In the world of Luce, The Rivian R3X could shine

[beatle]

So....what about making fake noise mandatory?

They've been mandatory for pedestrian warning for over half a decade.

I expect any interior fake noise to be user defeatable. AFAIK it can be disabled on all the EVs that have this, but many people think it improves the experience. No such thing as fake fun.

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[Ralph]

They've been mandatory for pedestrian warning for over half a decade.

I expect any interior fake noise to be user defeatable. AFAIK it can be disabled on all the EVs that have this, but many people think it improves the experience. No such thing as fake fun.

Pedestrian warning is a welcome serious safety feature. Our R1T was a little loud when first delivered, but an early update adjusted that to what I would call a near perfect level.

Fake "exhaust" noise that can only be heard inside the car, while silly (to me) is fine.

Artificially sending that noise outside the vehicle for all of us to experience would not be fine.

 

[beatle]

Should be able to turn off any optional sounds that you don't want. I agree that the piped-out sounds are kind of silly. That said, I don't think there's a person here who wouldn't want the Jetsons car sound piped to pedestrians as they drive by.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Huh?

The R3X will sell like hotcakes, specially if they are able to price it under $60k. Initial reception across the board is that it looks great and has people beyond excited. I don't think we have ever had a trimotor vehicle of this size at the expected price range.

Unless reasonable competition arrives, the R3X will sell well and for a while. I literally do not see a reason why it will not sell. It is a grand slam on paper.

Plus…

Glaring flaws in calling it a “modern VW Rabbit”, which shows lack of knowledge. Both have wheels and doors, plus a two-box design. That is about where the similarities end; even if compared to a base trim R3 instead of the R3X.

The Rabbit was a very basic front mounted water-cooled 54hp 1.6L FWD commuter car. Everything on it was conventional of the time. No cutting edge tech whatsoever. Not even electronic fuel injection, which wasn’t introduced until later. Everything about it was intentionally bare minimum and extremely affordable. It was basic, no-frills, personal transportation and true to “people’s car”—a thing VW has long forgotten/abandoned.

The R3 is made on a shortened R2 platform. R2 platform is engineered to be rear-biased AWD or RWD. The R3 is bigger than the Golf and much bigger than the original Rabbit pictured. The R3X will have three electric motors with [very likely] 0-60mph time of under 3 seconds. The Mk1 Golf/Rabbit? 9 seconds on a good day going downhill and with a tailwind. To achieve sub-3s, one would need solid booster rockets or a highly built modern powertrain and drivetrain swap.

The standard Mk1 was a car designed for pavement and had standard ground clearance of other pavement dwelling cars; under 5 inches. The “high clearance” version was not made until next generation with Mk2 Country variant, and in very limited numbers; under 8k total and only between 1990-1991. None were sold in the US, unless gray market. We now know R2 has ground clearance of 9.6 inches.

The R3 is not an econobox like any generations of the Golf. Far from it. It’s a current-day “compact” CUV that happens to have similar two-box shape of a hatchback. And today’s “compact” CUVs make first generation of that segment, like the first gen RAV4 or Samurai, look like tiny toy cars. The R3 has far more in common with the Ioniq 5 than any modern Golf. If one were to link it to an old car sold in the US, it has more in common with the AMC Eagle than the Mk1 Golf. And there is already a "modern Rabbit", it's the VW ID Polo. And even that has huge differences from any generations of the Golf.

No enthusiast following? Soon after surprise announcement of R3X at Laguna Beach Theater, enthusiasts have joined this forum and have been waiting impatiently.

 

[MountainPassPerformance]

I will say that seeing the imagined R3X with the old school rally liveries does something for us.

The R3X cannot come soon enough.

 

[SwampNut]

This is a fun thread.

I think the R1S is ugly. The R2, just another generic box, about the same. The Luce is no worse or better than any of the other popular station wagons, I look forward to seeing one with vinyl "wood" paneling. I think the interior is fantastic, but then, I'm all in on Jony Ives creations I guess.

 

[Ralph]

My belief is that RJ wants to participate in racing. An R3 version could start that. Which most certainly does not mean that a toned down variant cannot be another generations "eco-box".

 

[kanundrum]

Pedestrian warning is a welcome serious safety feature. Our R1T was a little loud when first delivered, but an early update adjusted that to what I would call a near perfect level.

Fake "exhaust" noise that can only be heard inside the car, while silly (to me) is fine.

Artificially sending that noise outside the vehicle for all of us to experience would not be fine.

Agreed. Give me natural motor whine that sounds like straight cut gears any day

 

[savethemanual]

Agreed. Give me natural motor whine that sounds like straight cut gears any day

Doge doesn't agree...Fratzonic!!

 

[Ralph]

Agreed. Give me natural motor whine that sounds like straight cut gears any day

If the best engineering solution as far as power, torque and effeciency requires a little extra noise that happens to sound "like straight cut gears", I'm good.

Selecting a louder option because is sounds "like straight cut gears," but doesn't perform as well? Not a fan.

A new experience, driven(!) by the lack of sound that the tech makes would be great.

OT (slightly?) - I know a lot of people with inconsiderate neighbors and/or proximity to traffic. And in urban environments there is the never ending incessant chatter of trash trucks. City sanitation. A mix of commercial and construction dumpsters; multiples of each.

Imagine street cafe's on the boulevard where you hear mostly tire noise.

 

[Ralph]

Doge doesn't agree...Fratzonic!!

Neither does Dodge - typical leadership for them!

 

[SwampNut]

I've heard that Dodge in person, and the stupidity and awfulness of the sound is beyond description. It would go great with Carolina squat and similar idiocy.

 

[srkz]

Everybody expecting the R3X to be a fire breathing rally car is going to be sorely disappointed. It's going to be an R3 with better wheels/tires/calipers/dampers and maybe if you're lucky an exclusive drive mode. It's still going to be an R3. That is to say, it's going to be an inexpensive hatchback, not a two-step brapping offroad monster.

Think Model 3 Performance vs Model 3, not custom-tuned rally racer with 1000 horsepower lol.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Everybody expecting the R3X to be a fire breathing rally car is going to be sorely disappointed. It's going to be an R3 with better wheels/tires/calipers/dampers and maybe if you're lucky an exclusive drive mode. It's still going to be an R3. That is to say, it's going to be an inexpensive hatchback, not a two-step brapping offroad monster.

Think Model 3 Performance vs Model 3, not custom-tuned rally racer with 1000 horsepower lol.

False. R3, dual and single motor variants, targeting different price points—just like R2 and its trims. R3X, tri-motor, wider stance, performance-oriented suspension, power delivery, driving dynamics and interior design. All published known facts, including the premise of the RAD sub-brand and all future models bearing the X moniker. And X was introduced long before formation of RAD.

 

[srkz]

False. R3, dual and single motor variants, targeting different price points—just like R2 and its trims. R3X, tri-motor, wider stance, performance-oriented suspension, power delivery, driving dynamics and interior design. All published known facts, including the premise of the RAD sub-brand and all future models bearing the X moniker. And X was introduced long before formation of RAD.

Right. So, exactly like I said, wheels (offset = "stance"), tires, calipers, dampers, and a driving mode.

My point is that they're RAD-tuning an R3 for sale to the public, not building a bespoke rally monster. They're starting with a mild-mannered inexpensive hatchback and then giving it a performance model. The same way Tesla has a Performance model of their inexpensive cars. It just seems like a lot of people are expecting a monster with R1 levels of performance. The R3X will be faster and more performance-oriented than the R3, but it's not going to be faster and more performance-oriented than the R1 for example. It's still based on the R3 platform.

It's a Golf R vs a GTI; an STi vs an Impreza. You're gonna get a better R3, but you're not gonna get a WRC car.

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