Gen 1 major ride quality & handling improvement after 2024.19.04 software update - how's your experience?

[LL75]

Is the suspension upgrade only on "soft" mode? Been using moderate firm

I installed the update Sunday night and drove about 30 miles today. With the caveat that ride comfort is VERY subjective, I was almost always using Moderate before the update because soft was completely unusable for me. I noticed some slight improvements in Moderate. I switched to Soft and wow! IMO it's completely different from the previous Soft mode - it's a major improvement and seems close to my wife's BMW X3. I have 400 miles+ of roadtrip driving coming up this week so I am going to switch modes frequently to compare the two. This is a significant ride quality update for us Gen 1-ers.

Yea. I can't tell any diff with Moderate. Will try Soft since I ditched that mode awhile ago.

Sponsored

 

[Preoccupy7513]

R1S here, I notice a significant improvement in my favorite config - Sport / Low / Soft

 

[MidnightRivian]

High regen on Quad Motor doesn’t feel as strong.

Please pay attention to how strong your regeneration is before the update and let me know if you feel the same thing where high regen has been reduced a little after the update.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

I drove on many different surfaces over the past few days including dirt, clay, breaking apart asphalt, etc... and it is amazing how much the R1T suspension poise has advanced from the early days.

This is so true! The single greatest compliment I can give Rivian, is that they are on top of OTA software updates that make the vehicle better!!

 

[TigerWuxia]

got my update today and took my R1S w. 22 inch for a 50 miles drive. I use All Purpose, Moderate and did find the suspension improved with the new update. Although it is not a day and night difference, my R1S now feels more composed on the road (highway and local). Tried Soft mode and found it is still too bouncy for me.

 

[R1Sfamily]

Just got the update today and I am on the side that this is a major upgrade to the driving experience for 2023 R1S quad. Highway driving is so much smoother, side to side sway on windy roads feels much more planted, and regular local roads with pot holes are better but not completely gone. Still bounciness but I’m super impressed so far with the ride quality improvements

 

[Lmirafuente]

High regen on Quad Motor doesn’t feel as strong.

Please pay attention to how strong your regeneration is before the update and let me know if you feel the same thing where high regen has been reduced a little after the update.

I felt the same way until I checked if the friction breaks when regen was turned back on after the update, and it was.

So I recommend double checking your setting if it is using friction breaking during regen breaking. This was a feature that was added a while back to help when your SOC was high, like at 100%

Hope this helps you. I would love to know if it made a difference for you.

 

[R1Tom]

I felt the same way until I checked if the friction breaks when regen was turned back on after the update, and it was.

So I recommend double checking your setting if it is using friction breaking during regen breaking. This was a feature that was added a while back to help when your SOC was high, like at 100%

Hope this helps you. I would love to know if it made a difference for you.

Interesting....mine didn't turn back on after install.

 

[mkg3]

Absolutely the very best thing about this firmware update is the ability to select LOW REGEN in all drive modes.

This has two main impacts:

1) easier low speed vehicle motion (e.g., tight garage space, parking spots)
2) better range on the road trips

I did noticed the more composed soft suspension setting, but I never use it so focused on moderate and firm settings. Moderate has improved too - just not nearly as much as soft. Did not notice much difference in firm but I have not gone over bumpy roads yet.

Up til now, we have had the R1S set to AP, Firm, Low vast majority of the time so will give Moderate a chance for a while to see how that suits us.

 

[MidnightRivian]

I felt the same way until I checked if the friction breaks when regen was turned back on after the update, and it was.

So I recommend double checking your setting if it is using friction breaking during regen breaking. This was a feature that was added a while back to help when your SOC was high, like at 100%

Hope this helps you. I would love to know if it made a difference for you.

Thanks for the confirmation.

I think know what I felt on my post update drive.

They’ve improved the pitch management and because of that I didn’t feel as much of a dip on the front end when coming to a full stop.

Same regen with improved pitch management .

This was a very nice update Rivian rolled out.

 

[DuoRivian]

Absolutely the very best thing about this firmware update is the ability to select LOW REGEN in all drive modes.

This has two main impacts:

1) easier low speed vehicle motion (e.g., tight garage space, parking spots)
2) better range on the road trips

I did noticed the more composed soft suspension setting, but I never use it so focused on moderate and firm settings. Moderate has improved too - just not nearly as much as soft. Did not notice much difference in firm but I have not gone over bumpy roads yet.

Up til now, we have had the R1S set to AP, Firm, Low vast majority of the time so will give Moderate a chance for a while to see how that suits us.

I thought higher regen helped with range so going down to low would have a (small) impact on efficiency - thoughts?

 

[mkg3]

I thought higher regen helped with range so going down to low would have a (small) impact on efficiency - thoughts?

Try it yourself.

I've found that by allowing the vehicle coast without breaking/regen, the motors are in less transient state than when high regen is engaged. One is trading off the energy recovery versus energy usage. This is the exact reason why Porsche is designed to blend kinetic brakes with motor regen.

Since low regen has not been available up until now for AP/Conserve, I cannot provide data. That said, on my Tesla, by using low regen, my energy consumption improves (to consume less Wh/mile) enough that I see roughly 3.5 Wh/mile on low regen, and 3.2 Wh/mile on standard regen. Both are at 75~80mph on freeway.

In city and street driving, the coasting benefits are negligible, compared to regen so you're right that high regen increases range. Its only at steady state high speed cruise conditions that low regen win out (because energy consumption at higher speed is lessened by not having the motor constantly drawing power for small topology and speed changes).

 

[countab45]

r1t. Not happy with changes. dating back to 2022 pickup: i liked original soft. then disliked 2023 revised soft. then liked 2024 new moderate setting. now don't like revised moderate. Its back to being floaty up and down, front to back. pot holes/road dips mid corner knock harder off bump stops as well. small bump compliance seems better but overall the floatyness pitchyness over shadows any positives, IMO.

 

[DD4ST]

I have a 23 R1T and did notice a difference in ride, although it is subtle. But it is enough to be enjoyable smooth on regular roads vice “busy”. I, for one do not like a lot of road feel. Also, I REALLY appreciate the low regen setting. I don’t care for high or standard regen as the truck starts to decelerate too much when taking off the cruise control. Plus I like a little coast ability. In addition, I feel the low regen somehow reduces the foot pressure needed for the accelerator pedal. I always thought it was too much and made for a tiring drive when using it. In low regen it seems like the pedal is easier to push. Can’t think of why unless the regen strength is somehow tied to the pedal. Personally, I think Rivian should also give you the option to turn it off except for applying the brake pedal. I know this is anathema to those wedded to one-pedal driving but it is more natural for most folks (like my wife).

 

[R1DEW/ME]

Try it yourself.

I've found that by allowing the vehicle coast without breaking/regen, the motors are in less transient state than when high regen is engaged. One is trading off the energy recovery versus energy usage. This is the exact reason why Porsche is designed to blend kinetic brakes with motor regen.

Since low regen has not been available up until now for AP/Conserve, I cannot provide data. That said, on my Tesla, by using low regen, my energy consumption improves (to consume less Wh/mile) enough that I see roughly 3.5 Wh/mile on low regen, and 3.2 Wh/mile on standard regen. Both are at 75~80mph on freeway.

In city and street driving, the coasting benefits are negligible, compared to regen so you're right that high regen increases range. Its only at steady state high speed cruise conditions that low regen win out (because energy consumption at higher speed is lessened by not having the motor constantly drawing power for small topology and speed changes).

If you have the ability to do a longer range highway trek coming/going and compare low vs high, that would be great.

Getting ready to visit family soon in SoCal and hoping to maximize range given it about 390 miles from where we are now.

If I could get close to that range with pretty much all highway driving would be great but I know I would have one stop guaranteed. Still a man can dream!

Sponsored