R1S spotted off-road getting muddy in Mesa, CO

[kanundrum]

And on the road footage:

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[JeremyP]

I figured they would still be in the area; a friend spotted them driving through Grand Junction again this morning.

 

[Notaevfan]

Seems like all the off-road videos show very little compression in the suspension over terrain. If they allowed the suspension to compress, more tires would maintain contact and I would think the passengers would be more comfortable. That being said, I've never been into rock crawling so what do I know.

 

[AdamsFan1983]

And on the road footage:

....because nothing says I love nature like crushing it under 3 tons of chilewhich and vegan leather...

...I jest.

 

[Hilbe]

I'm watching those rims thinking they're going to get rock rash.

 

[JeremyP]

Are those the 21" wheels? I don't worry about rock rash on my wheels too much, I just don't like sidewall cuts. I assume by mesa they mean the grand mesa national forest, even though there is a town called Mesa on the way up there.

 

[evo7]

Colorado is my neck of the woods... as someone who owns a lifted 4Runner, a Jeep, and a few RZRs - I feel like that was more of a struggle to get thru that shallow water/mud than it should have been. In my Jeep/4Runner, both would have rolled through that while looking totally comfortable and normal.

There is a chance it could be the driver (not an experienced off road wheeler), I mean they needed someone outside of the vehicle guiding them for that, it seemed pretty moderate. Or the video could be deceiving, that terrain may be a lot more rugged than it looks on video, which I am thinking is the case.

That said, it's still nice to see them doing a lot of off road testing and I will still be owning an R1S (hopefully soon). I do not plan on beating up my $80K luxury SUV off road but will definitely be taking it on light trails and camping trips.

 

[JeremyP]

I think it may be a bit more difficult to maintain a steady speed off-road in an ev. With an engine running it is always trying to pull the vehicle forward, obviously much more so with a manual transmission but still to some degree with an automatic so the vehicle will more likely keep moving forward. Also with an automatic you can drive two footed through tricky obstacles, keeping the throttle down a bit while modulating the brake to let the vehicle move forward more steadily. Depending on how responsive the pedal is and how much regen there is, it could be more difficult to maintain steady speed in the ev. A helpful technique is to brace the side of your foot against the firewall and roll your foot onto the throttle so your foot can stay steady when you hit a bump.
Hopefully Rivian will have a crawl mode that makes it easier to be smooth through the rocks.

 

[captainquez]

And on the road footage:

Anyone happen to know the trail they’re on?

 

[zmachine]

If I would go offroad a lot I would put tires with bigger tread, they look a bit slippery on wet.

 

[crashmtb]

If I would go offroad a lot I would put tires with bigger tread, they look a bit slippery on wet.

All-terrain tires are generally not great in mud.

 

[Cactus]

evo7-
Agree on jeep wrangler getting thru those rocks without much problem, but probably with 35" tires and a 2.5" to 3" lift.

 

[cohall]

Are those the 21" wheels? I don't worry about rock rash on my wheels too much, I just don't like sidewall cuts.

They look like the R1T 20s to my eye.

 

[Gator42]

And on the road footage:

Looks like me in my Defender running in front of them...

 

[WylieD]

Given that this R1S is apparently stock, running stock tires, and that this is a test vehicle Rivian probably does not want to risk hors de combat (which may explain the spotter), it appears to perform credibly.

In my (limited) off-road experience, the trails are steeper, the mud deeper, the rocks bigger, and my off-road skills greater when viewed from the driver's seat of my own vehicle. So I can't be critical.

It's fun to speculate whether some owners will make serious mods for serious off-road use.

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