Love my Gen2 R1S…BUT the ride quality at low speeds

[iansriv]

This is my first SUV. All my previous cars have been sports cars so anything else would be smooth. I test drove two Rivians for about an hour each. One had the 20" and the other had the 21" tyres. I ended up getting Beth 20" tyres and am relatively happy. My friend got a R1S with the 22" tyres. I find most of the rides to be smooth with slight variations between the different tyre sizes. I believe it's the LR that OP owned before to be the reason.

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[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

You chose tire option with least amount of sidewall and air volume. Of course it's going to ride harsher. Try another with 20" wheels and 275/60R20 tires. And lower than Standard height means less suspension travel, i.e. more likely to hit the bump stops. Try a hard reset also to rule out software glitch. With ride set to soft, you shouldn't be complaining about harshness. If it's still harsh in soft, submit Service ticket in case of a stuck damper valve.

 

[strykerwsu]

All ride heights. It’s marginally better in standard, but not much. And the suspension is noisy as f&@k at all right heights.

I’ve got the 22” Sport which Inchose because of the longer range…

Land Rover Discovery - which of course was smooth as silk - so probably not a fair comparison - but my daughters Kia Nironhas a smoother ride on local streets than the R1S

Change out to 20's. Our Gen1 was not good at all on the 22's. Which I thought was crazy as our R1T has a great ride in all modes. Then found out the shorter wheel base makes such a bigger difference.

I put both factory 21s and atomic forged 20's all season on an ride is nice now in everything except sport mode.

Wish We could get an R1SExt on R1T frame.

 

[amcg3]

Initially got a Gen 2 with 22 sport bright wheels bec it looks really nice but later swapped to 20 in all season. What a diff in ride comfort. Had the setting to standard height, moderate ride and med regen. I think the bigger sidewall makes a difference in ride quality.

 

[kayabusa]

Don’t listen to anyone talking about tires, or computer setting, the problem is not that you are feeling the road imperfections, the problem is you are bouncing inside, I have that problem back in 2023 and did everything in my power to fix it, changed, wheels, tires. I tested 20,21 and 22. Change tire brands as well, tested Michelin and nokians, Took it countless times to the service center, I rented an R1S on turo to compare with mine, did test drives with newer vins, , the conclusion at the end was this is the way the vehicle is, some people feel it more, other fell it less, but the problem it’s there and it’s basically the suspension setup , or either you get used to it and keep driving it or sell it and Move on. btw, the whole rivian engineering, design, management, software and service teams know about this issue.

 

[ndmiller]

As another poster above suggested, try cycling the suspension to highest, then lowest, and then back to standard. Sometimes the vehicle forgets and the ride becomes like a wooden wagon.

While this makes zero sense in my mind, when I did it months ago it fixed my issue. I was having the unrestrained bouncing, AKA not enough rebound dampening for anyone that's played with adjustable suspension on bikes or cars. It was driving me crazy on every setting for height, suspension feel and ride mode.

I went to low to high to low for about 10 minutes while driving slow around my neighborhood and forgot about it thinking it was a stupid idea. The uncontrolled bouncing was gone, suspension went from almost zero rebound dampening to probably the normal amount. Washboard was also greatly improved and now with one of the the most recent updates small speed bumps are almost imperceptible at low enough speed.

Not saying it's your issue, not saying it will fix your issue, but worth a 5-10 minute try.

 

[TTedP]

I demo drove a R1S a couple years ago on 20's and all terrains over cobblestone streets and it rode better than my 2025 Gen 2 on 22's. When the time comes to replace these tires, may just swap the rims as well and go to 20's to let the tires do more of the shock absorption since the suspension isn't up to it around town.

Change out to 20's. Our Gen1 was not good at all on the 22's. Which I thought was crazy as our R1T has a great ride in all modes. Then found out the shorter wheel base makes such a bigger difference.

I put both factory 21s and atomic forged 20's all season on an ride is nice now

Initially got a Gen 2 with 22 sport bright wheels bec it looks really nice but later swapped to 20 in all season. What a diff in ride comfort.

Doing it this week - going from 22" to 20". Will report back.

 

[amcg3]

Doing it this week - going from 22" to 20". Will report back.

Hope it works out for you. It did for us. Also, 20s have more tire choices.

 

[drkp]

All ride heights. It’s marginally better in standard, but not much. And the suspension is noisy as f&@k at all right heights.

The suspension noise sucks. Completely cheapens the experience of driving the Rivian. Hollow clunking noise that service can not address.

 

[RsfRivian]

The suspension noise sucks. Completely cheapens the experience of driving the Rivian. Hollow clunking noise that service can not address.

yup

 

[RsfRivian]

Initially got a Gen 2 with 22 sport bright wheels bec it looks really nice but later swapped to 20 in all season. What a diff in ride comfort. Had the setting to standard height, moderate ride and med regen. I think the bigger sidewall makes a difference in ride quality.

How did that affect the range?

 

[amcg3]

Not at all, same efficiency. I didn’t even change it and recalibrate to 20 in as Michelin is not on the choice, only a/t tires and the only all season was the bf Goodrich.

 

[TTedP]

Doing it this week - going from 22" to 20". Will report back.

Hope it works out for you. It did for us. Also, 20s have more tire choices.

Got the 20" AT rims and Goodyears installed this week. I agree w/ everyone else and think I've found my sweet spot. The looks of the AT, the smoothness and quiet closer to the 22"s.

Great job @B Digs!

 

[B Digs]

Got the 20" AT rims and Goodyears installed this week. I agree w/ everyone else and think I've found my sweet spot. The looks of the AT, the smoothness and quiet closer to the 22"s.

Great job @B Digs!

Awesome, thanks for the feedback!

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