It's a lot of things, both big and small, and many of them lie in the realm of personal preferences. But here's my list, in no particular order:
- I find the Plaid's yoke unwieldy in quick maneuvers, and I detest the bizarre placement of the control buttons, especially the turn signal buttons.
- Despite the Plaid's considerable interior improvements over earlier Model S's, the airiness and elegance of the Air's interior is still a considerable step up.
- Changing temperature, vent position, and audio volume is much easier in the Air, with its well-placed buttons.
- Being able to control lights, wipers, and locks without going into submenus is a welcome relief from Tesla's approach.
- With the extending thigh supports, the Air's front seats are considerably more comfortable . . . and the massage functions ain't bad, either.
- Rear seat passengers have vastly more legroom in the Air. With the drivers seats set to my preferred position in both cars, the Air passenger behind me has 9" more fore-aft legroom.
- The Air, though a tad less quick on a hard launch, stays better planted on the front end. You can use more of the Air's acceleration safely than the Plaid's. From speed, the Lucid's acceleration is on par with the Plaid's.
- The Air is quieter (despite Tesla's having finally activated active noise cancellation), its ride more compliant, and the suspension better sorted in quick maneuvers. (Both our Plaid and our Air have 21" wheels.)
- The panel alignment, the interior fit & finish, and the sense of solidity conveyed by the Air's greater torsional stiffness is notably better than the Plaid's.
- The Air's audio system is better.
- The Air has proper auto-dimming review mirrors which are inexplicably missing in the Plaid.
I should note that there are some things I like better about the Plaid:
- Love the Google Earth satellite map on the main screen and badly miss it in the Air.
- At least for now, the Tesla software is much more responsive.
- I like the size of the 17" screen in the Lucid and wish the Air could accommodate a screen of that size in its more elegant layout.
- The front console storage area is better designed and executed in the Plaid (and is the one piece in the car that feels of higher quality than its Air counterpart).
- The Plaid has wireless chargers for four phones, including two in the front that provide easier placement and viewing of the phones.
- The sense of no physics holding you in check when you hit the throttle is exhilarating (at least until the front end comes loose).
- It's easier to get into and out of the Plaid's rear seat without bumping your head. (However, this advantage is offset by the tighter legroom making it hard to get your feet into and out of the car.)
