Finished R2 demo test drive? Share your review / impressions

[Redmond Chad]

I had my test drive today (it was impossible to find openings in the area...until I got my invitation to order). I have an R1S (Gen 1 Quad, Large pack), so I will mostly compare it to that. My wife has a Model X and I had a Model Y before the R1S. The R2 I drove had the 20" ATs.

Overall impression: if I had to buy an EV SUV/Crossover thingy right now, this is the one I'd get. But since I already have an R1S, I don't have to buy one even though I'd like to drive something smaller, so I gotta think a little more about the tradeoffs. I suspect I will end up buying an R2.

Some oft-discussed features:

• I had some trouble with the frunk and rear window switches - I could get them to work, but it could take a few tries. But another guy seemed fine with them. I have similar trouble with fingerprint IDs on phones, I suspect because I have thicker skin than most, so maybe it's related to that.
• The stereo sounded really awful at first. But I could see that someone had messed with the equalizer settings. I reset them, and it was...OK, not great. I don't have audiophile-rated ears, so I could be OK with it, but I've had better. After my drive I saw THIS R2 review video; at the very end they recommend some equalizer settings for better sound. Too bad I didn't get to try it.
• The frunk is smaller than the R1S, and closing the unpowered hood takes just enough force to be mildly annoying.
• The rear seats have more room than the R1S. That was really nice. Fold down the second row, and the space looks really great...obviously smaller than the R1S, but not by as much as you might think.
• The glove boxes and the easier-to-open center console storage are solid improvements.
• The halo controls worked pretty well for me. Not perfect, but I feel confident that with some practice I will like them.

Nothing above was a big surprise, or make-or-break. What I was really there for was the driving experience. The R1S is a really nice vehicle, but I prefer smaller and lighter vehicles that are easier to toss around. I used all the acceleration in my Model 3 Performance quite often; I do not use all of the acceleration in my R1S - it just isn't as fun. Too big.

Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic so I didn't get to try a lot of tossing. The R2 definitely feels lighter than the R1S, but the difference wasn't as stark as I'd hoped. It was clearly easier to get into a parking spot or do a u-turn.

Highway-speed acceleration was awesome. From a launch...I was a little disappointed. I mean, sure, it's pretty fast - but it doesn't hit you all at launch. It starts a little slow and builds up steam. It's not going to keep me from buying one, but it did make me a little less excited about the R2.

The ride wasn't on my usual roads, but seemed a tiny bit better than my R1S (which has 20's, but I swapped the tires for Michelin Defender all-seasons). It was no louder than my R1S; maybe a tiny bit quieter.

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[3dogfl]

In short, I'm sold.........
I had been checking locations to demo the R2 for the last week, considering Tampa and Ft Myers, when unexpectedly new-WPB location popped up, so immediately booked 10am today.....spent quite a bit of time in the showroom checking out Catalina Cove / black interior, then demo drive Glacier White / black interior 30 min. In past I've test-driven and considered R1T, R1S, Y, X, but the R2 will be my first EV.

 

[oregonridet]

Test drove an R2 yesterday (Jun 18). This was in Tigard Oregon.

The R2 was Half moon grey with Dark interior. IDK what model we drove.

Wife drove first while I tried figuring out a/c and sound system settings.

Her two concerns were assuaged: Streaming FM through iHeart & cruise control. She is not a fan of adaptive cc. When we set cc it just worked. There was no option for changing the following distance (never saw options for adjusting the Drive Style: Mild, Medium, Spicy). Maybe that's because I didn't know where the Autonomy Drive settings were. When we came close to stopped traffic the R2 came to a slow stop (like I expected). We never followed another vehicle so maybe the following distance didn't come into play.

There was no hesitation with pedal stomp, pinned me in the seat and the seatbelt clamped down. Woo hoo.

Tested stereo. I paired my phone and played downloaded music (I listened to Destiny? by prog rock band Mystery youtube). The sound appeared to come from the front area only. I could not figure how to adjust balance or fader. What I did hear was pretty good.

Apparently I let off the accelerator too late coming to an intersection with stopped traffic. Not being used to the regen, I let off the accelerator and just as I was about to hit the brake, the R2 stopped and put a big red banner on the dash: BRAKING

Not sure about the climate control. I tried moving the vents around with the screen sliders but I only saw two vents, driver and passenger. Nothing for feet. I did find the seat cooling option. Nice!

I did have some difficulty with the rear window and hatchback buttons.

There is no question that we will order one. I want Borealis and Coastal Cloud interior so it'll be awhile. They had a nice sample of Borealis. It’s my wife’s favorite shade of purple. Besides that, I'm counting on random draws. Never owned an R1 and only reserved 4/18/26.

Question: can navigation dl maps like Google maps can? I depend on that when travelling because I lose cell service.

 

[bpwwer]

Question: can navigation dl maps like Google maps can? I depend on that when travelling because I lose cell service.

On our demo drive, we were told that maps and navigation would continue to work when no cell service was available.

In the Owner's Manual, it states that the maps are cellular based, but will continue to work outside of cell coverage at reduced detail (whatever that means).

I have that same question as we have a cabin that has no cell coverage and most areas around don't have any either. Hearing about real-world experiance with this would be great.

 

[Mos Eisley]

On our demo drive, we were told that maps and navigation would continue to work when no cell service was available.

In the Owner's Manual, it states that the maps are cellular based, but will continue to work outside of cell coverage at reduced detail (whatever that means).

I have that same question as we have a cabin that has no cell coverage and most areas around don't have any either. Hearing about real-world experiance with this would be great.

Rivian nav caches offline maps and GPS-based location tracking, but route planning, turn-by-turn guidance, and real-time charging/range estimates are disabled.

 

[Tom(myBoy)]

…but route planning, turn-by-turn guidance, and real-time charging/range estimates are disabled.

Is there no kind of “dead reckoning”? …aka “DR” i’d figured that these functions would switch to inertial.

Maybe I’m too new to modern nav systems, but ships have used DR (manual or inertial) as a primary or backup nav since the 1600s.

 

[AdamEk]

Yesterday, Friday, I checked for demo drive times and the website showed no openings available. I stopped at the Hudson, NH service center in hopes of at least looking at one. (I was grocery shopping just a couple of miles from there.)

There was one there, but someone else was getting the tour so I just took one photo from a distance.

When I went inside they said that the online demo drive reservation tool only shows openings for the current and next day. They were able to give me a demo drive reservation for Sunday noon (my Father's Day present!).

Now I'm considering where I want to drive. I don't want to mess it up, but I would like to crawl over some bumps.

If I had it for a day, I'd take it up to Sandwich Notch or Magalloway Road. Any suggestions close to the Hudson Service Center?

 

[Tom(myBoy)]

I went over to Walnut Creek, CA for a test drive.

First, the employees (which isn't a big deal I guess):

• Employees weren't bad, but they were not even good. I walked in and three of them were hanging out. One or two said "hello, welcome" but when I looked at each of them, none made eye contact and looked bored or busy.
• I had to approach the closest one to ask if they could help me with a test drive appointment. She immediately said: "you'll have to follow the specific route because there's very little time to test things and you have to come right back." That's the first thing. Then she reiterated how crucial it was to "come back fast." I felt completely rushed.
• I asked if I could possibly test the Autonomy+, that's something crucial for me, as I'm not willing to give up my Tesla's highway driving (I don't really need FSD, I just want the car to deal with traffic or really long drives on highways like it does on my Tesla). She said there's probably no time, and she's not even sure if it's included in the car. Again, so much focus on no time, when there's nobody in the store and two other bored people.
• I got into the car, and it was the most hurried overview. She seemed annoyed at any question I asked, and rushed me to set up mirrors and seat. So I just stopped asking questions because it was just making it worse.

i too did my 1st demo there. I had a little better experience than you, I was greeted by 3 different people just trying to make my way from the back door (where the parking structure is located) up to the front of the space where the R2 was. But yep, my drive prep etc, pretty much was the same as yours. SIGH

That said, one of the greeting crew had invited me to come back in with my questions and thots after my “15 min of (touching) fame” drive, so I did. And, we had an educational (for both of us) Q&A session.

My takeaways from it was that car is still “too new” and Rivian HQ has not ensured/done a very good job in educating their retail/showroom staff.

I remember coming across dealer education sales videos from the big three. Surely Rivian has something akin to this for showroom staff. for now, I quess, some are diving in and getting wet with it. Others are merely sitting beside the pool, alas.

 

[tivoboy]

On our demo drive, we were told that maps and navigation would continue to work when no cell service was available.

In the Owner's Manual, it states that the maps are cellular based, but will continue to work outside of cell coverage at reduced detail (whatever that means).

I have that same question as we have a cabin that has no cell coverage and most areas around don't have any either. Hearing about real-world experiance with this would be great.

There is almost certainly a loaded maps database that is frequently updated with SW updates, but the real time data, traffic of course, street closures, construction etc. are real time and require some connection.

 

[graytag]

When I went inside they said that the online demo drive reservation tool only shows openings for the current and next day.

If you have been invited to order, they are prioritizing those folks. I was able to book a week out.

My takeaways from it was that car is still “too new” and Rivian HQ has not ensured/done a very good job in educating their retail/showroom staff.

I was quite impressed with the guy- forgetting his name- who helped me in Dallas- Knox Henderson- really knew his stuff! I don't know how much of that is corporate training vs self-driven research?

 

[terracode]

I did the R2 demo drive on 06/19. The SUV appears well built with plenty of storage and an amazing amount leg room for front and rear passengers. It had good power and didn't drive really heavy. I did feel that the steering is too light when in sport mode. The steering feel cannot be independantly adjusted outside of the drive modes. Hopefully they will add a casual/normal/sport setting for steering. The turn signal sound is loud and boomy and not a pleasnt click-click. Overall really liked the R2.

 

[Ilovejunebugs]

Demo drive today.
Nice little suv, I can see it selling well. Felt like it has rivian DNA, which i was happy about.

For the life of me I could not get comfortable in the front seats, no matter how I adjusted them. I'm average height for a lady (5'4") and love the seats in my T so not sure if they just need time to "break in" or I'm the wrong size for the car.

Getting in/out the r2 felt the same height as my t when it's kneeled. Fine, but I had hoped for lower but realize they're balancing ground clearance for the off road crowd.
The ride was okay, not as nice as the t but not bad. I didn't feel much difference adjusting the ride feels.

Ac and ventilated seats worked well.

As others have said i also found the touch buttons for the front trunk, rear glass and rear lift gate are finicky (could be user error too).

I am admittedly not knowledgeable in any way about stereo systems but the system in the r2 sounded fine.

Acceleration was more than adequate.

I'm looking forward to next year when the standard version comes out with longer range and the 19" wheels as I'll be purchasing one for our business. Don't need a performance as I have that with my 26 quad r1t

 

[bpwwer]

Rivian nav caches offline maps and GPS-based location tracking, but route planning, turn-by-turn guidance, and real-time charging/range estimates are disabled.

There is almost certainly a loaded maps database that is frequently updated with SW updates, but the real time data, traffic of course, street closures, construction etc. are real time and require some connection.

I wouldn't expect real-time traffic/road condition data with no cellular, but our other vehicles with built-in nav can do route planning and turn-by-turn guidance without a cellular connection.

Given that they make a big deal of the R2 being off-road capable and an "Adventure" vehicle, to lose the ability to do route planning and range estimates when out adventuring seem absurd.

 

[mdpa]

Test drove the Rivian R2 yesterday in Gaithersburg, MD. My demo unit was half moon gray with the 20" AT tires. Acceleration was strong in sport mode. Suspension settings between comfort and sport were noticeable, and quality was good overall.

The service center was nicer than I expected and customer service was good. Could have went without being greeted by the pro trans flag, but that was my only complaint. Time will tell on Rivian's reliability and their ability to enhance Autonomy Plus.

 

[ChrisAttebery]

My wife and I have been talking about dipping our toes into the electric car world for a while. Neither of us like Teslas and my other option Lucid is having a lot of teething problems. When Rivian announced that the R2 was available for test drives I started checking for test drives appointments every morning. A appointment freed up in SF on Monday (6/15) so we made a 90 minute drive to their flagship store. Neither of us had ever driven an electric car before. We test drove an Catalina Cove R2 Performance with the 21" wheels. We were given a walk around then we headed outside. We were then given a 1 minute introduction about the interface and then the sales guy hopped out and said try the get it back in thirty minutes. We were both like “WTH? You’re not coming along?” We are not used to driving in SF so the rep pointed us in the direction of Golden Gate Park and asked that we be back in 30 minutes. After about 30 seconds we were ready to go and pulled out into traffic. I really liked the interior design, the dash, the amount of space inside, the visibility, the way that it drove, and of course the POWAH(!!!). Our biggest complaint was the turn signal sound and volume.

We were debating about which color to get and of course they only had two of the three that we were interested in. We asked if there was another store that had the third and they pointed us to Milpitas. So, we headed an hour South (and not too far off our way home). They had a R1S in the third color that we were able to look at. Then I realized that they had a Catalina Cove R2 with the 20” AT tires on it just sitting there. So, we asked if we could take that one out just to see if we’d like, or dislike, that option. The sales rep checked and it was free so we got another 30 minute test drive. This time me my wife drove for about 15 minutes and really enjoyed it other than needing some more practice to get used to the one pedal driving mode. I’d give her a couple of hours and she’d be fine. FWIW: The AT tires rode fine and were fairly quiet, but we already have an off road focused 4wd truck so I’m on the fence about the wheels. I put down a deposit to get on the wait list when we got home.

My wife really likes the Launch Green but the only one they had in SF was in the showroom and she really wanted to see it outdoors. So, I kept looking for test drives in our area. We wound up getting another appointment in Palo Alto on Friday at 1PM. We showed up about 15 minutes early. They had a Half Moon Bay R2 in the showroom and a Catalina Cove for the test drives. We sat in and played around with the car in the showroom and I found a couple issues. I tried the rear window and it took me several tries to get it to work using the button on the rear door. Then a few minutes later a woman who was shorter that me ran into the door. I'm not sure why but the door was only about 2/3 open. When our turn to test drive finally arrived we were escorted outside and handed a key since we had already driven one before. I noticed that the charge door was askew and tried to close it but it wouldn't budge. We got in and took a drive which was kind of a nightmare. The area is way too congested for a decent test drive and we were only given 20 minutes. On our drive the cupholder popped out on its own twice. IMHO a week old car shouldn't have these kind of problems. If I had driven the car in Palo Alto first I honestly don't think we would have scheduled another test drive.

So, now I'm on the fence.
Positives: I like the way it drove. I like the interior and how much space it has. Compared to our 2018 Explorer Platinum its a little smaller outside but feels much bigger inside. It also rides and handles better than the Explorer.
Negatives: There are a few features missing at launch. There are features that we use that are never going to be supported (Carplay, SirriusXM via satellite). The quality seems to be up in the air.

Last Monday I would have happily purchased one. Now I think I'm going to have to think long and hard about it.

For those of you in the Bay Area that are thinking about doing a test drive: Milpitas was the best place out of the three we tried to do a test drive. Its in a light industrial neighborhood and there wasn't very much traffic as long as we stayed off the main roads.

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