Hot Take after Test Drives of Gravity and Air (Pure)

[chrisbworth]

I recently got the chance to drive an Air Pure in NYC, then a week later got to drive the Gravity at their pop up in Atlanta. Both drives were in city traffic on difficult streets and at low speeds (never got over 45 in either drive). After driving the Air Pure, I was very nervous about my Gravity order, because all I've heard on this forum and in professional reviews is how amazing that car drives, but in my test drive I found it was... fine? Maybe a little worse than fine? My brother and I both got to test it and found that although the suspension was decent, the car just felt ok. Acceleration was somehow sluggish and lurchy (leading me to believe I would never feel satisfied driving it in Comfort if it were my car), and the one peddle drive was quite jerky, with a ton of bite from the friction brakes as you come to a stop. It also had a poor turning radius, making the NYC parking space I had to parallel it in and out of quite a challenge, and all in all I found that it did not make me feel in a hurry to abandon my 2019 Volvo V90 Cross Country with AWD and air suspension.

Fast forward a week to my Gravity test drive, and I was absolutely blown away. It was so smooth, linear, intuitive, comfortable, solid/heavy feeling (in a good way), and just an absolute joy. And I couldn't get over how much I loved the steering wheel. Contrary to what almost everyone has said, it did not feel a thing like driving an Air, and for me, that is a very very good thing (though again, these were both low speed city traffic drives). In particular, the one peddle driving in air made me feel very unsure, but in Gravity, it felt like second nature even though I don't have any one peddle driving experience, and there was zero bite as it brought itself to a stop. It *never* felt lurchy or jerky.

So all of that to say, I just didn't really care for the Air, which wasn't very comfortable to me and just didn't feel like an upgrade over my current car--a massive off-road focused wagon. The Gravity on the other hand felt like the best large car I've ever driven. Maybe just the best car I've driven in general.

 

[DeaneG]

I also felt that the Gravity was definitely a version 2.0 vehicle compared to my Air's 1.0.
To really understand the Air's driving, you need to push it a bit on a winding road. I also had no idea after two test drives of it. Have really grown to appreciate it since.

 

[Sam6062]

The Air GT (2022) drives just fine on either road. My short drive with Gravity was good except for the steering wheel. It felt too small for me.

You just have to drive the Air at 90MPH to enjoy the drive. I have never driven a pure but the suspension and handling on the GT are great. The build and some of the other items like the AC and the way people need to sit in the back seat are a whole different matter.

I was very surprised to find that the gravity has a better turning radius than the Air GT.

I was hearing complaints about delivery of the Gravity. Has anyone received it yet except the few beta testers?

 

[chrisbworth]

The Air GT (2022) drives just fine on either road. My short drive with Gravity was good except for the steering wheel. It felt too small for me.

You just have to drive the Air at 90MPH to enjoy the drive. I have never driven a pure but the suspension and handling on the GT are great. The build and some of the other items like the AC and the way people need to sit in the back seat are a whole different matter.

I was very surprised to find that the gravity has a better turning radius than the Air GT.

I was hearing complaints about delivery of the Gravity. Has anyone received it yet except the few beta testers?

Nope. They clearly hit some roadblocks, but they've been fairly quiet as to what those might be. From everything I'm seeing, seems like real deliveries in meaningful numbers should begin in about 2 months.

 

[borski]

Contrary to what almost everyone has said, it did not feel a thing like driving an Air

Not like the RWD Pure.

It does feel a lot closer to the Air DE or GT.

 

[borski]

I was very surprised to find that the gravity has a better turning radius than the Air GT.

Me too. This was my favorite thing about the Gravity, tbh, as the turning radius is my least favorite thing about the Air.

 

[Miami_Lucid_Man]

Me too. This was my favorite thing about the Gravity, tbh, as the turning radius is my least favorite thing about the Air.

Coming from a Model 3 (which has an awful turning radius for a car of that size) the Air seems leaps and bounds better to me, given it's size.

 

[Lucidale]

Yeah I haven’t driven a Pure, but it sounds like your current car and definitely the Gravity would be better compared with an Air Touring or Grand Touring. They both have AWD, more features, fit and finish and more power. I’m sure the Pure is a nice car, but might seem ‘meh’ when coming from a nice loaded AWD vehicle. If you were coming from a Camry or sonata a Pure might seem like the nicest car you’ve driven.

 

[MGRMLN]

I recently got the chance to drive an Air Pure in NYC, then a week later got to drive the Gravity at their pop up in Atlanta. Both drives were in city traffic on difficult streets and at low speeds (never got over 45 in either drive). After driving the Air Pure, I was very nervous about my Gravity order, because all I've heard on this forum and in professional reviews is how amazing that car drives, but in my test drive I found it was... fine? Maybe a little worse than fine? My brother and I both got to test it and found that although the suspension was decent, the car just felt ok. Acceleration was somehow sluggish and lurchy (leading me to believe I would never feel satisfied driving it in Comfort if it were my car), and the one peddle drive was quite jerky, with a ton of bite from the friction brakes as you come to a stop. It also had a poor turning radius, making the NYC parking space I had to parallel it in and out of quite a challenge, and all in all I found that it did not make me feel in a hurry to abandon my 2019 Volvo V90 Cross Country with AWD and air suspension.

Fast forward a week to my Gravity test drive, and I was absolutely blown away. It was so smooth, linear, intuitive, comfortable, solid/heavy feeling (in a good way), and just an absolute joy. And I couldn't get over how much I loved the steering wheel. Contrary to what almost everyone has said, it did not feel a thing like driving an Air, and for me, that is a very very good thing (though again, these were both low speed city traffic drives). In particular, the one peddle driving in air made me feel very unsure, but in Gravity, it felt like second nature even though I don't have any one peddle driving experience, and there was zero bite as it brought itself to a stop. It *never* felt lurchy or jerky.

So all of that to say, I just didn't really care for the Air, which wasn't very comfortable to me and just didn't feel like an upgrade over my current car--a massive off-road focused wagon. The Gravity on the other hand felt like the best large car I've ever driven. Maybe just the best car I've driven in general.

Well, to each their own, but you are in an extreme minority regarding the way the Air drives.
I've been fortunate to have driven (and raced) almost every car out there and my Air GT is probably the best overall ride/handling/feel blend out there.
Journalists seem to agree. Was there something wrong with the Air you drove? Maybe it was abused demo car?

 

[coma24]

I would argue that not getting over 45mph means you didn't really go for a test drive. You have full control over how the car accelerates from a standing start, and how it comes to a stop in terms of how you modulate the throttle. If you have high regen enabled (I'd recommend it at all times) and you simply let off the throttle completely and instantly, then, yes, you're going to be in for a quick transition to a level of braking that you likely wouldn't have commanded had you been using a traditional break pedal. However, modulation of the throttle controls all of that.

I had some first time guests in the car the other day on the way to dinner (they had no idea what the car was, didn't know I'd bought it a year ago, and knew nothing about it). They commented how roomy it was in the back, then commented on how smooth the drive was when we arrived at the restaurant. Neither of them are 'car people,' but the quality of the ride got their attention (along with the fit & finish).

Your point about 'comfort' (I assume that's 'smooth') being sluggish is completely understandable. There is a substantial different between smooth and swift in terms of throttle response. I found myself living in Swift for the first 1-2 weeks of owning the car, as the throttle response seemed to better match the gobs of power and performance that were on hand.

I eventually got tired of swapping into Swift at the start of each drive and realized I could achieve the same level of acceleration by simply pressing harder than on throttle than I otherwise would expect. A couple of days after THAT, I finally realized how enjoyable it was to NOT accelerate quite as hard. My goal became to drive as smoothly and gently as possible. Yes, I still pull away from most other cars off the line - simply because most people have the reaction time of a glacier at traffic lights, AND seem completely disinterested in reaching the speed limit on the same day that they start their roll - but it's less acceleration than what 'swift' convenient provides. ALL of that to say....give smooth a chance, it MIGHT grow on you. It did for me, but I absolutely understand where you're coming from with your initial assessment that it seems sluggish. I'd describe it as an exponential response curve (from my days of performance radio controlled glider flying) where the response to a given input is a different ratio with small inputs than it is for larger inputs. This means that by the time you get the pedal all the way down, it's exactly the same as having the pedal floored in 'swift'...but it's a different journey along the way. Once you understand that, you realize you're not really giving anything up...and it becomes easier to utilize the the lower power ranges of the car for in-town driving.

Hope this helps!