thrillseeker1234
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- Jul 21, 2026
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- Los Angeles, CA
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I recently test drove the Rivian R2 for the fourth time. Each of my first three drives was capped at 30 minutes, but this last one gave me 45 minutes on a weekday, finally enough time to try the suspension out properly on the highway. That felt like enough seat time to actually write a real review.
Background: Some context on what I value in a car. I owned Teslas for five years: a 2021 Model 3 Performance, a 2023 Model Y Long Range (lease), and a 2021 Model Y Long Range (purchased) — until a car accident that wasn't my fault totaled the last one earlier this year. I'm also an avid motorsport enthusiast. I've paid tens of thousands of dollars for GT-class racing training in Europe (Porsche GT3 Cup, specifically), so I have a genuine love of driving and a fairly sensitive feel for suspension and handling. Because of that, features like Tesla's FSD or Rivian's equivalent don't really appeal to me. In my opinion, that kind of technology makes people lazy, disconnects them from the driving experience, and will eventually erode basic driving skill. It's a nice-to-have for me, not a must-have.
Overall verdict: I love it. A lot more than I expected to. The exterior and interior are on a different level than Tesla's 3 and Y. I appreciated Tesla's minimalist design language when I first bought in, but years of watching Elon's relentless cost-cutting soured that impression. It started to feel like I was paying a premium for build quality and design choices that didn't line up, while padding his pocket. Rivian's cabin just feels alive by comparison. I especially like that critical information — speed, nav, blind-spot camera feed — sits directly in front of me, instead of requiring a 2-3 second glance to the corner of the center screen. That's a meaningful safety difference; 2-3 seconds with your eyes off the road is a long time.
Suspension: This is where the R2 blew past my expectations. The semi-active suspension on the Launch Performance Edition impressed me across every road condition I threw at it: imperfections, lane changes, cornering, all of it. I won't need to think about a suspension upgrade the way I did with every Tesla I owned. Tesla's suspension tuning was consistently underwhelming, and I'm honestly surprised the market gave it a pass for so long.
Wind noise: Coming from Tesla, I expected some wind noise on the highway with no music playing. Not with the R2 — at 70 mph, I barely heard anything. Well done there.
Audio quality: I listen to a lot of EDM, and I DJ and produce music myself, so my ears are more critical than the average listener's, though I wouldn't call myself an audiophile or audio engineer. The R2's sound system is a bit lacking in punchy, clean bass and mids — no amount of EQ tweaking across frequencies fully solved it. It's not a bad system by any means, but it has room to improve. I'd genuinely pay extra for a better audio package if Rivian offered one.
Nitpicks: The R2 isn't perfect, though the gaps are small and could plausibly be addressed through future software updates. I'd like the option to run a lighter steering feel in Comfort mode and a heavier, more planted feel at highway speed or in Sport mode, similar to what BMW offers — it would add a real sense of stability at speed. I'd also love to see Rivian offer a heads-up display like BMW's; it would be a great differentiator against Tesla.
That's everything for now. Thanks for reading.
Background: Some context on what I value in a car. I owned Teslas for five years: a 2021 Model 3 Performance, a 2023 Model Y Long Range (lease), and a 2021 Model Y Long Range (purchased) — until a car accident that wasn't my fault totaled the last one earlier this year. I'm also an avid motorsport enthusiast. I've paid tens of thousands of dollars for GT-class racing training in Europe (Porsche GT3 Cup, specifically), so I have a genuine love of driving and a fairly sensitive feel for suspension and handling. Because of that, features like Tesla's FSD or Rivian's equivalent don't really appeal to me. In my opinion, that kind of technology makes people lazy, disconnects them from the driving experience, and will eventually erode basic driving skill. It's a nice-to-have for me, not a must-have.
Overall verdict: I love it. A lot more than I expected to. The exterior and interior are on a different level than Tesla's 3 and Y. I appreciated Tesla's minimalist design language when I first bought in, but years of watching Elon's relentless cost-cutting soured that impression. It started to feel like I was paying a premium for build quality and design choices that didn't line up, while padding his pocket. Rivian's cabin just feels alive by comparison. I especially like that critical information — speed, nav, blind-spot camera feed — sits directly in front of me, instead of requiring a 2-3 second glance to the corner of the center screen. That's a meaningful safety difference; 2-3 seconds with your eyes off the road is a long time.
Suspension: This is where the R2 blew past my expectations. The semi-active suspension on the Launch Performance Edition impressed me across every road condition I threw at it: imperfections, lane changes, cornering, all of it. I won't need to think about a suspension upgrade the way I did with every Tesla I owned. Tesla's suspension tuning was consistently underwhelming, and I'm honestly surprised the market gave it a pass for so long.
Wind noise: Coming from Tesla, I expected some wind noise on the highway with no music playing. Not with the R2 — at 70 mph, I barely heard anything. Well done there.
Audio quality: I listen to a lot of EDM, and I DJ and produce music myself, so my ears are more critical than the average listener's, though I wouldn't call myself an audiophile or audio engineer. The R2's sound system is a bit lacking in punchy, clean bass and mids — no amount of EQ tweaking across frequencies fully solved it. It's not a bad system by any means, but it has room to improve. I'd genuinely pay extra for a better audio package if Rivian offered one.
Nitpicks: The R2 isn't perfect, though the gaps are small and could plausibly be addressed through future software updates. I'd like the option to run a lighter steering feel in Comfort mode and a heavier, more planted feel at highway speed or in Sport mode, similar to what BMW offers — it would add a real sense of stability at speed. I'd also love to see Rivian offer a heads-up display like BMW's; it would be a great differentiator against Tesla.
That's everything for now. Thanks for reading.
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