Re: So, what is experience with Black leather?

[KSMITH1@mailgw.sanders.lockheed.com]

David Mueller <muellerl@cadvision.com> wrote:

     I continue my hunt for an appropriate Quattro for my family.  
     Have maybe found a winner but it has black leather.  What 
     experience have any of you with this color in regards to heat 
     build up and the like? 

My 90q has black leather, and it does get hot before the A/C or open 
windows cool it off.  I like leather and find it easy to clean, 
relative to cloth.  Its also more durable, in my limited experience.

In comparing colors, one should note that much of the heating, 
especially in a closed vehicle, will be long wave infrared, and most 
materials are nearly black at those wavelengths anyway, so I wouldn't 
expect gray (or even white) to be much cooler, except in the special 
case of direct illumination by the sun when there were no windows in 
the way, e.g., the door is open.  Cloth may feel cooler because of 
lower thermal conductivity, but then your question was color, not 
material.  Ultimately, your comfort is going to be determined by the 
continuous heating of your back and bottom by the residual heat in the 
seat assembly conducted to your skin through the leather or cloth.  
This will be relatively independent of color.  Some forms of cloth 
will slow the heat transfer, and feel cooler.

Note I live in New Hampshire, which in summer is like Miami, FL in the 
winter.  I cannot comment on how bad black leather might be in the 
Southern US (or Northern Australia for that matter) in the summer.

***                 ...Kirby    (Kirby A. Smith)                 ***
***                      2 X 1988 90q                            ***
***              ksmith1@mailgw.sanders.lockheed.com             ***
***              [=]   kirby.a.smith@lmco.com                    ***
***  Opinions expressed herein are entirely those of the author. ***