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First pre-production Gravity reviews are coming in

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Samo23 said:
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I think the answer is don't go with Silver & Platinum, or Black and Stealth. If it looks like one monocolor blob then it's going to be hard to avoid. I have been looking at lots of competitor minivans and SUVs to see what the styling cue to eliminate is around this 'minivan' vibe. Most SUVs are same color, or have black outline. The minivans are all just one color and generally a boring palate.
 
DeaneG said:
Yes, and Simmler Rd in the same area. Also Twentynine Palms-Joshua Tree in the southern CA desert, and Hot Creek in the eastern Sierra.
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The road coming out the south end of Carrizo Plain was dicey in a Sprinter, can't imagine doing it in the Air.
 
I agree with the majority of the views on here that it is impossible to get the kind of intended interior packaging without using the overall proportions that only a minivan-ish design can provide. It’s difficult to predict how the market would receive this design but from what I have seen and heard, anyone looking to spend ~ $130k on a vehicle definitely expects it to look a certain way and I’m not sure this design was the best way to cater to that relatively narrow clientele.

I would love to be proven wrong because I love my Air but I the think a design language along the lines of the Range Rover, G wagon, Cayenne, Cullinan or Urus (albeit those last 2 are a stretch!) may have been a better approach. The R1S is a good example, going by the numbers (relatively) in which it’s selling. I just don’t like the frog eyes o the R1S. And I don’t know when or even if the Range Rover EV would make it to the North American market.
 
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momo3605 said:
I actually never thought it looked like a minivan. But now with these new reviews and walkarounds, it looks so much like an Odyssey to me with the slim headlights. Even the lead picture in the savagegeese video is like wow, big time minivan vibes. Imagine if they had put sliding doors on the Gravity. Would've been perfect!
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The Honda Odyssey vibe is the exact image I'm seeing from it too. I can't shake it 😂 Although I will eventually get one, I will not try to fanboy myself into denying it's got many more minivan vibes than not
 
Samo23 said:
It absolutely looks like a mini van. Whoever doesn't agree is saying it doesn't because it's so silly that it does lol
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What a load of clueless pontification.

I've been driving Honda Odysseys for over 13 years and never once been embarrassed to be seen in one. If I thought the Gravity looked like a minivan, I would happily say so. In fact, I would revel in having a minivan that could out-handle most sports sedans and show them my taillights at every stop light.


momo3605 said:
I actually never thought it looked like a minivan. But now with these new reviews and walkarounds, it looks so much like an Odyssey to me with the slim headlights. Even the lead picture in the savagegeese video is like wow, big time minivan vibes. Imagine if they had put sliding doors on the Gravity. Would've been perfect!
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I've seen the Gravity three times in person. It can look very different in photos from what you see in the flesh. As I've said before, it has elements of a minivan, elements of an SUV, and elements of a station wagon without being any one of them.

This, for instance, doesn't look like any minivan I've ever seen:

Screenshot 2024-12-11 at 6.34.48 PM.webp


I could even argue its design heritage is more something like this:

Screenshot 2024-12-11 at 6.44.10 PM.webp


Or even this (no one ever knew what the R Class actually was, but few called it a minivan):

Screenshot 2024-12-11 at 6.46.55 PM.webp


And not all SUV's are packing crates:

Screenshot 2024-12-11 at 6.50.12 PM.webp


And as for an Odyssey and a Gravity owner confusing their cars in a parking lot over similar headlights, I really don't think there's much risk:

Screenshot 2024-12-11 at 6.52.39 PM.webp
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I just don't get this determination from so many to plant the Gravity in the minivan pot. Yes, there are some similarities in certain lines and proportions from certain angles. But there are just as many departures from minivan lines and proportions.

When I caught my first look at a Gravity as I walked into the West Palm Beach showroom, I turned to my partner and said, "wow, that looks almost like a bullet train." I was a little taken aback when I saw an interview with Derek Jenkins about a week later saying that bullet trains were one of the Gravity's design inspirations.
 
Bobby said:
You have a very good memory. I think many recent ones are cool: my daughter has a new Kia Carnival and it’s pretty freaking nice. My wife has a thing against minivans, though. That’s why we have had two Suburbans, an Expedition, two GLs, and now an Explorer. I thought the Gravity would be the perfect vehicle for us, with two young grandkids, but my wife still has anti-minivan thing, and in her eyes, (I don’t agree) Gravity has too much of a minivan vibe to it. It’s a shame, because I would’ve loved to have had one. So instead, we are getting something different.
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I feel for you, brother. To have to take a pass on one of the quickest, roomiest, and best-handling people/cargo haulers on the planet -- and probably the only one that combines all three -- because someone thinks it looks like a minivan must be a bitter pill for a car enthusiast.
 
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Leftlane said:
I don’t think it looks like a minivan either - it looks like a badass, wind cheating, super efficient SUV to me.
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Right? I said it a year ago, imagine this thing lowered and matte-blacked out! It would NOT look like a minivan to anybody... more like a replacement of the Escalade as a "gangster" car (if you know what I mean)!
 
After reflecting on the whole "minivan" thing, I think it comes down to four factors:
  • Dash-to-axle
  • Ground clearance
  • Limited character lines on the sides
  • Rear windshield rake
All four were likely deliberate (and brilliant, IMO) engineering decisions to make full use of ground-up EV capabilities. But when you do that, you do wind up with similar proportions to a minivan.

What American marketers have convinced the population over the years is to go for something much less rational, often to compensate for engineering deficiencies.
  • "Dash-to-axle", i.e., an accommodation for an inefficient powertrain, was jiu-jitsu'd into being a hallmark of something "strong" and "powerful".
  • "Engine noise", i.e., wasted chemical energy, was similarly jiu-jitsu'd into being a symbol of "power"
  • "Ground clearance", i.e., wasted interior space for suburban family haulers, became something "tough" so that suburbanites could imagine they are crawling rocks while in the school dropoff line.
These are emotional arguments that appeal to people wanting to be seen as having things that are "strong", "powerful", etc. They cannot be countered with rationality such as cubic feet of space, torque, or individual actuators for rear-wheel steering. But they can be countered by an opposing emotional argument of being the "best". That seems to be the exact path that Lucid is now taking with its "Compromise Nothing" campaign and that Ali/Simone/Armstrong ad, and I applaud them for it.
 
hmp10 said:
I've been driving Honda Odysseys for over 13 years and never once been embarrassed to be seen in one. If I thought the Gravity looked like a minivan, I would happily say so. In fact, I would revel in having a minivan that could out-handle most sports sedans and show them my taillights at every stop light.
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Exactly this...i don't see why you're getting upset. I also think it's cool to have a minivan that has driving dynamic chops. I've always told people, if someone made a Plaid-like Minivan, i'd be all over it. (I know i know, the model X is kind of already this but it doesn't have any handling prowess, and the falcon doors aren't very reliable from what i've heard)
 
xponents said:
Wow, I'm sure the opinion of numerous 15 year olds with no money to buy any car, let alone the Gravity, matters! Hey, wait a second, something here is familiar...
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Hahahahaha the list of boomers in this chat who are angry at the Gravity looking like a minivan is awesome.

I own a GTP, love the car, will buy a Gravity. I'm 32 years old.

But yea it looks like a Honda Odyssey.
 
Samo23 said:
Hahahahaha the list of boomers in this chat who are angry at the Gravity looking like a minivan is awesome.

I own a GTP, love the car, will buy a Gravity. I'm 32 years old.

But yea it looks like a Honda Odyssey.
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Dude, I'm 15 (hence my message above), and I LOVE the look of the Gravity! I don't think it looks like a minivan at all, rather, it looks like a "muscular" SUV to me with those side curves (as on the Air). I do think that the black "slimming" trim could be done better, though.
 
xponents said:
Dude, I'm 15 (hence my message above), and I LOVE the look of the Gravity! I don't think it looks like a minivan at all, rather, it looks like a "muscular" SUV to me with those side curves (as on the Air). I do think that the black "slimming" trim could be done better, though.
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Hahaha dude what are you doing in this chat? Are you sure you're 15. Proof or it didn't happen
 
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