i am on the don't-like-the-feel-of-leather boat. hot in a bad way.

Leather good.

Leather is much easier to clean and maintain than fabric, especially grippy microfiber fabric like the Prius has. Sure the Prius fabric is nice and it does resist stain, but it has a grain and shows grain shadows really easily. I'm not very fond of that.

Yes, I agree, they can be hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but notice how leather assumes your body temperature in a short period of time and becomes comfortable. Now, if you want a terrible seat covering, try vinyl. Vinyl stays hot in the summer and stays cold in the winter and takes a very long time to assume your body temperature.

It has been said:
Hybrid drivers come in 3 flavors, greenie, techie and cheapie. Pick any 2.
2005 Prius, Melinium Silver over gray, package 5 (AI)

I've got leather, neoprene and cloth covered seats. Leather is my least favorite next to vinyl which as JeromeP says is a "terrible seat covering". Got that right!

BTW: My truck has water proof neoprene "Wet Okole's" for soggy bottom boys (fresh out of the lake).

Nope, I hate leather interiors as well. It's just too hot to put up with them down here in Texas. My folks have leather in their VUE. Not surprisingly, they have the requisite seat heaters installed, as they live in Colorado. Thanks, but no thanks, I can get the same freeze/burn cycles out of a crappy vinyl interior for free. I was thrilled when I found a FEH in the DFW area that had the NAV/hybrid computer, and no leather interior. Cloth rules in comfort.

Leather is really creepy. Like Nazi lampshades.

The genetic distance between people and cows is similar to the genetic distance between people and dogs. What would people say to a car interior, shoes, belts, coats, etc. made from dog skin?

Yes, but how many people that have a disdain for leather seats also own other leather items? Belts, shoes, wallets, furniture, jackets, etc...

<Best Tank Economy!><Best Tank Endurance!>

Confession: I was wondering if a significant part of the GH population extended their hybrid interest to enviromental and animal welfare issues. My initial guess is leather would not sell as well in hybrids as conventional vehicles. While I do eat meat and wear leather belts, I personally prefer minimumize putting demands on livestock animals - another reason those monster truck Texan drivers hate me.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

About 11% of the population has environmentally correct tendencies, but veg*nism prevalence is more like 2-3%. I would expect that radical vegans would be more likely to walk, bike, or use public transport rather than buy a new $20K plus vehicle with an embedded energy equivalent to 2200 gallons of gas.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has written that eating meat is #2 in environmental impact after transportation. There are also some papers on the environmental impact of meat in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, one of which is by Pimentel.

It might be possible for some people to make a bigger adverse impact due to their diets rather than from their driving habits.

Food processing and food transport are also important, as is staying thin. Fewer kcals, locally grown, low on the food chain are best.

I agree about the comfort. Not only does it get too hot and too cold, when you're on a long road trip, the leather begins to feel like you're sitting on a rock because there's no give. I'm sticking to cloth seats. Screw the animals, leather just isn't comfortable.

Had black leather seats in my old integra and loved it most of the time... it did tend to get hot/cold in temperature extremes, but it was comfortable, breathable, and much easier to clean than the fabric seats I've had. I wish the auto industry would try harder to come up with synthetic fabrics that do all of the above. I loved the fabric seats in my dearly departed Honda Element.... stain-proof, water-proof, and very comfortable.... probably weren't the most stylish, however. As an architect, I know that there are many technical fabrics out there that are commonly used on commercial furniture upholstry, and look as good as leather, but perform much better. I'm not sure why the auto industry is so far behind.