- Joined
- Nov 19, 2021
- Messages
- 10,380
- Reaction score
- 12,405
- Location
- Cupertino, CA
- Cars
- Air DE-P, ZR, 21"
- DE Number
- 241
- Referral Code
- Q1BTN5Y3
Now that we’re “out,” I figured I would spend a few minutes giving you my driving impressions too. @TribbleTrouble is a spectacular driver, and in some ways a much better one than me (“…crap, was that the turn?”), but in terms of handling, cornering, performance at speed, etc… that’s more my jam than hers.
The Gravity drives almost exactly like the Air; it is planted, it *never* gives up the goose, unless I explicitly ask it to, it just chucks into turns, and it has a better turning radius than my Air. It’s kind of absurd. Honestly, and without exaggeration, it is the best SUV I have ever driven.
Annie has much more experience driving SUVs than I do, but I’ve driven plenty; just never owned one. My parents have owned Lexus SUVs since I was a teen, and I’ve driven a lot of the Sorento, and I’ve driven plenty of rented SUVs across the country.
I hate driving SUVs. They feel big, they *feel* prone to rolling (not all of them), and they handle like they are on a locking differential at all times. It’s just unpleasant, even in the “comfortable” SUVs. My biggest issue is feedback; the Porsche is the only other SUV I’ve ever driven that feels *good* in terms of handling, cornering, and steering response / feedback. I haven’t driving the Lamborghini Urus or whatever it’s called, so I can’t compare it to that.
But where the Gravity shines is just the way it *does not feel like a big car*. It boggles my mind that it handles like it’s smaller than the Porsche; hell, it handles like its smaller than the Air, despite being the bigger car. @TribbleTrouble, if you asked her honest opinion, prefers it, I think, to my Air.
I love it, and would happily drive it on any day, which I’ve never said for any SUV.
But, given the choice in the morning between the two, I still find myself picking the Air. Why? Honestly, I think because it’s the DE. You know how I can tell the difference between the DE and the GT loaners I’ve had? I can tell the difference between the Gravity GT and my Air DE too.
The throttle response on my DE is just a little more engaging, and just a little more aggressive, just like over the Air GT.
What this really means is my opinion may change when our Gravity DE shows up.
But if @TribbleTrouble decides to take the Air in the morning, or if I need to drive a bunch of things or people? It’s like a 51%/49% preference; so minor it almost doesn’t matter.
The Gravity GT absolutely sends. Don’t take this to imply it doesn’t. That would be like me calling the Air GT a “slow car” lol.
But man, it still gets me every time I drive it and it feels like it is just not that big a car, and then I look in the rear view mirror and realize there are 6 people and a dog behind me. Just absolutely insane.
Fair warning: if you drive CA-17 in Swift with anyone in the back, you’ll be asked to calm down and switch it into Smooth within ten minutes or so because this was a road trip, not a rollercoaster, Borski.
The Gravity drives almost exactly like the Air; it is planted, it *never* gives up the goose, unless I explicitly ask it to, it just chucks into turns, and it has a better turning radius than my Air. It’s kind of absurd. Honestly, and without exaggeration, it is the best SUV I have ever driven.
Annie has much more experience driving SUVs than I do, but I’ve driven plenty; just never owned one. My parents have owned Lexus SUVs since I was a teen, and I’ve driven a lot of the Sorento, and I’ve driven plenty of rented SUVs across the country.
I hate driving SUVs. They feel big, they *feel* prone to rolling (not all of them), and they handle like they are on a locking differential at all times. It’s just unpleasant, even in the “comfortable” SUVs. My biggest issue is feedback; the Porsche is the only other SUV I’ve ever driven that feels *good* in terms of handling, cornering, and steering response / feedback. I haven’t driving the Lamborghini Urus or whatever it’s called, so I can’t compare it to that.
But where the Gravity shines is just the way it *does not feel like a big car*. It boggles my mind that it handles like it’s smaller than the Porsche; hell, it handles like its smaller than the Air, despite being the bigger car. @TribbleTrouble, if you asked her honest opinion, prefers it, I think, to my Air.
I love it, and would happily drive it on any day, which I’ve never said for any SUV.
But, given the choice in the morning between the two, I still find myself picking the Air. Why? Honestly, I think because it’s the DE. You know how I can tell the difference between the DE and the GT loaners I’ve had? I can tell the difference between the Gravity GT and my Air DE too.
The throttle response on my DE is just a little more engaging, and just a little more aggressive, just like over the Air GT.
What this really means is my opinion may change when our Gravity DE shows up.
But if @TribbleTrouble decides to take the Air in the morning, or if I need to drive a bunch of things or people? It’s like a 51%/49% preference; so minor it almost doesn’t matter.
The Gravity GT absolutely sends. Don’t take this to imply it doesn’t. That would be like me calling the Air GT a “slow car” lol.
But man, it still gets me every time I drive it and it feels like it is just not that big a car, and then I look in the rear view mirror and realize there are 6 people and a dog behind me. Just absolutely insane.
Fair warning: if you drive CA-17 in Swift with anyone in the back, you’ll be asked to calm down and switch it into Smooth within ten minutes or so because this was a road trip, not a rollercoaster, Borski.
