HaveBlue
Well-Known Member
Yesterday a I ran my R1S in sport mode, possibly the lowest setting but I don't recall what it chose. Coming out hard on a tight, banked corner I opened up the throttle. The front end felt like it was going to lift the front wheels and it became go cart twitchy. The suspension was very hard and bouncy causing the front end to crash over any imperfections. On the freeway it would pitch and bounce pretty bad. I suspect at high speed it would lose control. Maximum cornering power and control is probably achieved at a taller suspension setting where the body won't get pitched around. Handling feel was very direct and communicative. It manages to hide its 7000lb bulk pretty well. The 22s are very tight and firm which communicates to the driver. There is no vagueness in the handling. There's no mushy Chevy steering or brakes for sure. The caster angle feels appropriate and stable. The king pin angle and overall geometry seems to keep the camber perfect in the corners and that low center of gravity and low roll center handles like a sports car. I haven't done any threshold stops but the brakes feel solid. Eventually I'd have to test compare them to the BMW. BMW and Porsche would be the measurement bar for street brakes.
It feels lighter and more nimble than our gx470. The GX has 33" AT tires and a lift along with a soft suspension and 140k of wear both towing and hard 4wheeling. It is predictable in turns but low cornering power and a high center of gravity. The R1S will walk away from it on any pavement scenario up to 112mph. Despite the GX driving like a leather couch on the road the R1 has a much better suspension to soak up bumps. This however when the R1 also has the AT 20s. With the 22s, the ride is firmer like a sports car. Tires make an enormous difference in ride. I'm not sure of the GX's max speed. It's gone to 100 but it's just not an appropriate vehicle for that. It's a measurement bar in an off road test. That will be interesting. Without body armor, the R1 will be limited on where I take it for sure. It's so pretty (and expensive, lol) Again tires make a difference here so I'd take that into consideration and airing down is a huge factor in off road traction.
It's going to out accelerate my 4.5s 0-60 Audi and the handling is competent enough not to fall behind in the turns because of that. The big Audi is the same overall length/width as the R1S but obviously much lower and lighter. On the open highway the Audi doesn't begin to wake up until after 80mph and it feels rock solid at speeds up to 150. The R1 can't be tested for high speed stability.
The little BMW we have still has the best handling of them all. Small and light is hard to beat with BMWs suspension tuning. I used to have an Rx7 which was also a super fun handling car. The lowest hp of the bunch but still will eventually catch the Rivian as they can exceed 112mph. The old BMW is a convertible so it's a loud noisy machine with wind coming in everywhere and more rattles than the rest. I'm hard pressed to hear other cars around me in the R1 and have to look more. Hey about a drag race against the BMW while towing a BMW?
I had a Lexus IS350 which is also a compact sports car. The R1 handles so much better than that. The IS understeered horribly and was scary in high speed turns. I was never sure what that suspension was going to do.
The R1 does lots of things really well. I'm impressed.
It feels lighter and more nimble than our gx470. The GX has 33" AT tires and a lift along with a soft suspension and 140k of wear both towing and hard 4wheeling. It is predictable in turns but low cornering power and a high center of gravity. The R1S will walk away from it on any pavement scenario up to 112mph. Despite the GX driving like a leather couch on the road the R1 has a much better suspension to soak up bumps. This however when the R1 also has the AT 20s. With the 22s, the ride is firmer like a sports car. Tires make an enormous difference in ride. I'm not sure of the GX's max speed. It's gone to 100 but it's just not an appropriate vehicle for that. It's a measurement bar in an off road test. That will be interesting. Without body armor, the R1 will be limited on where I take it for sure. It's so pretty (and expensive, lol) Again tires make a difference here so I'd take that into consideration and airing down is a huge factor in off road traction.
It's going to out accelerate my 4.5s 0-60 Audi and the handling is competent enough not to fall behind in the turns because of that. The big Audi is the same overall length/width as the R1S but obviously much lower and lighter. On the open highway the Audi doesn't begin to wake up until after 80mph and it feels rock solid at speeds up to 150. The R1 can't be tested for high speed stability.
The little BMW we have still has the best handling of them all. Small and light is hard to beat with BMWs suspension tuning. I used to have an Rx7 which was also a super fun handling car. The lowest hp of the bunch but still will eventually catch the Rivian as they can exceed 112mph. The old BMW is a convertible so it's a loud noisy machine with wind coming in everywhere and more rattles than the rest. I'm hard pressed to hear other cars around me in the R1 and have to look more. Hey about a drag race against the BMW while towing a BMW?
I had a Lexus IS350 which is also a compact sports car. The R1 handles so much better than that. The IS understeered horribly and was scary in high speed turns. I was never sure what that suspension was going to do.
The R1 does lots of things really well. I'm impressed.
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