Finished R2 demo test drive? Share your review / impressions

[Mos Eisley]

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.

Which might make it very close to the silver on my old 2008 Audi A6

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[Dark-Fx]

Thank you for this.. 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. So in an emergency you will not likely to find them fast enough unless someone briefed you ahead of time. China has officially outlawed concealed, power-dependent, and pop-out electronic door handles on new vehicles and its only a matter of time before the US smartens up.

I did notice in the documention that Rivian provided backup power for the door latches - so I feel they did give this some serious consideration.

The door electronics still get power from the HV pack even in the event that the main pyro fuse has been blown. They really put a lot of thought into how to keep the doors powered.

At the point that you're probably going to need to use these manual releases, it seems pretty likely that you won't even be able to do it because the doors are physically jammed.

 

[GABarber]

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

They had the painted panel in the service center and i took it out side to compare with the LA silver in an R1. in bright light they looked similar with slightly different undertones and reflectivity - with a bit more sparkle on the R2

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.

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.

The 20 inch tire vs the 21 is definitely my last order hangup and i keep hearing different stories about ride comfort - i definitely like the more rugged look of 20 wheels on the performance model over the bigger wheel - then theres the extra $

 

[graytag]

[/QUOTE] 20 inch tire vs the 21 is definitely my last order hangup and i keep hearing different stories about ride comfort - i definitely like the more rugged look of 20 wheels on the performance model over the bigger wheel - then theres the extra $
[/QUOTE]
I have always found more sidewall equals a cushier/smoother ride. You tend to lose a bit of your cornering and wet traction, especially with ATs but nowhere close to dangerous. YMMV. Also, in terms of cost, it is frustrating but you'll get it back at your first replacement given tire selection at that size vs the 21s.

 

[Virtio]

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.

I wanted to clarify what I wrote about the frunk/trunk buttons. I asked Rivian and they replied that they are not cap touch buttons but force buttons and only require force to activate so they will work with gloves on.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I wanted to clarify what I wrote about the frunk/trunk buttons. I asked Rivian and they replied that they are not cap touch buttons but force buttons and only require force to activate so they will work with gloves on.

They have very little detent/travel distance. You really have to press to notice the motion. With a padded glove... I wonder.

 

[Virtio]

20 inch tire vs the 21 is definitely my last order hangup and i keep hearing different stories about ride comfort - i definitely like the more rugged look of 20 wheels on the performance model over the bigger wheel - then theres the extra $
[/QUOTE]
I have always found more sidewall equals a cushier/smoother ride. You tend to lose a bit of your cornering and wet traction, especially with ATs but nowhere close to dangerous. YMMV. Also, in terms of cost, it is frustrating but you'll get it back at your first replacement given tire selection at that size vs the 21s.
[/QUOTE]

I thought the 20" tires on the R2 drove really well and offered great isolation, smoothness and were very quiet. For me, the extra sidewall height is worth a little reduction in handling since I often hit curbs and hate scratching my rims. The only unknown is what will the 20" AT tires be like in 10K or 20K miles. The 20" AT tires on my R1S are pretty noisy after about 20K miles. I did asked if the 20" R2 tires will be Peak rated and they said yes but I didn't see the Peak symbol on the tires on display.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I did asked if the 20" R2 tires will be Peak rated and they said yes but I didn't see the Peak symbol on the tires on display.

The OEM Trail-Terrain T/A + are not peak rated. The adjacent All-Terrain T/A KO3's that would fit are.

 

[Utah-Jay]

I did my test drive last week, today was my wife’s test drive and it will be her daily driver.

She had absolutely decided on Launch Green and the black interior…..

She loved the R2, it was her first EV drive and took her all over a 1/2 mile to get the feel of the high regen setting. She is all in on OPD

No need to rehash her drive as it has all been said

But she changed to Half Moon Gray and the Coastal Cloud interior.

I will say that combo is amazing.

 

[DuoRivian]

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.

When did you make your reservation?

 

[graytag]

When did you make your reservation?

Sorry- misread at first. I made a Day 1 reservation as soon as it opened.

 

[mkhuffman]

Is everyone just spoiled with the Tesla sound system? Is that something Tesla is just really good at?

Even this guy below says his brand new GX550 with Mark Levinson premium sound upgrade sucks and has no bass. Said it's not even worth the upgrade.

I really think it is about the bass. The system can sound like crap, but if it has good bass, people think it is amazing. I am not saying that is true of the MY, but in general, poor bass response is a key driver of what people think about the overall sound quality.

Bass is the easiest thing to fix. If the rest of the system has good balance, but they failed with the bass, add a subwoofer. Easy peaey, lemon squeezy.

 

[sparked]

Thank you for this.. 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.

They just got the cars delivered at the demo centers so employees are still getting familiar with the details. Give them a couple weeks to absorb all the info. I wouldn't expect perfect information from employees at this early stage in test drives and deliveries. It will steadily get better.

 

[emroch]

The 20 inch tire vs the 21 is definitely my last order hangup and i keep hearing different stories about ride comfort - i definitely like the more rugged look of 20 wheels on the performance model over the bigger wheel - then theres the extra $

This was my last hangup too but I was forced to pick one today when I got the order invite.

I consulted with some of my car-enthusiast friends and these were the points they mentioned:

• Both wheels look good on their own. One leaned toward the 21" with the shine the other toward the darker 20". Both liked the rounder inner diameter detail on the 20" than the straight edges of the 21".
• The Pirelli hate is probably unfounded. Friend who tracks his car had no real bias against Pirelli.
• Highway/All-Season will likely last longer before needing to be changed
• AS might be a little quieter than the AT, but given how mild the AT tread is, you probably won't notice.
• AT usually benefits mud and rocks, but occasionally finding yourself on soft ground or dirt/gravel roads would be fine with the AS
• Handling and wet traction on paved roads might be slightly worse in the AT, but probably not noticeable for normal driving. Certainly not anywhere near the point of a safety concern.
• Having multiple replacement options for the 20" right now is a good sign. Those are unlikely to go away and will probably increase. 21" options may come to market over time, but be prepared to be stuck with the same tire down the road.
• Availability concern is not so much about inventory, but reliability and choice, eg if you don't like how the stock tire feels.
• AT is almost certainly going to be a softer ride with a softer rubber compound plus larger sidewall.
• OEMs often get custom compounds for their stock tires, so they might be different than other similar tires already on the market.
• 310-ish vs 330-ish miles of range probably isn't meaningful. I might make 2-3 of those types of drives before replacing the tires, and most road trips you probably don't want to be driving on "fumes" to push your range to the max. You'll probably end up recharging after 200 miles and the difference won't matter. For local drives it's a complete non-issue.

I had started out liking the look of the 21" based on the configurator pictures, but seeing both in person and looking at the wheels in the gear shop side by side, I started to lean towards the 20", aesthetically. My hangup was the $1000 cost and range hit.

My friend convinced me that 20" was the better choice, mainly for the following:

• Range difference won't matter
• It looks better (in his opinion, and I was on the fence enough to agree)
• Less aggressive AT tread and custom compound mean it will probably be a pretty decent road tire.
• Obviously not for aggressive off-roading, but I won't have to worry about it if I do go off-road.
• Like-for-like replacement is cheaper (though probably also more frequent, so might balance out?)
• More options in 20" mean I can swap to an AS if I dislike the AT once it wears out in a few years. Or switch to Michelin AT if I don't like BFG, etc.
• Worst case I can probably find someone to swap rims with, or buy the 21" set (for $5k!) and sell the 20" to recoup some cost.

 

[meefer]

Went to Woodbury NY service center and was handed keys and a 30 minute window. Basically confirmed most of my suspicions from the launch event, this forum, and youtube reviews.

Spacious, drove great, definite learning curve with halo wheels and total dependence on screen but nothing to deter a purchase. Ride quality even on the 21" was fine.

Desired options are Borealis with Cloud and 21" wheels, only must is the interior. Made our reservation very late (Jan 2026) so not realistic about not getting launch edition. Would only buy something else if we can't get an R2 by Q2 2027 (Cayenne warranty expiration Aug 2027)

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