Steering Wheel and Interior Reupholster - What Options Would You Choose?

[suprarx7nut]

To address your questions, in order:

1a. Mild contrast would look alright. High contrast, not so much. The Mk3 was never really a flashy car, but it was classy.

1b. Center stripe on any car seems silly to me. I don't care where the wheel appears to be pointed, I'm not looking at it anyway. In a high performance driving situation, I'm far more concerned with where the CAR is going, and adjust my steering accordingly. "Oh noez, my wheel appears to be two degrees further pointed to the left than I intend in this corner, I should correct that," seems like a silly thing to say when pulling upwards of or over 1.0g...

2. For me, all stitching should match. It was mentioned that the dash also has simulated stitching, worth taking into account, although it is a subtle thing, it might be noticeable by some.

3. Quilted look is classy enough for Bentley and Ferrari... Personally I like it if kept in moderation. Seat centers, door inserts. Probably where I'd call it a day in that department.

Alcantara is nice stuff. Megan's Miata has it in the seat inserts, from the factory. Apparently someone at Mazda realized, sometime in the early 2000's, that leather and flat seats are a bad combo in a car with such high grip levels...

Awesome feedback, thanks!

No on the center stripe. Absolute yes on the diamond stitching but subtle in black or grey. That is my favorite part of the new Avalon.

I would go with smooth on the wheel or my favorite carbon fiber like the s2 mkiv wheels.

Thanks!


So based on feedback from you lovely folks and some additional consideration on my part, here's my plan:

1a. Steering Wheel: Black Alcantara with black stitching

1b. No center stripe.

2. Interior: diamond stitch on alcantara for door inserts; alcantara boots; undecided on center console cover for material, but no diamond stitch.


A big part of these decisions was seeing how mince the shadow grey looks on a clean interior on Japan Classics importation site. I think the alcantara accents and a color change (blue to dark grey) will really clean up the interior. I plan to paint the interior to a nice shadow grey-like color. No more blue interior on this car!

*Oh, I also just bought a couple OEM leather shift knobs. I couldn't find the TRD ones, so new OEM will have to do.

 

[te72]

Not a fan of the blue interior? I loved mine... so unique! In fact, part of why I want an S2000 is because they offer a similar color on a couple of their color combos.

Japanese Classics does bring in some clean cars, that much is for certain.

 

[3p141592654]

The new lexus GS-F has suede, so I stand corrected.

 

[suprarx7nut]

The new lexus GS-F has suede, so I stand corrected.

View attachment 80273

I thought your OEM comment was about the Supra. AKA Not OEM for the MK3.

Alcantara or Suede is all over modern performance cars for most makes now , at least as an option. I think Lexus is behind in that regard. It's mostly higher end specs because it will wear like crap for the average driver, but it's becoming more and more prevalent in "enthusiast" cars. I really like the dashes in suede like in that Lexus GS-F.

Redline forgot about me so this has fallen down my priority list, but I still hope to tackle some of it this winter!

 

[suprarx7nut]

Well, I've got everything on order.

I went with black alcantara with black stitching for the wheel. No center stripe. Kept it simple. ~$475 shipped.

For the console cover and boots I went dark charcoal with matching stitching. ~$150 shipped.

I'll report back when it's in my hands and again when it's installed!

The wheel was sent to Dallas Custom Steering Wheel in Texas and the other parts were ordered from Redline Goods in Poland.

 

[Piratetip]

Nice, show some photos when you get it done.

I am debating re upholstering my stock steering wheel as well, but if I do it I plan on also cutting / welding and reshaping it.
Moving from the stock round wheel to something close to this -> Momo EAG35BK0S

Or I may just buy the wheel and forget the stock one.
If i go that route I would re-design a custom set of buttons to retain cruise function on the aftermarket wheel.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Nice, show some photos when you get it done.

I am debating re upholstering my stock steering wheel as well, but if I do it I plan on also cutting / welding and reshaping it.
Moving from the stock round wheel to something close to this -> Momo EAG35BK0S

Or I may just buy the wheel and forget the stock one.
If i go that route I would re-design a custom set of buttons to retain cruise function on the aftermarket wheel.

If I didn't have an airbag wheel, I'd have just bought a different wheel. That Momo (and a couple others like it) look really nice in a MK3.