I notice in many car sales photos that the 06 seats are somewhat different in the texture from the 08 seats. The 06 one has grained texture whereas the 08 one has smooth surface with no grain. Is it true that there is indeed a difference?

 

Could be. The '05's have the smooth texture as well where as you noticed '06 do have the grain. Maybe one way to tell is to go on one of the Honda parts sites and look at the part numbers for the seat covers for '06/08 and see if for same color they are different.

 

That won't help, considering 06-07 seats are different from 08-09.

 

Well it helps a little, it does suggest then that the 06 seats are different than 08 which means it's fully possible they have a different part # and therefore texture.

 

YES 100% they are different. the 06-07 seats are a harder leather with a tougher grainy texture which you can clearly see and feel. as for the 08-09 Honda even said when it was released that they redesigned the leather again and that it is a smoother softer leather which also has red stitching

 

I had an 06 NFR...and now have an 08 NFR. Yes, they are different! I'd say the texture is softer on the 08/09. The 08's are also taller, which makes the car look a little slicker in my opinion. It's also good for people who are > 6 feet tall like me.

 

I had no idea that they changed the leather. Very interesting!

 

As others pointed out, there is a noticeable difference between the two. I've owned both and I much prefer the 08-09 leather.

Also through years of browsing the classifieds I've noticed there are many 06-07 seats with the leather disintegrating, perhaps there was a bad batch of fabric for those years. That's something to keep in mind before buying one.

 

I have had 23 vehicles in my life and I have never had such an issue with "leather" seats as I had with Honda seats on my 2004 Acura MDX. Completely disintegrated. Terrible. They came with the little perforated holes throughout. No matter it was garaged and well cared for with quality cleaners and conditioners, the plasticized leather became tissue paper.