Hello, I have recently bought an FD that came with black leather seats. Anyway, I am sure some of you guys will think I am crazy, but I would like to convert to cloth seats.
I have only seen the standard cloth seats in a brochure, and never in person. I did see a R1 with the suade seats (or whatever the material is).
What are the advantages or disadvantages of either style. From what I could tell, it appears the R1 seats may stain or be very difficult to clean.
Anyway, maybe some of you guys that have owned either or both can give me a little insight on this dilema...

THANKS!

 

I've got the suede seats, their mint. Cloth would seem a bit cheap I think on an RX-7 and in Perth, it gets very hot in summer, so I wouldn't want leather seats.

Mine are 120'000km old and look and feel great. Haven't spilt anything on them so I don't know how hard they are to clean.

 

I prefer the base seats.....they are more comfortable, alot more stain resistant then the suede R1 seats....and they don't show wear as easy around the boltsers. The R1 seats are more supportive though, less likely to slide in them. But that is what harnesses are for.

 

Is the shape exact between the two? Also, does anyone have a good pic of the standard cloth?

 

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=base+seats

page 2 has a pic of the material...close up

 

the R1 suede seats are awesome. holds you real well, no sliding, and real comfortable too. and i think they look great. pick up a used pair if new ones are too expensive. or better yet, get bride or recaro buckets =P

 

I have suede seats in my R2. Personally I don't think they breathe very well in comparison to the cloth seats. I agree that if you were to spill somethign I don't think it would come out as well and I also agree with the statement in a previous thread that they show bolster wear worse. Overall though I would take the suede over the cloth for it's holding ability, uniqueness, and higher quality appearance - and to refute my first sentence - who cares about beathability, you don't buy an RX7 for comfort.

 

I wonder how difficult it would be to have them recovered in genuine suede leather?

 

I love my base seats they don't stain easily and they just look cool especially with an all black interior.

 

I second that. I dont like leather, after a while it gets unconfortable.

 

I have been trying to see what I am going to do with my seats. I have leather ones and want something else. I don't want to spend much, so I am going to an interior place to see what they can cover them in and how much. Anyone done this before?

 

I had Tan leather seats in my 94 PEP, and those things would get hot in a FL summer. Also they previous owner had the driver's side beat to hell with rips and stains. I went to a local import shop, and found some suede FD seats $150 for the pair. I couldnt believe it so I picked them up the next day. I converted my interior to all black, and the seats just make the car look so much more sophisticated. The seats are very comfy, and look like it would be hard to clean, but I dont eat in the FD.

Also, one of my FD friends, didnt believed the price I got on the seats. Luckily I brought a friend to help me pick them up, and he vouched for me. When the FD friend saw the seats, he said that they were in good condition. He sat in them, and found out that they were JDM seats. Something about this little handle on the seat itself. Not by the "butt" area but on the "back" side of drivers seat. Anyway, made my deal even better.

 

I've thought about recovering my R2 seats in microfiber when the time comes. The suede-like material is very similar to modern microfiber in feel and look, and good microfiber would look and wear awesome, as well as handling stains much better.

I do prefer the suede - they feel and look way better than the cloth, IMHO. I wouldn't mind having leather seats, but Mazda's leather is just crappy. Not to mention it would be sacrilege to put leather in an R package car .

Dale

 

Cool, how much is the microfiber? I would hope it's less than genuine suede.

 

Those base seats sure look good, at least from what I can see of that pic.

What I was thinking is that there would surely be a leather lover that would swap out "even stevens"...and I am sure you can find the same thing. Maybe it is different in the RX community, but with some of my previous cars (300ZX, 240SX, etc) I simply posted "will trade my leather seats for perfect cloth" to the forums and I had people fighting over them - and in all cases people drove right to my door and we swapped out right there...even had a few try to offer boot.
I just have the dilema of all of the different pros and cons between the R1 and base seats...seems like everyone has a different opinion which is better. I have sat in the R1 seats, and yes, they sure feel nice! I guess I will try to get a test seating / viewing in some base seats at the Deals Gap run if someone is willing to let me sample them...

 

I had my leather seats recovered in a faux suede material just like the R1 seats. The upholstery shop did a fantastic job. Cost me $800.

 

John,

Try to get us some pictures.

David

 

Here is a pic of my recovered seats... not the best pic... kinda getting dark out and I was in a hurry.