Rivian R1S First Drive from a car guy / Raptor owner

[ggreeneva]

A Raptor's hood is above my shoulder. Current generation trucks are OBSCENELY tall. Stupid tall just for the sake of being tall.

Exactly right. To keep the view lower to the ground is a responsible design choice — not a flaw. The increase in frontover deaths from children struck in tall vehicles' blind spots should convince us of that much.

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[Zoidz]

Compared with my lawnmower, the R1T did an absolutely terrible job cutting the grass. It certainly made me rethink my purchase.

Compared with my Case tractor's 43" tires, the rear tires on the Raptor and the Rivian look small. And my tractor has a much cooler stagger setup as well.

 

[dia003]

I hope one day an update will allow you to leave the suspension in High. R1 looks better raised up.

 

[Autolycus]

Exactly right. To keep the view lower to the ground is a responsible design choice — not a flaw. The increase in frontover deaths from children struck in tall vehicles' blind spots should convince us of that much.

I appreciate the effort to have front cameras to eliminate the blind zone, but it's still not a complete solution. The high, square, front grills on most current vehicles (including the Rivian), also presents a higher likelihood of significant injuries or death when a pedestrian is hit.

 

[clcbjc123]

Great review; I agree with most of it.

Note, though, that the R1S doesn't pollute the air. ICE trucks are the some of the worst offenders here. Sometime soon, if not already, driving an ICE truck can/will be considered being a colossal dick. For zero emissions you have to make a few compromises in shape and redistribution of dollars to the expensive battery. For me, it's worth it. I'd rather have a hydrogen fuel cell truck sourced from green H2, but for now BEV is the best for me, knowing I'm not emitting carcinogens and cooking the planet (as much).

The world needs more people like you but I understand how hard it must be, so perfect, saving the world one car at a time.

 

[hbkdinobot]

I test drove a Tesla Model X and it is not like my Chevy Suburban. What’s the deal?

 

[Uncle Stave]

I'm 6'6", 235 and have had my R1S (20s) for three months. For big cars, I've owned the old big Bronco with big tires, Chev Suburban, and Ram 2500 V10. I LOVE driving the R1S and have never had this good head and leg room in any other vehicle. (The glass roof makes it!). The power and acceleration feels like my old Porsche 911 but better. Best mode for me is All Purpose, Stiff, High Regen. So far we are completely delighted with this vehicle and have had lots of fun trips and zero problems. And for our purposes, perfect size. I would pay the current price for sure. I think if you buy it for your fiancee you will end up begging her to let you drive it instead of your big ICE truck!

 

[Count Orlok]

BTW, the OP missed the number one advantage the Raptor has over the R1S (and over the R1T). I am pretty sure the Raptor can handle a snow plow.

 

[Joel]

My wife commented the other day while being a passenger in our Polestar that it felt like she was practically scraping her butt on the ground in the car. The R1S is still pretty tall and you're sitting relatively high off the ground in it. Of course when we had the Hummer EV she liked driving that because your eye level is above the majority of the other vehicles on the road, and the Rivian is definitely not that high. But the Polestar still isn't that low to the ground all things considered.

Funny why wife comments the same when she rides in my Polestar. Her daily in an XC90.

 

[Autolycus]

BTW, the OP missed the number one advantage the Raptor has over the R1S (and over the R1T). I am pretty sure the Raptor can handle a snow plow.

Not super important in SE Alabama where he's stationed at Ft. Novosel (fka Ft. Rucker).

 

[Count Orlok]

My wife commented the other day while being a passenger in our Polestar that it felt like she was practically scraping her butt on the ground in the car.

don't get me started on my wife's 911. When I get in it I think I am to the seat but then fall another 4 inches or so.

 

[Zorg]

Love the Raptor but kinda waste of gas if it never goes blasting off-road. Now, if able to go full tilt on trails, hard to beat

 

[BigE]

I've owned tons of sports/luxury cars and would like to post some of my thoughts after looking over and driving the R1S. I've had one on reserve for a couple years now, with the R1S going to be my primary vehicle. A lot of the comments will be versus my current 2023 Ford F150 Raptor with the 37" Performance Package (Price: $93K for comparison) [see photo next to R1T]:

Pro's:
1. R1S is a good looking SUV.
2. Having owned various Tesla's, I enjoyed the strong 1-pedal/regen driving.
3. SUV was quite quiet.
4. The acceleration is nice.
5. I miss having engine-less air-conditioning for the dogs that you obviously don't get with an ICE.

Con's:
1. In person, the R1S definitely felt smaller than I had imagined. At 6'4"/220, some areas were a bit tight. No way I could sit in the back/camp with the seats down.
2. The Frunk was smaller than it appeared in videos etc.
3. Really the only wheels I ended up liking in person were the 20" Black off-road. Interestingly, for an extra $1,700 over the bright ones, all you get is a tinted clear coat. Yikes.
4. The Driver+ is kinda a joke compared to my Ford. My Ford with Co-Pilot 360 2.0, has adaptive cruise with lane centering that works on ALL roads with zero fuss.
5. The seats in the Rivian were one of the biggest let-downs for me. Quite stiff. My Raptors seats felt completely luxury compared.
6. The Raptor rides far better (it's known as one of the most comfortable riding vehicles due to the baja style long-travel suspension).
7. The steering wheel on the Rivian felt thin, plasticky and cheap. The Raptor steering wheel and overall interior felt higher quality. Ford really has done an amazing job on their latest high end trucks. I was not that impressed with the Rivian interior for the money.
8. The Rivian tires looked absolutely tiny compared to the Raptors. And the Rivian small tires were already filling up the small wheel-wells. (Yes, for aerodynamics).
9. Rivian felt low to the ground in view and seat height. Suspension was on "Normal".
10. Rivian nav/controls compared to Raptor wireless Android Auto with wireless charging... well there is no comparison.

Overall, the R1S is decent but I think it's closer to the value of its pre-price increase cost versus post-price increase cost. I think once the early adopters run out, they will struggle to sell these at near six figures. With myself, fiancé, two German Shepherds, and a bunch of camping gear, the R1S is just too small. We also parked next to and looked at the R1T, and the bed size on that thing was absolutely laughable. It's smaller than my old Jeep Gladiator bed.

I also was quite surprised how I rated the colors in person versus online. The red wasn't near as nice as I had imagines, nor the Forest Green. Me and my fiancé both preferred the white and black. Both with the black 20" off-road wheels.

The R1S doesn't fit the bill for my use, especially against the absolute beast that the 37" PP Raptor is, but I may still proceed with the purchase of a white R1S for my fiancé. But even at the pre-price hike price, we are on the fence.

Wouldn’t the R1T vs a Raptor R be a better comparison? Say, 10 mpg vs 70? And the Rivian is still faster!

I have long thought Raptors were cool looking trucks but could never justify one (gas pigs) as I guess I’m really not a “truck” person as they ride bounce, soft, sloppy steering, etc. The reason I put a deposit on my R1T in Dec. 2018 was it checked a lot of my boxes. Many of the original engineers at Rivian came from McLaren, check…RJ was driving a Porsche Cayenne as a daily comparison, double check . If you want more evidence, watch Rivian Dad’s video with Pro Driver Blake Fuller



For me, the R1T is the Porsche of trucks. It will pull my camper, haul weekend loads and yet, I can put it in sport mode and drag a Ferrari…yep, beat a $300k Roma

So if you love your Raptor, you’re really more of a true “truck” person and there’s nothing wrong with that, but you also maybe don’t appreciate how good a “sports truck” the R1’s are.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Just goes to show people have different needs. My truck is a mall crawler and the most hardcore off road it goes is the Lowes parking lot to get plants or dirt or something for the wife. Getting there quick matters more to me than jacked up sky high. If I wanted something giant id get a TRX. I disagree with the OP that the Rivian has a limited use case. For all the smaller trucks I see on the road Rivian could replace each and every one of those.

 

[Riv3D]

Well thats like your opinion man

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