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Can R1T Take Me There?

Riventures

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I think it may be asking too much of it :(

what do you think?
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Blueassassin

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Tire size and compound is going to be our biggest disadvantage. Trouble is the loss in range by lifting and adding bigger Offroad tires is going to destroy the range and cab noise of the truck. most of that trail the R1T would have no problem with but there are some places where you will have to stack rocks and use the mattrax it looks like to get through them in an R1T. The R1S has the advantage of shorter wheel base and would be better in some of those high center situations.
 

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I did lockhart basin a few years ago in a stock jeep jk rubicon and there were a couple challenging spots but in this video the trail looks to be in worse condition because of the rain. I think a rivian can do it but the driver should have trail driving experience, a good spotter and accept that the skid plates will probably be used a few times. On trails like this the R1S would probably have an easier time than the R1T due to length. There is charging in Monticello and should be a station in Moab soon so range shouldn't be a problem.
 
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Riventures

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I think both of you have good points. If the RAM PowerWagon can make it through with its very long wheelbase, the R1T should be able to as well.

The issues may certainly be tires, range, underside protection, and vulnerability of the air suspension. The PowerWagon appears to be on at least 37" tires (I am not sure if it is lifted at all), has rock sliders (as do all the Jeeps in the video). I am not sure what tires were on the PowerWagon, but certainly more suited than the R1 tires.

Even the Jeeps with their smaller fuel tanks could not really go for 70 miles under those conditions. I cannot even calculate how those conditions might impact electric range. Vehicle-to-vehicle charging would be a nice option to have under those conditions. If there isn't enough range left, one can send one of the R1s out for charging, come back to charge the remaining R1 potentially.

I would not have the courage to go on such trails just with an R1 frankly, I would want some Jeeps around me :angel: The point of the video, for me, is that you really cannot know in advance what conditions you will face when going off-roading. One may not target such hardcore trails, but situations change and can become far more challenging than planned.
 

Blueassassin

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yes the trails can change week to week depending on the trail some people don't understand that it seems. There was a good trail in AZ called box canyon in the canyon you could see the water marks on the sides of the canyons where the water would get up to 6 feet high. lots of warnings as well about not going in that trail if there was any rain around or in the forecast.
 

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Part of the excitement of running trails is not knowing exactly what you might encounter, but it's also important to be prepared for situations and be willing to turn around if it's worse than you're comfortable with (and check the weather forecast!)

I think tow charging is the most straightforward way of dealing with running out of charge as long as the road is suitable. Just get towed a few miles in the right direction and a lot of miles can be added. The model 3 video that someone recently posted was a good example, getting towed 6 miles added around 40 miles of range.
 

R_1_T

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yes the trails can change week to week depending on the trail some people don't understand that it seems. There was a good trail in AZ called box canyon in the canyon you could see the water marks on the sides of the canyons where the water would get up to 6 feet high. lots of warnings as well about not going in that trail if there was any rain around or in the forecast.
It's never the same trail twice...
This holds true for most every trail due to erosion, rocks being kicked out of place, etc.
 

Blueassassin

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It's never the same trail twice...
This holds true for most every trail due to erosion, rocks being kicked out of place, etc.
the manual says never flat tow so im wondering if we will be able to do this in an emergency.
 

JeremyP

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the manual says never flat tow so im wondering if we will be able to do this in an emergency.
Im pretty sure the flat towing in the manual refers to long distance towing behind something like a motorhome.

Getting towed while using regen is no different than using regen while going down hill to recuperate energy. The regen setting would probably have to be turned down to not put too much load on the vehicle towing it. They towed the trucks in 'the long way up' to recharge the batteries. They got towed out and back but they should have just gotten towed out in the direction they needed to go and then continued on.
 

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Doesn't look like they aired down much at all or any. In my H3 I'll drop down to 12psi if I need the grip. It'll very interesting to see what pressures the R1 vehicles will like.
 

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I think it may be asking too much of it :(
Might be helpful to know why you think that. I'm not an experienced off-roader but I've had a test drive. IMO, if it can clear it, it can handle it. The immediate torque and 4-motor handling over rocks is a trip.
 

Pherdnut

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Doesn't look like they aired down much at all or any. In my H3 I'll drop down to 12psi if I need the grip. It'll very interesting to see what pressures the R1 vehicles will like.
Well, R1s are really heavy for their size compared to ICE so maybe not as much as you'd expect to need to. They definitely aired down for sand at Rebelle though.
 
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Riventures

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Might be helpful to know why you think that. I'm not an experienced off-roader but I've had a test drive. IMO, if it can clear it, it can handle it. The immediate torque and 4-motor handling over rocks is a trip.
Good question. The 4 motors and electronically controlled suspension, the chassis design are tremendous, opens up whole new capabilities. However, I also think the R1 platform is too fragile for the specific environment depicted in that video.

There aren't any rocksliders on the R1, but probably can be added (by clever welding) to the underbody shield of the off-road package, although this is an assumption. The tires, the Pirellis, I have no doubts will not last long in the specific situation of that video, and won't have enough traction through the muddy and softer bits. Also, the diameter of the tires at 34" I suspect will struggle through some of the bigger boulders that encountered. The biggest issue in my mind are the electronics, hydraulics and the air suspension. They will take too many hits and fail, particularly the air springs. And I certainly hope that they have strengthened the lower control arms and drive shafts. R1 has very long drive shafts, which is actually good for performance but also makes it vulnerable to unintended abuse.

This is all speculation obviously, and it will be a few years and adventures before any of us know for sure how far we can take the R1 platform. I am so hopeful, but cautious. I sincerely believe the R1 is a game-changer in so many ways, and even I cannot use it to its maximum potential, I do not want any perceived or real drawbacks to it. Feelings vs. Logic... Feelings win, however irrational they may be :p
 
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Riventures

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Just to add one more point about potential deficiencies of R1:

If you have been following the Rebelle Rally, you'll notice that the vehicle weight did come into issue. A traditional ICE off-roader, generally, is a bit lighter nowadays, maybe by 500-800 lbs. That is significant in some situations, especially on soft surfaces like mud and sand dunes.

In relation, bigger tires are not just about going over large rocks or boulders. They are also about being able to float across soft surfaces. The larger the tire, the more floatation you have, and sometimes that makes a world of difference. I am not sure if it would have made a difference for the R1T in the Rallye, only the attendees can tell. As a general rule, the heavier your off-roader is, the bigger tire you should have, but that's just me.

These are some of the reasons why the factory-warranteed 37" tire/suspension package of the G3 Raptor is such a big deal amongst overlanders. However, surprisingly none of the Rebelle entrants chose to use that platform, so I must be missing something in the picture :p
 

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I think determining the level of abuse the truck can take is going to require customers abusing it post defacto launch. All I can say about it is that the arms certainly look like they can take a hit. Also looks like it would take some effort to land hits on the air shocks but I'm sure off roaders are up to the challenge.

From a design-priority standpoint, I think they were definitely willing to make some tradeoffs in favor of the truck being strong on and off road. The aero factor of having larger wheel wells for instance. Conversely the brakes needed for propelling a truck this heavy from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds probably capped the minimum wheel size at 20" which limits sidewall.

My non-expert opinion is that there will be some things this truck can handle off road that no ice vehicle could and some things it can't do that a highly specialized ICE off roader could. It will be fun to see what kinds of mods people are applying to it a year from now. I hope they wrote the slippage/traction control software with larger wheel mods in mind.
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