Greater Seattle Potential Lease

[pnwev]

Hello everyone,
I am considering leasing a Air Touring. Got an "educational demonstration" recently, absolutely loved it. Have a few questions about the build I am looking to get, particularly about the DreamDrive Pro vs. Premium and 19" vs 20" wheels. I have gotten used to Basic Autopilot on Tesla for longer drives and am wondering how well DreamDrive Premium and Pro do. If you are someone in the Greater Seattle area I would love to chat over phone or text. If you are located somewhere else can provide some guidance I would really welcome that too.
Thanks

 

[segbrk]

As far as highway driving, Premium gives you adaptive cruise control. Lucid's ACC implementation is excellent. Very smooth. Pro gives you Drive Assist, which is more like Autopilot. Geofenced highway-only auto-steer and automatic lane changes (initiated from the blinker stalk, not by the car deciding when to pass). As long as you don't expect it to do the whole drive for you but rather to just reduce fatigue, it certainly does the trick. Mostly very smooth, with the caveat that just like Autopilot it may occasionally try to follow an exit lane or something rather than staying where it should. On the other hand, overriding is (I think) a cleaner process in the Lucid. If you're holding the wheel and you provide resistance against its poor decisions, it will get the idea and resume after a couple seconds. No need to re-engage like with Autopilot.

Many find the 20s to be a good compromise between range and sportiness. Based on your location you should be aware that Lucid's stock 20" tires are summer compound. If you go that route, be sure to swap for seasonally appropriate tires. I have only driven on 19s and 21s, but personally I find little difference in terms of comfort. The 21" summer tires have distinctly better grip and handling than 19" A/S or snow tires, as you might expect. I just swap to 19s for the colder months.

 

[pnwev]

As far as highway driving, Premium gives you adaptive cruise control. Lucid's ACC implementation is excellent. Very smooth. Pro gives you Drive Assist, which is more like Autopilot. Geofenced highway-only auto-steer and automatic lane changes (initiated from the blinker stalk, not by the car deciding when to pass). As long as you don't expect it to do the whole drive for you but rather to just reduce fatigue, it certainly does the trick. Mostly very smooth, with the caveat that just like Autopilot it may occasionally try to follow an exit lane or something rather than staying where it should. On the other hand, overriding is (I think) a cleaner process in the Lucid. If you're holding the wheel and you provide resistance against its poor decisions, it will get the idea and resume after a couple seconds. No need to re-engage like with Autopilot.

Many find the 20s to be a good compromise between range and sportiness. Based on your location you should be aware that Lucid's stock 20" tires are summer compound. If you go that route, be sure to swap for seasonally appropriate tires. I have only driven on 19s and 21s, but personally I find little difference in terms of comfort. The 21" summer tires have distinctly better grip and handling than 19" A/S or snow tires, as you might expect. I just swap to 19s for the colder months.

Thanks for the detailed response, this is very helpful! The combination of the 19" wheels with DreamDrive Pro is currently unavailable in inventory. Switching tires based on seasons is not possible for me as I do not have access to any storage where I live.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

I think the 19" wheels/tires are great all around. Nice range, smooth ride and good handling in an all season tire, and you don't have to be so concerned about sidewall bubbles or a big pothole bursting a tire and/or denting a rim. I like the look too. As for DD Pro... It's nice, but it's not a must have. However, I would say to at least get DD Premium. The 360 degree view you get makes it so much easier to park and navigate tight spaces. Otherwise, the car's dimensions are hard to judge.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

I would go DD Pro and wait for 19” wheels if you want maximum range and don’t drive overly aggressively…and, if you do drive hard, then 20” or 21”’s, BUT you WILL need to change wheels in winter.

DD Pro is very much like Tesla Autopilot. I think you’d miss that on DD Premium…