It looks like there’s only one manufacturer of new molded carpet: ACC, and it’s sold via multiple websites. I received some swatches from factoryinteriors.com
I was going to go with straight black but I ordered additional colors because there was a max of 10.
There’s “OEM” (cutpile) and “Essex”. The Essex is ultra plush and more dense. Every single one of the swatches pill like crazy; I rub my fingers into it and lots of fibers come out. I’m going to email them to find out what the deal is because I was not expecting this at all and definitely don’t want to drop $300 on something that’s going to be throwing out nylon dust into the car. Perhaps it just needs a lot of vacuuming before install. I’ll report with info as I get it.
I vacuumed both black samples to get rid of the “excess”. Then, I pinched the center of both swatches and pulled, to try to get some fuzz out. I got nothing from the “oem-style” thinner carpet, but got several strands from the “essex” more plushier one.
Then I tried it again on both. Nothing from oem, many from essex.
More from essex.
Still more.
I can imagine a fluff ball every time you vacuum the car using the essex, so I’m thinking it is NOT worth the extra cost if you’re just going to end up vacuuming it up every cleanup.
I won’t have time to do the carpet because I actually need some additional tools: chalk, carpet cutter (that mass backing is really thick as you can see in the comparison thickness pic.
I’m happy with how it looks so far but I’ll admit the cutting and installation process WILL BE DAUNTING. The padding underneath is also VERY thick.
The bright Florida sun messed with the lighting :-/
I got the same carpet, also from Stock Interiors. I wish you better luck than I had with mine, Neil. I cut mine wrong, so will get to buy another one. That mass-backing sounds nice. It sure does make installation a much bigger pain.
I outlined the holes in chalk, but it didn’t help much. Pulling and tugging the carpet into position is a real pain. I’m getting old and my back hurts like hell.
The mass backing, while it adds weight and overall quality of the carpet, also makes it a lot more difficult to work with vs the OEM carpet without the mass backing. Trying to cut holes for the driver’s seat was very difficult. The additional thickness added to the “formed” spots meant that the seats needed to be pushed down a lot (the Mrs pushed on the seat) to get the correct positioning for the holes while making sure all the other spots stayed in the correct position throughout the car. I’ve only done this part and not cut out anything else nor secured anything else. I don’t have a feel for if the mass backing makes a difference to cabin sound.
Right now, I don’t recommend the mass backing due to how difficult it is to work with and cut, but I’ll review it again once I’ve completed the interior cutouts and installed everything else.
