Gravity at Natick, MA Studio

[jered]

We stopped by the Natick, MA studio today. There is one Gravity on display (Green / Yosemite / 21/22) and one in back being prepped for test drives soon (Green / Yosemite / 22/23). Coming from our X, the Gravity absolutely met all of our size and comfort requirements, and we're happy with our reservation but still look forward to a test drive. The SA, Nico, was super-helpful and pretty well-informed given they've only had the vehicle a few days.

No new pictures, because all of my phone pictures are awful compared to the other ones being posted today, sorry.

The third row seats are very spacious. I'm 5'10", my husband is 6'2", and we felt comfortable sitting together in the 3rd row. Maybe not for 12 hours, but definitely for a regular trip. The second row seats are even more spacious, and the tray tables are great. USB-C and 120V ports are well-located. I wouldn't want to sit in the 2nd row middle, but the huge armrest/cupholder is convenient. The glass sunroof is MASSIVE and offers an enormous amount of headroom for both back rows.

I put the 2nd and 3rd row seats up and down a half-dozen times. The 2nd row is easy to operate, although reaaaaaaaaly slow to move forward to access the third row. The 3rd row mechanism is a bit fiddly to put up. The SA said this was a pre-production model, but I think it just requires knowing what to do -- you pull the handle back and then sort of lift up-and-over. Once you do it once it's easy, but the play in the mechanism seemed a bit unsettling.

The 2nd-row screen doesn't do entertainment today, just controls. I don't know that I'd really want to watch TV on a small screen at knee-level, but I'll point this out all the same.

The rear liftgate open seems really low, especially with the suspension down. I wish it opened higher. My husband is definitely going to bonk his head on it a few times.

The front seats are far more comfortable than our X. The massaging feature is "real" although not as strong as a proper massaging chair. They were sufficiently adjustable for our needs. The steering wheel is really tiny. The cockpit displays are a real experience -- almost overwhelming; again, I look forward to a test drive on these things.

I was able to pair my phone but then Bluetooth was disabled in showroom mode, so I couldn't see if CarPlay was working, I assume not yet -- I believe the Gravity was running v3.1.2. We had a funny experience where it took about 10 minutes to figure out how to open the glovebox. It's a weird shape -- thin, but deep. I feel like you could put a 10" pizza box in it, and nothing else. The center console was very high (compared to our X) but much better designed -- dual Qi chargers, a sliding top layer, and well-designed interior without little slots to lose things in. There's definitely more distance and isolation between driver and passenger than in other vehicles.

The HUD was installed but disabled. The sound system felt really powerful, but my judgement is reserved until I hear it while on the highway.

In the showroom on a rainy day, Aurora Green looks grey. I don't love it, but for me it's better than Black or White. All the Gravity colors are pretty meh, imho. The Airs in deep Zenith Red were just stunning and I'd love that, but it might look odd on a bigger vehicle. If this bothers me, I'll just get a wrap eventually. I also don't like the Yosemite Purluxe; it's fine, but I know it'll be marked and dingy soon enough. The Tahoe leather (samples, and in Airs) looks like the classic 80's Mercedes leather, and my favorite of the options, The Ojai samples are more grey than green, and remind me of (dare I say it) minivan vinyl. I wish there were more options, but Tahoe and Mojave are the best of those available imho.

They didn't have the frunk seat cushion, so it was hard to say much about the frunk (and I didn't have time to grab a tape measure, sorry again). I sat on it, and my 5-year-old climbed in it with me, and it seems nice but I have no real comments on it.

Overall, it's a beautiful vehicle, we're definitely getting one, and there were no new concerns raised by experiencing it in person! (In comparison, sitting in an Air makes it clear we're post-sedan for now, as much as I love the PB&J colors.) I wish the color options were a little more exciting, but I'd rather a Gravity in 2025 rather than hoping for Zenith Red in 2026.

 

[jered]

Just remembered another thing: the rear side shades are motorized, and only operate when the door is closed. This feels like a fragile mechanism that will be prone to trouble over time, but we will see. My Audi Q7 had mechanically operated rear screens, but the frameless windows of the Gravity makes that impossible.

I'm curious to see how the Gravity's frameless windows perform in New England winters. Our X has been occasionally fiddly after snowstorms (we park outside) and gets into a state where it alerts that the window isn't fully closed until reset. I guess I could ask friends how the Air has done.

 

[borski]

Just remembered another thing: the rear side shades are motorized, and only operate when the door is closed. This feels like a fragile mechanism that will be prone to trouble over time, but we will see. My Audi Q7 had mechanically operated rear screens, but the frameless windows of the Gravity makes that impossible.

I'm curious to see how the Gravity's frameless windows perform in New England winters. Our X has been occasionally fiddly after snowstorms (we park outside) and gets into a state where it alerts that the window isn't fully closed until reset. I guess I could ask friends how the Air has done.

Same is true for Air, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a single failure. I’m sure it’s happened, but I haven’t seen it reported here, and mine have never broken.

I think @hydbob may have had one break once? But I could be misremembering.

 

[niceInBoston]

I was at the Natick studio yesterday also and got to experience the Gravity - at least to some degree (it will be good to check it out in more detail at a later date when it's not busy). We're also coming from a Model X.

The SA said this was a pre-production model

This was mentioned repeatedly to me, and as soon as I arrived. Which seemed a bit fishy, as if they were ready to blame away anything annoying on it being a pre-production model. I wonder if the test drive one is also an earlier build.

I couldn't see if CarPlay was working

I didn't try CarPlay or bluetooth. I did play a few Dolby Atmos songs after connecting to the Tidal app and rolling up the windows. It sounded very good, about on par with the X, which I enjoy. The couple in the middle row suggested using the equalizer to up the bass, which did seem to make it more enjoyable for the song we were listening to (please note I'm not an audiophile.. though I enjoy a good system). I meant to try out my FLAC songs on my USB stick... and totally forgot to bring the USB stick. D'oh! Next time.

In the showroom on a rainy day, Aurora Green looks grey. I don't love it, but for me it's better than Black or White. All the Gravity colors are pretty meh, imho. The Airs in deep Zenith Red were just stunning and I'd love that, but it might look odd on a bigger vehicle. If this bothers me, I'll just get a wrap eventually. I also don't like the Yosemite Purluxe; it's fine, but I know it'll be marked and dingy soon enough. The Tahoe leather (samples, and in Airs) looks like the classic 80's Mercedes leather, and my favorite of the options, The Ojai samples are more grey than green, and remind me of (dare I say it) minivan vinyl. I wish there were more options, but Tahoe and Mojave are the best of those available imho.

Agreed. The SA and I discussed the Aurora Green. He said he thought it looked greener in the forest, and more subtly green in other environments. In the studio, it looked a bit more greyish than in some of the pictures. I wonder if this is because the studio is very white and grey, whereas out in the open under a blue sky, or with some trees, the metallic flakes in the paint would be reflecting those colors. In any case, I think it's a great color, and there are far too many white/black/grey cars on the road (though those colors look amazing to me, also -- on the Gravity (though black would look dirty very quickly)).

In any case, I really wish that blue was an option. The Tahoe would be *amazing* with blue (IMHO). With Aurora Green, I'm leaning toward Tahoe but Ojai is more subtle so I'm not sure.

Overall, it's a beautiful vehicle, we're definitely getting one, and there were no new concerns raised by experiencing it in person!

Agreed! No red flags, but definitely looking forward to a test drive and getting to play with the UI, seats, Dream Drive, etc more.

Just realizing that I forgot to disconnect my Tidal subscription from the car. Hopefully it's helped some folks experience higher resolution songs during their time in the car!