourself in place around corners.
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Old 11-20-2007, 03:10 PM
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I'd ditch the tan seats. Go with either black cloth or leather. I have leather and love it, but I also have a 6pt harness for when I need to stay put.
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Old 11-20-2007, 03:35 PM
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word x 3
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Old 11-20-2007, 04:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Braineack
Leather is comfortable, sucks *** trying to hold yourself in place around corners.
Drive naked on a hot summer day you wont have a problem
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Old 11-20-2007, 04:59 PM
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Do the seats have the built in speakers?

I like the Tan leather w/ the speakers in mine...
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Old 11-20-2007, 05:59 PM
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yeah, both the seats have built in speakers

i'll probably go with the cloth since i slide off the leather. lol
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Old 11-21-2007, 02:58 PM
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every tan seat i've seen on miatas look like they were pulled out of pig manure. after 10+ years, all the leather surfaces are nasty.

no thanks. cloth ftw on these cars. this ain't no mercedes. duh.
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Old 11-21-2007, 03:43 PM
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That and cloth is much more durable in convertibles than leather.
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Old 11-21-2007, 03:53 PM
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I'm 6'3" and leather seats seem to be thicker, so I'm more comfortable in cloth seats.
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Old 11-21-2007, 06:27 PM
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Originally Posted by RotorNutFD3S
That and cloth is much more durable in convertibles than leather.
I'd disagree. I think leather is better in a convertable, look how faded and shitty looking most NA black cloth seats look.

Having said that, Mazda leather is *****.
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Old 11-21-2007, 07:28 PM
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my miata's leather looks like it could survive nuclear winter.
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Old 11-22-2007, 12:36 AM
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Originally Posted by jayc72
I'd disagree. I think leather is better in a convertable, look how faded and shitty looking most NA black cloth seats look.

Having said that, Mazda leather is *****.
I've been in the dealership world for a while, and I've talked to a lot of upholstery shops, and for the most part, they seem to agree that leather doesn't last quite as long as cloth. But at the same time, I think the climate has a lot to do with the life span.
And yes, Mazda leather sucks, had a '91 RX7 convertible and that leather was horrible. The cloth on my '95 still looks almost new (except for the driver's outer bolster, but even that is barely worn).
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Old 11-22-2007, 01:20 AM
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I reupholstered some '95 "M" seats in black leather/black perforated leather. i used a much higher grade learher than OEM, a little thicker too.

I like them a lot more than my faded stock cloth seats that gave me monkey *** on long drives.

leather vs cloth is a personal preference. i love my leather seats, they're rare but subtle and uniquely my own. i think they breathe better than my stock cloth seats did.
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Old 11-22-2007, 09:25 AM
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Originally Posted by hustler
my miata's leather looks like it could survive nuclear winter.
Nuclear winter = no problem.

A few errant rays of sunshine poking out from behind a cloud on a warm spring day = the suck.


Seriously, all else being equal I like the look of leather in a sports car- unless it happens to be a convertible. Every Miata with leather seats I've seen looked horrible- faded and cracked.

In terms of performance however, it's cloth FTW. With the stock seat belts, cloth seats do a much better job of holding ones **** securely in place when cornering. I've never driven a car with leather seats that I didn't feel like I was sliding around in. Ok- the one exception would be a friend's '80s vintage Ferarri 512 that I once drove. You didn't feel like you were sliding around inside that car because instead you felt that you were being squeezed in a vise and had a large anvil placed upon your genitals, which was not a bad thing because the steering felt like the helm of the HMS Marshal Soult and the shifter was apparently connected to the transmission by means of a depleted uranium rod 36" in diameter and containing forty-two helm joints. It was not a comfortable car to drive.
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Old 11-22-2007, 11:02 AM
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The problem with the leather in the Miata is that it's embossed. So you can't condition it and it cracks. So you've got sub-par leather coverd with plastic.

Aftermarket covers are much nicer.
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Old 11-23-2007, 07:43 AM
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I went ahead and did it! In case anybody else wants to, here's how it looks [switching out the pass. seat today for a nicer one]:






I also ditched the soft top.

The only problem I ran into was that the leather seats had built in seat belt connectors, so I had to take them out of my other miata as well as the bolt.

Sorry for the crappy pics, but it was a camera phone
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Old 11-23-2007, 07:46 AM
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Uh blaque that has no value from what i can see. Did you forget some pics?
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Old 11-23-2007, 10:16 AM
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Originally Posted by magnamx-5
Uh blaque that has no value from what i can see. Did you forget some pics?
What?
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