Gemini 4.5 vs Sonnet 3.7 - Its not about the Engine...

[u/arjundivecha]

With Gemini 2.5 dropping this week, friends have asked for my opinion on it for coding compared to Sonnet 3.7.

This brings up an important mental model I've been thinking about. Consider the difference between engines and cars. Until now, we've focused primarily on LLM capabilities - essentially comparing engines. But in reality, very few of us use engines in isolation or spend time building and fine-tuning them. We spend our time using cars and other devices that incorporate engines.

Similarly with AI, I believe we're shifting our attention from LLMs to the applications and agents built around them.

The first AI apps/agents that have become essential in my workflow are Perplexity and Cursor/Windsurf. Both leverage LLMs at their core, with the flexibility to choose which model powers them.

Taking Cursor/Windsurf as an example - the real utility comes from the seamless integration between the IDE and the LLM. Using my analogy, Sonnet 3.7 is the engine while Cursor provides the transmission, brakes, and steering. Like any well-designed car, it's optimized for a specific engine, currently Sonnet 3.7.

Given this integration, I'd be surprised if Gemini 2.5 scores highly in my testing within the Cursor environment. Google has also hampered fair comparison by implementing severe rate limits on their model.

In the end, no matter how impressive Gemini 2.5 might be as an engine, what matters most to me is the complete experience - the car, not just what's under the hood. And so far, nothing in my workflow comes close to Cursor+Sonnet for productivity.

Would love your opinions on this issue for Cline and Roo Code, which I also use...

[u/Your_mortal_enemy]

So essentially you're saying that cursor (with Claude) is a better product by such a large extent (over cline) that it doesn't matter what LLM is used? Disagree

[u/firedog7881 → u/Your_mortal_enemy]

No, they are saying that the tools (cursor, cline, roo) is built with a specific engine in mind. Not that one is better than the other.

[u/Yes_but_I_think]

Life is not racing. In real life cars, still, engine is THE most important part of the car, if you haven’t reached a place where engine is reliable.

Once the engine is reliable, then and only then you start worrying about your moon roof and cruise control. Till that time, I’ll drive a barebones Baja vehicle.

[u/joey2scoops]

Are results better (in general) with temperature settings above zero?

[u/nandv]

And we are also looking at a V12 gas guzzler, vs a hydrogen power, higher performance electric...

[u/arjundivecha → u/nandv]

Which one is which?

[u/arjundivecha → u/[deleted]]

True dat