Finished R2 demo test drive? Share your review / impressions

[SwampNut]

I wonder if thats going to require a monthly fee to play the internet stations via the cellular service - and whether my local Public Boradcasting will be available there. Even in orange county california cellular service can really be spotty.

There's a 19 page thread about this already.

Short story: The Rivian has two "radio" apps. Both can be ad supported or you can pay for no ads. The ads that the station themselves puts in the stream (if they do, some FM is apparently ad free I've been told) are still there in either case. The free streaming includes a pre-roll ad for a few seconds each time you select a station.

I have been told that "all" stations are one one of those apps or the other.

I use Apple Music when I want to listen to music, and Overcast.FM from my phone/CarPlay to listen to spoken audio (podcasts, news, whatever). I just never have issues with streaming Apple Music, even though it's a HUGE stream (Dolby ATMOS with a high-quality CODEC). Obviously, meaning, in places with cell coverage. Even at my house which has nearly no cell coverage, I just don't have issues once it buffers in a bit.

Off-grid content like the podcasts and saved music are on the phone of course.

Edit to add: The R2 has a much better cellular radio and will beat the performance of the R1 by far. In fact I worry about what will happen to R1 cellular over time. AT&T is reducing the bands it can use.

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[GABarber]

Also no CD or 8 track player..crazy they left these out

Yeah - Im really going to miss them...

 

[SwampNut]

 

[tkauftheil]

So THATS what the additional glove box is for. Ahhhh.

 

[Mos Eisley]

Took another test drive this morning for about thirty minutes. Last time was on the 20's, this time on the 21's. Drove over some of the same stretches of rough pavement and tried the various ride settings. As expected, the 21's do ride a little stiffer and transfer more of the bumps and ruts into the ride. It's subtle, as opposed to the 20's, but noticeable. I'll be going with the 20's, swapping for all-seasons like many (most?).

I stick by my earlier assessment of the audio quality, once you tune the EQ "properly", it is very good. World-beating, $7,000 optional extra stupendous? No. But very good. Better than what every EV competitor in the $40-60k range that I've driven over the past few months has (caveat: I haven't driven a Tesla in three years, and won't ever again). I signed directly into my Apple Music account and played a Dolby Atmos playlist streaming over WiFi (not Bluetooth). Very good image, clarity and separation. Ample bass on some ambient tracks that made your chest hum. YMMV but if you drive it once, accept whatever settings were in the demo when you got there and then stream some compressed crap, well, you asked for it

Couple of other audio "wants". Would have been great if they'd been able to swing putting a speaker in the headrest, not for music, but for navigation directions and the turn signal. With music playing and ambient noise at speed, especially with windows down, the way the software currently tries to duck the music in and out, play the route guidance, turn indicators and return to music, is currently a bit ugly. Sort of like an assistant trying to do and tell you three things at once. I know you can set different audio levels per playback source, including nav. Didn't get to fiddle with that - suspect if I had it set louder it would be better. But having it in the headrest like Volvo would be cool. Volume control vis the haptic wheel does clearly lag if you go too fast, it's fine at normal adjustment speeds.

I really like the timbre/tone of the turn indicator, but occasionally had a hard time hearing it as it didn't stand out clearly from the music and road noise. Found myself going down the highway for a stretch with the indicator on and didn't hear it.

I said it before, but the frunk button needs a sound or light flash to acknowledge that you've pushed the button correctly and it's about to open. The reps acknowledged that not knowing how to use it, it working consistently, or spooking the user with the loud thunk when it unlatches has been a common issue/comment/complaint on the showroom floor. Same for when you open the liftgate.

Lastly, confirmed there currently is no memory setting for liftgate height; it's currently all or nothing, with the ability to stop it by pressing the button. A height memory setting would be welcome.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Took another test drive this morning for about thirty minutes. Last time was on the 20's, this time on the 21's. Drove over some of the same stretches of rough pavement and tried the various ride settings. As expected, the 21's do ride a little stiffer and transfer more of the bumps and ruts into the ride. It's subtle, as opposed to the 20's, but noticeable. I'll be going with the 20's, swapping for all-seasons like many (most?).

I will be doing the same but waiting for the AT's to wear out before swapping. Based on what I've seen and heard, the AT tires are Rivian compound that isn't noisy or rough like normal AT's and actually very comfortable.

 

[Virtio]

I said it before, but the frunk button needs a sound or light flash to acknowledge that you've pushed the button correctly and it's about to open. The reps acknowledged that not knowing how to use it, it working consistently, or spooking the user with the loud thunk when it unlatches has been a common issue/comment/complaint on the showroom floor. Same for when you open the liftgate.

Yeah, the frunk/trunk button bugged me too. Why not just go with a traditional pushbutton that you can feel? The current capacitive sensitive button is not user friendly and I'm afraid that neither one will work when wearing gloves unlike a typical pushbutton (have to ask about this). I guess they wanted everything to be programmable so they can fine tune the touch pressure and duration if needed. You could in theory have a long press or short press or hard press or light press to do different things down the road. Not sure what but it's possible.

I also agree about the audio and willing to give it a pass for now. I did not play with the EQ and in general feel that EQ should not need to be adjusted if the system is tuned properly. I suspect either they will improve the system or someone else will. It's not that hard to upgrade down the road.

 

[Mos Eisley]

Its surprising that neither af the Service reps at the Rivian service center had any knowledge of the and couldnt find them when they went looking for it when I asked.

Good customer service is hard to find and most reps are just getting to know the car. Not an excuse, just an observation.

So in an emergency you will not likely to find them fast enough unless someone briefed you ahead of time.

That "someone" should be you. It's on us, the prospective buyers, to read the owner's manual and do the research. Somebody like yourself for whom this is a key concern, would/should get a determination on such key factors before buying.

 

[graytag]

I had never driven a Rivian until yesterday. Ironically, my order # was called this morning. Coincidence?! I've had a M3 and currently drive an i4(base 35). I LOVE everything about the i4 except my late 40's back screams at me every morning when I lower myself in for the coffee run. I'm pleasantly surprised that the R2 maintains a lot of the driving characteristics of the i4 while also giving me the ride height, visibility, and ruggedness of my GX460 I had before the i4. I echo all previous positives. As a Rivian Newbie, the sound system was perfectly adequate, halos were intuitive, and interface seemed great. The turn signals didn't annoy me and they will, likely, be adjusted in a future update(right?). The only thing I didn't like was the 21's on the demo. I'm a firm believer- in terms of SUVs, especially the off road kind, in more sidewall. I ordered esker silver, 20 all seasons and hit send. I'm beyond pumped to join the cult.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I also agree about the audio and willing to give it a pass for now. I did not play with the EQ and in general feel that EQ should not need to be adjusted if the system is tuned properly. I suspect either they will improve the system or someone else will. It's not that hard to upgrade down the road.

With audio there's just no "properly" that users agree on.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I had never driven a Rivian until yesterday. Ironically, my order # was called this morning. Coincidence?! I've had a M3 and currently drive an i4(base 35). I LOVE everything about the i4 except my late 40's back screams at me every morning when I lower myself in for the coffee run. I'm pleasantly surprised that the R2 maintains a lot of the driving characteristics of the i4 while also giving me the ride height, visibility, and ruggedness of my GX460 I had before the i4. I echo all previous positives. As a Rivian Newbie, the sound system was perfectly adequate, halos were intuitive, and interface seemed great. The turn signals didn't annoy me and they will, likely, be adjusted in a future update(right?). The only thing I didn't like was the 21's on the demo. I'm a firm believer- in terms of SUVs, especially the off road kind, in more sidewall. I ordered esker silver, 20 all seasons and hit send. I'm beyond pumped to join the cult.

Congrats! Looking forward to your pictures as Esker silver is currently a ghost in public.

 

[graytag]

Congrats! Looking forward to your pictures as Esker silver is currently a ghost in public.

Who knew the "free" color might actually make me unique?! The only sample they had was on a water bottle.....but I thought it was a great looking bottle so...

 

[Mos Eisley]

Who knew the "free" color might actually make me unique?! The only sample they had was on a water bottle.....but I thought it was a great looking bottle so...

My showroom doesn't have a sample panel in Esker Silver and the water bottle is the older LA Silver from R1.

 

[GABarber]

Good customer service is hard to find and most reps are just getting to know the car. Not an excuse, just an observation.



That "someone" should be you. It's on us, the prospective buyers, to read the owner's manual and do the research. Somebody like yourself for whom this is a key concern, would/should get a determination on such key factors before buying.

Agreed - although as it appears that Rivian has provided for power backup in the case of main power failure it is less worrisome - some little safety tags with instructions near the access might help for passengers- if they would even read them or remember in an emergency

 

[graytag]

My showroom doesn't have a sample panel in Esker Silver and the water bottle is the older LA Silver from R1.

If I get back in the showroom, I'll take a pic and post it. It almost looked like a slightly lighter version of BMW's skyscraper gray.

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