i'm looking to replace my worn out tan leather front seats in my '96 gsr and found some nice ones online. only problem is they appear much lighter than my current seats. do you guys know if they changed the "tan" color leather interiors and which year they started doing that? i'd really like to get a recent year seat because they had more adjustments, better leather and were more plushly stuffed.

thanks for the help!

p.s. do you guys think it'd look stupid if i just got some black leather replacement seats (which are abundantly available) and put them in with the rest of the tan interior??

 

to be honest... i think a black interior might be a good thing to do as a full replacement.

the color off would be awkward. your interior is obviously tan... but what about your actual dash? tan vinyl/tan plastic?

 

well i confirmed they went to a lighter tan after '97 ("medium beige" from "ty taupe") but the rest of the interior was relatively unchanged. it's a mixture of tan and black trim. the parts that they lightened were the entire seats (cushions, hardware and seatbelt components) and then trim pieces like the leather center console top (just the flip lid, not the rest - which is still dark tan) and the accent pieces and door handles (but not the rest of the door, which is also still dark tan). the vanity light cover is about the only other thing that looks "lightened". that being said, the lighter seats do match the carpeting - which is light enough to where i think the black seats would look weird even though they'd probably work with the dark tan/black of the rest of the interior.

ANOTHER QUESTION:
has anybody actually experienced the difference between the supposedly "plusher" 2000-2001 leather seats vs. the older leather seats? are they really significantly cushier with more supple leather? i looked up the oem parts for replacement and the cushioning on the newer seats are actually cheaper to buy than the older seats, plus the price is identical for replacing the leather covering no matter what year (unless they just give make the better leather now and don't have the original leather for the older seats)...

 

i didn't notice that much of a difference between the G3MK1 and G3MK2 leather seats