Pure vs Touring

[Miami_Lucid_Man]

Loaner is being pickup up tomorrow. Only 2 days for the half shaft recall. Not bad but I was hoping I’d have the touring through the weekend!

 

[mwscan]

I have a 2026 Pure with the convenience package so it has the screen in the backseat, window shades, etc. I just had a Touring for three weeks as a loaner, including a long road trip from the Bay Area to LA and back, including returning on the coast highway. There’s no argument at all that the Touring beats the Pure on acceleration. That said, I have no problem at all with the Pure’s acceleration. It is still excellent. The regen is fine with me. I rarely use the brake pedal. The rear wheel drive Pure is significantly lighter than the other trims. I prefer the feeling of a lighter car. The overall handling, turn-in, etc. feels more responsive in the Pure. The ride in the Pure seems a bit tighter than the Touring. The front of the Touring felt a bit bouncy in both smooth and swift mode. In the end, as with many things, it comes down to personal preference. I prefer a lighter car, so I’m very happy with my decision to get the Pure.

 

[Miami_Lucid_Man]

OK, so I just got back in the seat of my pure. So I’ve had a direct comparison between these two models over the last three days or so. Admittedly, I was worried about getting back into the pure and feeling that it would be so much more underpowered than the touring I was driving. That said, I don’t feel that way at all. As long as you have the pure in sprint mode I do believe it’s still incredibly quick. Now, does it snap your neck back like the touring does if you’re not bracing yourself? No it doesn’t. But we’re driving around town and quickly accelerating out of various situations The pure is more than enough. One other thing that has been mentioned above, but now I can really compare and a firm is that the pure is much lighter on its feet. You can feel in the steering this heavy weight in the touring that you don’t have in the pure. It feels like you can place the car a lot more accurately in the Pierre. So I wholeheartedly agree with the others that have talked about the weight difference in the steering field. I do actually think that absent the additional power that overall the pure is more fun to drive in an everyday situation. Also, it is nice not having that extra whine of the front motor.

So I would say in summary these two trims are both excellent in different ways but they are definitely for two very different type of drivers and customers. Coming back to the pier now I’m not so sure that the touring is worth the extra 300+ a month on a lease as I thought it would be. That said I’m still up in the air as to where I’ll ultimately end up at the end of my Pure lease. Two great options nonetheless!

 

[GazUK]

A year ago, when we were deciding which one to buy, the pure won hands-down because I could not stand the whiny front motor. The pure RWD is practically silent, has plenty of punch in sprint mode. I’ve had many cars and this is the first least car that I want to purchase when the lease is over. Also, it has never seen the inside of a Service Center…yet.

 

[MorganB]

I have a Pure base model loaner right now. I believe it has zero options on it. I find it to be a bit uninspired compared to my 23 Touring with all options. Considering the driving dynamic alone I suppose the Pure does feel a bit lighter but since the suspension doesn't firm up in sprint to me the handling dynamics lack a bit compared to the touring in anything but the soft setting.

I personally enjoy the motor whine of the front motor so for me I would call the Pure's lack of the noise at best a net zero. Beyond that I find my car a step up in luxury due to all the options, glass roof, soft close doors , sun shades, leather interior, automatic frunk, interior lighting, 4 zone climate control, dream drive pro, upgraded sound system etc. I also prefer the Michelin tires to the Pirellis. All that being said it's still a great car.

 

[Aka-none]

lol you’re excited about the removal of literally one of my favorite features

It still reminds me of the Batmobile. But I know there are a lot in your camp.

Yeap, I also liked the turbo whine in my old Audi.

 

[exelon]

So far I have driven two tourings, a loaner with 19s and mine with 20s.
The driving dynamics between the two are very different. The 19s feel far less surefooted in corners and far less impressive. They are square, so both front and rear have equal grip but they have all season compound. It just doesn't feel fun to accelerate out of a corner or going in to a corner. The steering was also much lighter and there was some body roll. I did want to note that my loaners tires felt like they may have had a bubble or uneven wear because they were not buttery smooth like my car; they had a slight a rhythmic vibration that was not alarming but noticeable.

The 20s feel solid in corners. They have lateral grip to spare and the car seems to pull out of corners better thanks to the extra rear grip. The steering is heavier; the way i prefer. The car understeers at its limits a bit. The whole car feels heavier, but it also does not have noticeable body roll. The pavement feels buttery smooth on most types of road materials.

They honestly feel like two different cars, and i really prefer the 20s. I don't think comparing Touring to Pure is apples to apples without considering tires given the material, size, and front to rear width ratio. These impact driving dynamics and performance as much as mass and drivetrain.

I would also consider these things:
- Do you live in a climate where awd is beneficial?
- Do you like the safety of understeer or thrill of oversteer? (Both will be safe)
- Do you want a really fast car or a sufficiently fast car? (Think bmw m5 vs 240i or similar)
- would you trade fuel efficiency for the speed and awd? (Its like a 10-20% difference)
- do you want one pedal driving? (Most EVs I've driven are between standard and high, but pure only has low)
- are you willing to pay more for speed, one pedal, and awd?

For me, one pedal driving was huge and awd is nice in snow. I also like fast cars but need a comfortable rear seat for longer drives and the increase in power in the GT was only evident at higher speeds. That led me to a Touring.

 

[RajD]

Yes, the power frunk and the rear touchscreen are both part of the $3000 comfort & convenience package, among other features (screenshot from lucidmotors.com):

View attachment 39243

I wouldn’t be so enamored with the power frunk - I had a AT loaner (i drive a RWD pure) and the power frunk malfunctioned - the car wouldn’t drive above 10mph and I had to repeatedly try to open and close it. Finally had to reset the car and then it opened and closed normally.

Give me a manual frunk thank you.

Also, our Gravity has no front motor whine that I can discern but the AT loaners I’ve driven do. Anyone know how they solved this?

 

[knewman]

I wouldn’t be so enamored with the power frunk - I had a AT loaner (i drive a RWD pure) and the power frunk malfunctioned - the car wouldn’t drive above 10mph and I had to repeatedly try to open and close it. Finally had to reset the car and then it opened and closed normally.

Give me a manual frunk thank you.

Also, our Gravity has no front motor whine that I can discern but the AT loaners I’ve driven do. Anyone know how they solved this?

I could take or leave the power frunk. I know several people have had to have theirs re-aligned by service. I've been lucky in that the only time I had any problem with it I was able to just close it by hand.

I found the rest of the package is absolutely worth the money. Particularly the sunshades, heated wheel and wipers, and the soft close doors.

 

[RajD]

I could take or leave the power frunk. I know several people have had to have theirs re-aligned by service. I've been lucky in that the only time I had any problem with it I was able to just close it by hand.

I found the rest of the package is absolutely worth the money. Particularly the sunshades, heated wheel and wipers, and the soft close doors.

For my Air Pure (2025) , the C&C package included the sunshades, heated wheel and rear seats, and soft close. Which I agree, are highly recommended.

 

[illopp00]

I wouldn’t be so enamored with the power frunk - I had a AT loaner (i drive a RWD pure) and the power frunk malfunctioned - the car wouldn’t drive above 10mph and I had to repeatedly try to open and close it. Finally had to reset the car and then it opened and closed normally.

Give me a manual frunk thank you.

Also, our Gravity has no front motor whine that I can discern but the AT loaners I’ve driven do. Anyone know how they solved this?

The Gravity has different front motor mounts and insulation etc. I can hear my Gravity's motor whine at very certain speeds if I try hard enough and its quiet enough around...

 

[scal_air]

So far I have driven two tourings, a loaner with 19s and mine with 20s.
The driving dynamics between the two are very different. The 19s feel far less surefooted in corners and far less impressive. They are square, so both front and rear have equal grip but they have all season compound. It just doesn't feel fun to accelerate out of a corner or going in to a corner. The steering was also much lighter and there was some body roll. I did want to note that my loaners tires felt like they may have had a bubble or uneven wear because they were not buttery smooth like my car; they had a slight a rhythmic vibration that was not alarming but noticeable.

The 20s feel solid in corners. They have lateral grip to spare and the car seems to pull out of corners better thanks to the extra rear grip. The steering is heavier; the way i prefer. The car understeers at its limits a bit. The whole car feels heavier, but it also does not have noticeable body roll. The pavement feels buttery smooth on most types of road materials.

They honestly feel like two different cars, and i really prefer the 20s. I don't think comparing Touring to Pure is apples to apples without considering tires given the material, size, and front to rear width ratio. These impact driving dynamics and performance as much as mass and drivetrain.

I would also consider these things:
- Do you live in a climate where awd is beneficial?
- Do you like the safety of understeer or thrill of oversteer? (Both will be safe)
- Do you want a really fast car or a sufficiently fast car? (Think bmw m5 vs 240i or similar)
- would you trade fuel efficiency for the speed and awd? (Its like a 10-20% difference)
- do you want one pedal driving? (Most EVs I've driven are between standard and high, but pure only has low)
- are you willing to pay more for speed, one pedal, and awd?

For me, one pedal driving was huge and awd is nice in snow. I also like fast cars but need a comfortable rear seat for longer drives and the increase in power in the GT was only evident at higher speeds. That led me to a Touring.

I agree....Touring with 20" wheels and 360 cameras is my minimum.

 

[neuneleven]

I own a 25 touring. Have been running a pure for the last few days as mine is at the service center. The pure is significantly quieter, so much so, that I wondered what was wrong with my car before remembering the front motor whine. With that said, the whine does not bother me one bit. I actually kind of expect it when driving without music. In the absence of an ICE motor, it gives you some idea of how fast you may be going if not looking at the speedo. The pure is plenty fast....but the torque and move of the touring is more memorable, and I have come to expect it -in fact, my previous R1S quad motor on paper outran the touring to 60, so I am a bit of a sucker for torque and rapid take offs, though not enough to have justified a GT at purchase.
They are both great cars. I believe the more important question, at least to me, is do you need AWD or do you need speed?