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R1T Ride Quality Harsh on Bumpy Surfaces

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TeslaToRivian

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OP is doing it wrong (I mean that nicely). Coils would ride worse. Do I need to follow you from thread to thread making the same points I made in that other thread that you didn't respond to? :eyeroll:
Me or @Goose?
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TeslaToRivian

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I haven’t driven an R1T on 22’s. I have the 20’s. But we have a Model X, too, and I find the ride in the Rivian vastly superior. I always used to joke in the X that I could feel a cigarette butt in the road in that thing. Our X is a 2019 Raven. Maybe the newer ones are better.
I had the MX Plaid. Just sold it. It was incredibly smooth.
 

diurnate

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You definitely want to drive in All Purpose and Soft and keep the ride height at "Standard" (the lower you go the more bouncing.)

At the end of the day I love the truck despite it - we just take my wife's Model 3 when we are together if we don't need the truck. And if we do need the truck (eg, the Ikea run yesterday) she puts up with it.
 

Inkedsphynx

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I meant you're doing it wrong (sport+stiff is not the best 'ride' you can get in the truck)[and again - I mean this nicely, assuming you just didn't know that would be a bumpier ride], and the rest of it was pointed at Goose, who seems convinced that old-timey coil suspension would somehow be a better choice for a vehicle like an R1T (spoiler: It's not.)
 

DetroitRed

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I am still playing with drive modes. It does seem that all purpose is a bit smoother than sport driving.
If you're driving around in Sport mode all the time, that's part of the issue. It's lower and in the Stiff suspension setting and does make for an uncomfortable ride on rough streets. Here around Detroit with our roads, I wouldn't want the truck if it always rode like Sport mode, and I have a high tolerance for firm suspensions. I think you need to get out of Sport mode and try All Purpose for your regular commuting and when the wife is with you.

Compared to the Cadillac ATS that I replaced, the R1T in All Purpose mode is a dream. I've had my truck for a week, I let it do auto height adjustments which has me at standard height nearly all the time, and it feels very smooth to me even on rough roads. My other car is a Corvette which is very firm, so my frame of reference is different than yours.
 
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I pretty much only use Sport on long highway on and off ramps when I know I will be going fast enough that the extra cornering is beneficial. Otherwise its AP all day. Sport is absurdly harsh IMO and was poorly tuned from the factory. The porpoising is unacceptable. What I would really love is for the Rally mode to allow you to turn on sensors, or for AP to let you use the Sport throttle/torque distribution map like what Rally does. I could see Sport mode being bearable if you drove winding and well maintained country roads regularly. For me though, its just too harsh for regular use.

Edit: I should add that I came into the R1T assuming I would use Sport heavily, as the speed and handling were the biggest draws over regular trucks. Unfortunately I should have remembered the lesson I learned from my old Silverado SS. Stiff suspensions and trucks just don't work.
 
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Goose

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To everyone. I have no personal experience with a Rivian. I have seen one in person and talked to the owner who was over the moon about it. I've read multiple posts and watch multiple videos on ride quality "issues", most of those are on R1S versus T though, and failures. I get that most of you are huge fans of your trucks and you paid a lot of money for them. I really hope you all never have a single issue with your truck.

I simply asked if anyone would like a simpler trim sometime in the future. The suspension is just one point that stood out to me that could be realtively easy. I guess I don't understand how an "old-timey" coil suspension in a selectible trim could be an issue. Don't like it, don't buy it. Also, if a coil suspension is so bad why do so many car companies still use them? Hell Ferrari uses coils.
 

DetroitRed

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Edit: I should add that I came into the R1T assuming I would use Sport heavily, as the speed and handling were the biggest draws over regular trucks.
Same for me. I'm a sports car kind of guy and thought Sport mode would be my go-to, but it isn't tuned well for rough roads. I might still like it on a smooth windy road when I'm enjoying an intentional spirited drive, but it's too harsh for daily commuting.
 

Inkedsphynx

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To everyone. I have no personal experience with a Rivian. I have seen one in person and talked to the owner who was over the moon about it. I've read multiple posts and watch multiple videos on ride quality "issues", most of those are on R1S versus T though, and failures. I get that most of you are huge fans of your trucks and you paid a lot of money for them. I really hope you all never have a single issue with your truck.

I simply asked if anyone would like a simpler trim sometime in the future. The suspension is just one point that stood out to me that could be realtively easy. I guess I don't understand how an "old-timey" coil suspension in a selectible trim could be an issue. Don't like it, don't buy it. Also, if a coil suspension is so bad why do so many car companies still use them? Hell Ferrari uses coils.
Point me towards the Ferrari EV that cares about efficiency?

Go back to your original post - https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/who-wants-a-simpler-r1.11587/

Plenty of us told you exactly why coils on an R1 would be a huge mistake.

If you still don't understand how it could be an issue, you're not looking at anything beyond your personal needs. Do you think Rivian wants to sell a truck that costs as much as a current R1 but gets 70% of the range [coils over air suspension won't reduce the cost by 30%, that's for sure]? That's about what coils would do. Who is going to buy that? Nobody. People already spend inordinate amounts of time saying 300 miles isn't enough. What would they be saying if it were 30% less?

That is only ONE of the MANY reasons air suspension is superior on an R1 than coils. As I said, go back to your other thread, we've already done this work for you.
 

MinnR1S

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Could this also be an issue of just being new to you?
I notice when I switch over to my wife's suv (same make, slightly smaller) I feel every bump magnified. 30 minutes later it seems to mellow out. Same with my wife riding as the passenger in her car, it feels different to her.
I have only been on 2 short (10 mile) Rivian test drives, but really liked the way it feels.
I also look how the seat height might affect the feel. The rivian seats look much higher off the floor and you might be slightly more upright in the seat back. You will feel the bumps more when your more vertical and not nested back in the seat (your back is reclined slightly more into the seat back).
 

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Ngkgb

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I came from an E-Tron, which is one of the most comfortable and quiet cars you can have. I mostly drive in AP/soft on 21s. We use this as our family hauler. It’s great at speed in freeways, so much so that my wife commented out of the blue how nice it rides. At lower speeds, on uneven roads, it’s very good. I more notice the sounds than anything else. It’s def not jarring like youre saying, unless on sport mode. I think your tired May play a role. Have you checked the pressure by the way?
 

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I pretty much only use Sport on long highway on and off ramps when I know I will be going fast enough that the extra cornering is beneficial. Otherwise its AP all day. Sport is absurdly harsh IMO and was poorly tuned from the factory. The porpoising is unacceptable. What I would really love is for the Rally mode to allow you to turn on sensors, or for AP to let you use the Sport throttle/torque distribution map like what Rally does. I could see Sport mode being bearable if you drove winding and well maintained country roads regularly. For me though, its just too harsh for regular use.

Edit: I should add that I came into the R1T assuming I would use Sport heavily, as the speed and handling were the biggest draws over regular trucks. Unfortunately I should have remembered the lesson I learned from my old Silverado SS. Stiff suspensions and trucks just don't work.
I agree with this. I live in a city that is well known for it's terrible streets. It makes the local newspaper once a quarter. If I drive in sport its crazy rough. All purpose soft and I can barely tell. However, my last two cars were sports cars (miata and vw gti), so maybe I'm used to less dampening. I also owned a gx470 during those cars, and I would say the R1T handles much better, although it obviously throws around its weight sometimes going over a speedbump sideways.
 

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To everyone. I have no personal experience with a Rivian. I have seen one in person and talked to the owner who was over the moon about it. I've read multiple posts and watch multiple videos on ride quality "issues", most of those are on R1S versus T though, and failures. I get that most of you are huge fans of your trucks and you paid a lot of money for them. I really hope you all never have a single issue with your truck.

I simply asked if anyone would like a simpler trim sometime in the future. The suspension is just one point that stood out to me that could be realtively easy. I guess I don't understand how an "old-timey" coil suspension in a selectible trim could be an issue. Don't like it, don't buy it. Also, if a coil suspension is so bad why do so many car companies still use them? Hell Ferrari uses coils.
I understand completely where you are coming from. I don't have my R1T yet but I have had my first mile drive and in 30 minutes of driving around the potholed streets of Denver I thought it did pretty damned well. Much better than my Tacoma TRD Pro with its upgraded Fox suspension. But that is just MY opinion in comparison to what I'm used to driving. A smaller truck always does worse on bumpy surfaces than a larger heavier truck.

Many people who are critical of the R1T ride quality are expecting it to be some sort of miracle vehicle that is 50/50 heavy duty truck and supercar. That simply isn't possible. Others might actually have something mechanically wrong with their truck's suspension. Try to remember that most people who are perfectly satisfied with their trucks are not out there making videos or even posting reviews here. Those with complaints are far more likely to voice those complaints wherever there are people willing to listen. It doesn't mean they represent the majority of owners.

I agreed with you in the other thread that offering a more traditional suspension might be a good idea if it lowered the point of entry for people who want a Rivian, but I also feel like the ride quality would probably get much worse. An 8000 lb pickup with coilovers is going to probably ride like most other 8000 lb vehicles with coilovers, which is to say - not that great when you think about other vehicles weighing that much. The R1T with its air suspension is Rivian's attempt to give you the best they can of both worlds (on and off road). That is a compromise. It isn't reasonable to expect it to be a Ferrari on the road and a Raptor off the road. I'm not saying you are expecting that, I'm just using those examples to illustrate a point - the R1T is pretty amazing but it doesn't replace either.
 

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I meant you're doing it wrong (sport+stiff is not the best 'ride' you can get in the truck)[and again - I mean this nicely, assuming you just didn't know that would be a bumpier ride], and the rest of it was pointed at Goose, who seems convinced that old-timey coil suspension would somehow be a better choice for a vehicle like an R1T (spoiler: It's not.)
Even sport+lowest+soft at speed is generally alright until the point where you're causing the suspension to risk bottoming out. Rivian tightens the damping out on the stroke to not risk blowing out the suspension due to bottoming too hard. Sport+low+soft is pretty good on slightly rougher stuff, but if the road you are driving on has potholes, anything below standard is a bad idea.

I love using sport+lowest+stiff on new pavement, but that tends to be pretty rare here and most of the time they are straight roads, so there's not much to gain from it. I'm hoping to actually take my R1T to a road course this year, and I intend on leaving it in that mode.

I like using rally+standard or rally+high for gravel roads depending on much washboard there is. Rivian's All-Purpose+standard+soft really is the best mix of comfort and responsiveness for general driving though.
 

Thedude

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OP is doing it wrong (I mean that nicely). Coils would ride worse. Do I need to follow you from thread to thread making the same points I made in that other thread that you didn't respond to? :eyeroll:
The long travel coil suspension in my TRX was far more compliant over bumps and much smoother on rough terrain. The Rivian’s pay the price in some areas due to being a jack of all trades suspension setup.
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