Confused about Sport interior trim!

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but having worked my way through the configurator and the brochure, and visited my dealer this morning, I'm still confused about the seat trim on the 500 Sport.

The Red 500 1.4 Sport demonstrator had a black half-leather interior that the salesman said was fitted as standard, but there's no mention of half-leather on the configurator (to my eyes the standard Sport trim looks from the photographs to be all cloth - but the £600 leather option looks to be full-leather, not part-leather...)

So - is the salesman right? Does the Sport come with half-leather as standard? Or was the demonstrator I saw a Sport with the black leather upgrade?

If the former, it seems illogical that the upgrade from part- to full-leather on the Sport (just gotta have that red leather interior!) costs the same as the full-leather upgrade for the Pop and the Lounge, which is what I was told.

And a supplementary question - is the driver's seat in the Sport set lower than in the Lounge? I sat in a 1.3 Lounge, and even with the driver's seat at its lowest setting, it still felt too high for my liking, whereas in the Sport it felt a little lower - but I didn't have a tape-measure to hand, and it may just have been a subjective impression rather than an objective fact. Can any of you 500 cognoscenti on here confirm?

Hiya,

Believe the half-and-half interior is standard for the Sport; not sure but think it might be faux leather. As for the seat - yep, lower in the Sport. My hubby sat in the Lounge and his head was against the roof - literally, but in the Sport he had a good couple of inches clearance. Personally, I'm paying for the leather upgrade.

Hope that helps.

There was a strong smell of leather in the car , but I guess that could have been from the leather steering wheel rather than from the seats.

Faux leather is still plastic by any other name ... and a bit 70s for my taste - or is it supposed to be some sort of homage to the vinyl seats in the original 500?!

Thanks for the confirmation on the seat height.

Yeah I took the local dealers 1.4 sport out and was given the 'part-leather' spiel....Looked plastic to me and agree it seems on the Configurator Full leather is the only option. Still nice though!

We went expecting to opt for the full leather but were really taken with the Sport interior. It seems to suit the car. A bit like the standard Golf GTI Mk5 interior suits that car.

Then again I haven't seen a leather interior to comment. All I can say is the standard trim looks and feels good having just got out of an Alfa 147 with leather to test drive the 500.

Cheers
baldrick

So nothing to do with the sunroof on the Lounge taking away some of the headroom then?

Doh!!

But does the standard (non-retractable) glass roof take up as much headroom as the optional (retractable) skydome?

I think not!

My dealer had a standard Lounge (which seemed fine in the "head bumping on the roof" stakes) and one with an optional retractable Skydome (which was challenged in the headroom department!)

The sunroof actually gave him a bit more room - his head was still up against it though! Mind you, you should have seen him in the Daihatsu Copen I wanted to buy

Our sport is standard trim with half vinyl/ fabric, looks good IMO

With the blind open?

With his head out it

We had a look at a couple of 500's today. The sport upholstery is indeed part "leather" and to be honest I was quite impressed.

Being quite tall the salesman advised me to go for std roof as both the fixed glass roof and the sunroof reduce the headroom. This is because it isn't a true panoramic glass roof like the vauxhall astra but rather a glass panel with headlining. In the fixed roof it is the sunblind which reduces the headroom and this was just above my head.

I was going to go for the sunroof so I'm being positive and considering it a £500 saving.

Simon

It's not leather. It's vinyl / "faux leather". Don't be fooled if your dealer tells you any different

With the fixed glass roof I don't find headroom to be a problem, but with the opening glass roof I my head hits the back of the sunroof where all the opening electronics are positioned. The skydome seriously compromises the headroom, which is a shame

Hence my use of quote marks around the word leather.......it may not be real but it does look good.

My wife hates full leather upholstery so it seems a good compromise for us.

Simon

Ahhh I had wondered if the quotation marks were to point out it was faux-leather - I just wanted to make sure It's very good quality vinyl and doesn't feel plasticy, I think I prefer it to leather. It won't sag and crease like real leather either which is a bonus