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- Air Touring
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So I finally had my test drive yesterday. (Was originally scheduled for July 1, but I had to reschedule. My fault, not Lucid’s.)
Excuse the long-winded post. I’m just trying to offer my impressions, as I’ve found so many others have given me here. I find it so useful to hear what others say about their drives.
Just hearing from so many people that driving was the best quality of the car by far, and being armed with all the knowledge I need about Lucid’s growing pains and areas of weakness, a test drive had about a 0.01% chance of swaying my decision about whether or not to proceed. But I’m still glad I got to do it. If for no other reason than it confirms most of the folks on this forum know a good driving machine when they get behind the wheel of one.
Thoughts, in no particular order:
I continue to be impressed with Lucid’s retail staff. I’ve now visited Millbrae, San Jose, NYC Meatpacking, and Cherry Creek in Denver. I have yet to encounter an employee who isn’t well informed and enthusiastic about the car. As with Apple Stores, the employees don’t work on commission, so they have no motivation to coerce me into anything. They just politely answer questions and offer help. You’d think this was a no-brainer, but with most of the car shopping I’ve done over the years, employees at dealerships, who mostly do work on commission, often know far less about the car than I do. And then they get pushy, making bogus arguments with information I know is incorrect. Which is annoying, to say the least. I will say Tesla might be the only other car company where I felt like the staff was as on the ball. Lucid is using the same model, again, copied from Apple, so it only makes sense. I imagine they pay well.
Being offered water is a nice touch.
My test drive escort asked me how familiar I was with the car. My response: “I know you’re currently on version 1.2.7 of your software. Does that give you an idea?”
“Oh, then I guess I don’t have to show you how to open the frunk?”
From that point on, he sat back and only told me where to turn or answered questions as they came up. Not that there were many.
He was a former Tesla employee, by the way. He said he took note of what Lucid was doing and wanted to be a part of it. He even moved to Colorado from Utah for the job. He had nothing bad to say about Tesla, of course. He was a professional. But I could tell he was really happy to be working for Lucid now.
I’ve said it before, but the UX DESIGN of the Lucid is leaps and bounds above Tesla, and any other car I’ve driven, to be honest. I know some have stated otherwise here, but I can’t help but completely disagree. This was the third time I’ve ever had my hands on the various screens of the Lucid, with the first two times being about five minutes in a stationary car in a studio, and I didn’t need to ask for help on how to find any function I needed on a 45-minute drive. At the end of the drive, I noticed I had not looked down at the Pilot Panel more than once or twice during the entire drive. Everything I needed was on the top three screens.
The sheer number of controls that are one tap (or one physical button) away puts the current Tesla UX to shame, frankly. Obviously, it’s not perfect, as evidenced by the garage door opening, etc. I know there are some real head slapping design quirks there. But I’ve driven BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Toyota, Honda, Chevy, and just about every other kind of car you can buy or rent. and I’ve never had this easy a time finding whatever I needed within seconds.
I know. There are bugs. But bugs are a separate issue from UX and UI. How the car is SUPPOSED to function is top notch, as far as I’m concerned. You are welcome to disagree.
And speaking of bugs, I didn’t encounter any during my drive. The car I drove (A Black GT with Mojave interior) functioned flawlessly during the whole drive. So good for them. Maybe they got lucky with that car. Maybe it was produced after the factory and PDI changes. A few functions took longer than they should have, like the first launch of the nav, but nothing malfunctioned.
Doesn’t hurt that the UI looks beautiful as well.
The car is heavy. It makes no effort to hide its heaviness. But that’s not a bad thing. It feels solid as a result. It was a real eye opener going back to my Model 3 after the drive. I used to think the Model 3 was heavy compared to my last Audi.
Speaking of my Model 3, the Lucid’s steering is far more precise. People here have said it, and it rings true. Point the Air in any direction, at almost any speed, and it just does the right thing. Despite the weight, the car does not feel large. It drives more like a sports car than a big sedan. At one point I looked down and noticed I was doing 90. On a very busy highway in the middle of Denver. If you had asked me, I would have guessed I was going 70.
No wonder they made me sign a waiver that said any tickets I get on the test drive are my responsibility.
Acceleration is far smoother than the Tesla. I didn’t get a chance to try out Launch Control, but taking it from 65-85 while switching lanes was not only astoundingly fast, it was super smooth. None of the head jerking I’m used to.
Somehow, Lucid managed to set the suspension such that it handles bumps and imperfections on the road far smoother than my Tesla, and yet I never got the feeling I wasn’t getting information from the road, either. I was comfortable and yet not disconnected. Smooth is a little more of the former. Swift a little more of the latter. I kept thinking about driving my mom’s old Mercury Grand Marquis when I was a teenager, and how that was essentially like steering a ship. You were literally floating on the road. The Lucid feels nothing like that. And yet it’s not harsh at all, either. My test GT had the 21s on it, though. I am curious what the feel will be on the 19s.
The lower regen setting is roughly the same as the high regen in my Tesla. Folks were right to suggest I start with the low and work my way up to the higher setting. It did take me a few minutes to get used to the higher regen. Not so much in bringing the car to a stop, but more the overall sensitivity. The slightest change in pressure resulted in the car slowing down or speeding up. After a while, it felt good. Like I was more connected to the car. Almost like engine breaking with a clutch in the old days. I’ll likely keep in on high.
The 360 camera is a revelation. I’ll gladly pay for DDPro just for that alone. Also, if I ever curb this car, there will be no question it was my fault.
The side view cams when changing lanes or turning were also surprisingly useful. When Tesla added them, I thought it was sort of idiotic. Because Tesla had no choice on the Model 3 but to put the view in the bottom left corner of the middle screen. Regardless of which direction you are turning. So put on left turn signal, look down and right? Where they are positioned on the Lucid makes far more sense. They did take a second to come on each time (hope that improves) but I’m not one to start a lane change and THEN turn on my signal, so it wasn’t an issue. I didn’t notice any frame rate issues with the cameras, as some have reported. Once they were on, they were smooth.
The cockpit of a Lucid is no bad place to be. The seat is way more comfortable than my Model 3, which I don’t think is a bad seat at all. I must have managed to find a better seating and steering wheel position than the last time I sat in the studio, because the visors weren’t in my line of sight at all this time. I quickly forgot they were there. I did notice the stitching reflection that many have reported, but I forgot about it quickly.
I can’t give a final verdict on the sound system, only because I had limited time listening. It was funny, when my escort asked if I had any particular style of music I’d like to hear, and I just told him “pick whatever; I’m open-minded” he went straight for Pink Floyd. (Well played. He wasn’t wrong.) And it was a good choice, too, despite not being an actual Dolby Atmos mix, because Dark Side of the Moon is so well produced and clean that it should show off any good system. And it did.
Now, if you like the overblown bass that’s so popular in most every stereo system on the planet, this might not be the sound system for you. We had the EQ set completely flat. So you could pump the bass some more if you wanted to. But to my ears it was wonderfully accurate in every frequency. I heard every note Roger Waters was playing, and the kick drum was thumping just fine. But it wasn’t overpowering at all. The mids and highs, which get lost in almost every car, were clear as a bell. I got the feeling you could almost mix a record in this car; it sounded that good to me.
But yeah. This is highly subjective. If you like Beats headphones, you’ll hate this system. If you like open-backed Sennheiser or Audio Technica studio headphones, you’ll be blown away.
I would need to hear some jazz and classical, and certainly more Atmos mixes, such as Steven Wilson, before I’d be sure. But my first impression is that I’m going to be very pleased with the sound.
It was about 103 in Denver yesterday. I didn’t feel hot at all inside the Lucid. And I HATE heat. (My name, Cieplinski, roughly translates to “hot” in Polish. Meaning “the guy who is always too hot.” It’s a genetic thing.)
I would like if the vents could be pointed a little higher, so the air would hit me directly in the face. But I was plenty comfortable. The car had been parked in a shaded garage prior to the drive, though, so I can’t vouch for how hot it would get in the sun. I don’t plan to park in the sun often. My home garage is underground.
The ventilated seats didn’t feel like they were doing much at all. That was disappointing.
By the end of the drive, I felt right at home. I almost forgot I was driving someone else’s car. Everything just felt—right. For lack of a better word.
Overall, as I said, this drive didn’t change my mind either way about proceeding with my order. I was already convinced. But it did make the wait until early next year that much harder to think about.
After we got back to the studio, my escort offered to go through my reservation to be sure I had everything lined up the way I wanted, or if I wanted to make any changes based on the drive. But I had nothing to change. Just hoping my configuration choices line up with the earlier side of the Touring production schedule.
Excuse the long-winded post. I’m just trying to offer my impressions, as I’ve found so many others have given me here. I find it so useful to hear what others say about their drives.
Just hearing from so many people that driving was the best quality of the car by far, and being armed with all the knowledge I need about Lucid’s growing pains and areas of weakness, a test drive had about a 0.01% chance of swaying my decision about whether or not to proceed. But I’m still glad I got to do it. If for no other reason than it confirms most of the folks on this forum know a good driving machine when they get behind the wheel of one.
Thoughts, in no particular order:
I continue to be impressed with Lucid’s retail staff. I’ve now visited Millbrae, San Jose, NYC Meatpacking, and Cherry Creek in Denver. I have yet to encounter an employee who isn’t well informed and enthusiastic about the car. As with Apple Stores, the employees don’t work on commission, so they have no motivation to coerce me into anything. They just politely answer questions and offer help. You’d think this was a no-brainer, but with most of the car shopping I’ve done over the years, employees at dealerships, who mostly do work on commission, often know far less about the car than I do. And then they get pushy, making bogus arguments with information I know is incorrect. Which is annoying, to say the least. I will say Tesla might be the only other car company where I felt like the staff was as on the ball. Lucid is using the same model, again, copied from Apple, so it only makes sense. I imagine they pay well.
Being offered water is a nice touch.
My test drive escort asked me how familiar I was with the car. My response: “I know you’re currently on version 1.2.7 of your software. Does that give you an idea?”
“Oh, then I guess I don’t have to show you how to open the frunk?”
From that point on, he sat back and only told me where to turn or answered questions as they came up. Not that there were many.
He was a former Tesla employee, by the way. He said he took note of what Lucid was doing and wanted to be a part of it. He even moved to Colorado from Utah for the job. He had nothing bad to say about Tesla, of course. He was a professional. But I could tell he was really happy to be working for Lucid now.
I’ve said it before, but the UX DESIGN of the Lucid is leaps and bounds above Tesla, and any other car I’ve driven, to be honest. I know some have stated otherwise here, but I can’t help but completely disagree. This was the third time I’ve ever had my hands on the various screens of the Lucid, with the first two times being about five minutes in a stationary car in a studio, and I didn’t need to ask for help on how to find any function I needed on a 45-minute drive. At the end of the drive, I noticed I had not looked down at the Pilot Panel more than once or twice during the entire drive. Everything I needed was on the top three screens.
The sheer number of controls that are one tap (or one physical button) away puts the current Tesla UX to shame, frankly. Obviously, it’s not perfect, as evidenced by the garage door opening, etc. I know there are some real head slapping design quirks there. But I’ve driven BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Toyota, Honda, Chevy, and just about every other kind of car you can buy or rent. and I’ve never had this easy a time finding whatever I needed within seconds.
I know. There are bugs. But bugs are a separate issue from UX and UI. How the car is SUPPOSED to function is top notch, as far as I’m concerned. You are welcome to disagree.
And speaking of bugs, I didn’t encounter any during my drive. The car I drove (A Black GT with Mojave interior) functioned flawlessly during the whole drive. So good for them. Maybe they got lucky with that car. Maybe it was produced after the factory and PDI changes. A few functions took longer than they should have, like the first launch of the nav, but nothing malfunctioned.
Doesn’t hurt that the UI looks beautiful as well.
The car is heavy. It makes no effort to hide its heaviness. But that’s not a bad thing. It feels solid as a result. It was a real eye opener going back to my Model 3 after the drive. I used to think the Model 3 was heavy compared to my last Audi.
Speaking of my Model 3, the Lucid’s steering is far more precise. People here have said it, and it rings true. Point the Air in any direction, at almost any speed, and it just does the right thing. Despite the weight, the car does not feel large. It drives more like a sports car than a big sedan. At one point I looked down and noticed I was doing 90. On a very busy highway in the middle of Denver. If you had asked me, I would have guessed I was going 70.
No wonder they made me sign a waiver that said any tickets I get on the test drive are my responsibility.
Acceleration is far smoother than the Tesla. I didn’t get a chance to try out Launch Control, but taking it from 65-85 while switching lanes was not only astoundingly fast, it was super smooth. None of the head jerking I’m used to.
Somehow, Lucid managed to set the suspension such that it handles bumps and imperfections on the road far smoother than my Tesla, and yet I never got the feeling I wasn’t getting information from the road, either. I was comfortable and yet not disconnected. Smooth is a little more of the former. Swift a little more of the latter. I kept thinking about driving my mom’s old Mercury Grand Marquis when I was a teenager, and how that was essentially like steering a ship. You were literally floating on the road. The Lucid feels nothing like that. And yet it’s not harsh at all, either. My test GT had the 21s on it, though. I am curious what the feel will be on the 19s.
The lower regen setting is roughly the same as the high regen in my Tesla. Folks were right to suggest I start with the low and work my way up to the higher setting. It did take me a few minutes to get used to the higher regen. Not so much in bringing the car to a stop, but more the overall sensitivity. The slightest change in pressure resulted in the car slowing down or speeding up. After a while, it felt good. Like I was more connected to the car. Almost like engine breaking with a clutch in the old days. I’ll likely keep in on high.
The 360 camera is a revelation. I’ll gladly pay for DDPro just for that alone. Also, if I ever curb this car, there will be no question it was my fault.
The side view cams when changing lanes or turning were also surprisingly useful. When Tesla added them, I thought it was sort of idiotic. Because Tesla had no choice on the Model 3 but to put the view in the bottom left corner of the middle screen. Regardless of which direction you are turning. So put on left turn signal, look down and right? Where they are positioned on the Lucid makes far more sense. They did take a second to come on each time (hope that improves) but I’m not one to start a lane change and THEN turn on my signal, so it wasn’t an issue. I didn’t notice any frame rate issues with the cameras, as some have reported. Once they were on, they were smooth.
The cockpit of a Lucid is no bad place to be. The seat is way more comfortable than my Model 3, which I don’t think is a bad seat at all. I must have managed to find a better seating and steering wheel position than the last time I sat in the studio, because the visors weren’t in my line of sight at all this time. I quickly forgot they were there. I did notice the stitching reflection that many have reported, but I forgot about it quickly.
I can’t give a final verdict on the sound system, only because I had limited time listening. It was funny, when my escort asked if I had any particular style of music I’d like to hear, and I just told him “pick whatever; I’m open-minded” he went straight for Pink Floyd. (Well played. He wasn’t wrong.) And it was a good choice, too, despite not being an actual Dolby Atmos mix, because Dark Side of the Moon is so well produced and clean that it should show off any good system. And it did.
Now, if you like the overblown bass that’s so popular in most every stereo system on the planet, this might not be the sound system for you. We had the EQ set completely flat. So you could pump the bass some more if you wanted to. But to my ears it was wonderfully accurate in every frequency. I heard every note Roger Waters was playing, and the kick drum was thumping just fine. But it wasn’t overpowering at all. The mids and highs, which get lost in almost every car, were clear as a bell. I got the feeling you could almost mix a record in this car; it sounded that good to me.
But yeah. This is highly subjective. If you like Beats headphones, you’ll hate this system. If you like open-backed Sennheiser or Audio Technica studio headphones, you’ll be blown away.
I would need to hear some jazz and classical, and certainly more Atmos mixes, such as Steven Wilson, before I’d be sure. But my first impression is that I’m going to be very pleased with the sound.
It was about 103 in Denver yesterday. I didn’t feel hot at all inside the Lucid. And I HATE heat. (My name, Cieplinski, roughly translates to “hot” in Polish. Meaning “the guy who is always too hot.” It’s a genetic thing.)
I would like if the vents could be pointed a little higher, so the air would hit me directly in the face. But I was plenty comfortable. The car had been parked in a shaded garage prior to the drive, though, so I can’t vouch for how hot it would get in the sun. I don’t plan to park in the sun often. My home garage is underground.
The ventilated seats didn’t feel like they were doing much at all. That was disappointing.
By the end of the drive, I felt right at home. I almost forgot I was driving someone else’s car. Everything just felt—right. For lack of a better word.
Overall, as I said, this drive didn’t change my mind either way about proceeding with my order. I was already convinced. But it did make the wait until early next year that much harder to think about.
After we got back to the studio, my escort offered to go through my reservation to be sure I had everything lined up the way I wanted, or if I wanted to make any changes based on the drive. But I had nothing to change. Just hoping my configuration choices line up with the earlier side of the Touring production schedule.
