First impressions: R1S Gen 2 Tri Max Ascend, Ocean Coast + Driftwood

[SoCal Rob]

This past weekend, I took delivery of a new 2025 Rivian R1S Gen 2 Tri Max with Ascend interior in Ocean Coast + Driftwood. I hadn't seen any real world photos/videos of the new Driftwood color option, so I wanted to share a few pics and some early thoughts.

I also filmed a quick video tour if you're into that, with close-ups of the Ascend interior and Dynamic Glass Roof:



Here are my initial impressions after 48 hours of ownership:

Ascend interior

• The upgrades to the materials and colors are really classy. I love how much plastic they've ditched in favor of nicer materials.
• There's vegan leather covering all the door panels, the hinged pockets on each door, along the bottom of the center console area near the footwells, and on the steering wheel cover where the horn is.
• Instead of plastic seatback shells on the driver and passenger seat, they're now wrapped in a flecked heather gray fabric. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest upgrades to the interior with the Ascend package, because those seatbacks are such a large, visually-prominent surface for all your passengers and now they look far more premium.
• Driftwood pairs beautifully with the Ocean Coast vegan leather. It has a grayish-blue wood grain pattern running through it which looks quite elegant.
• All 3 rows have plaid stitching patterns on the seat backs and cushions, and there are plaid-colored accents on all floor mats, the sides of every headrest, on the back of the upper grab handles, and on the straps of the seatback pockets.
• There are bronze metallic accents (instead of silver) along the dash, center console, door cards, speaker grilles, and seat controls.
• The headliner is a nice suede-like material.
• My Tri Max configuration still has 3rd-row side compartments / cubbies. (VIN series 57XXX, manufactured Sep 2024)

Premium Audio

• Everyone else is right: music sounds muffled. I'm coming from a Tesla Model Y which had a noticeably wider soundstage.
• Vocals and mid/high frequency sounds get muddied together and lose their sense of separation.
• It feels like it just makes the cut for an acceptable sound system at this price range. It makes me wonder what the baseline, non-premium audio sounds like.
• In the EQ settings, I increased the sliders towards the right (1k, 2k, 4k, 8k) which helped bring back some clarity to the highs.

Dynamic Glass Roof

• When enabled, the glass turns opaque after a second or two while still letting a pleasing amount of light into the cabin. I could still clearly see raindrops sitting on the top of the glass, but otherwise, everything turns a bright, milky color and distant objects (buildings, trees) are no longer visible.
• When disabled, the glass is still fully transparent but just a smidge fainter or cloudier-looking than standard glass, though not distractingly so.

Ride quality, noise, vibrations, harshness

• Coming from a Tesla Model Y with the refreshed "comfort suspension" circa 2023, the R1S Gen 2 is a much smoother, more satisfying ride. I've set it to Standard height with Ride Feel set to Soft and it noticeably dampens all the bumps and potholes that I felt acutely with the stiff suspension in the Tesla.
• Tri Motor acceleration is outright incredible. Even coming from another EV which already had some pep to it, it took me by surprise just how quickly this thing can move, especially given its weight.
• When the wipers are running at high speed, you can feel a thunk in the accelerator pedal every second or two whenever the wipers reach their highest and lowest positions.
• When the AC starts up (example: it's 76°F outside, you get into the vehicle and the AC starts cooling to a set temp of 73°F on Auto), you can feel a low hum/vibration in your feet when they're resting in the driver floor/footwell area.

Build quality

• Really great overall, 9/10. Paint looks good, no egregious panel gaps.
• The driver door appears to rub slightly against the front fender panel as it rotates on its hinge (see the video above). I've seen others report similar door issues where the gap there is too tight.
• The black plastic molding on the lower exterior of the driver door is slightly crooked/misaligned and doesn't line up with the molding on the rear driver-side door.

Delivery experience

• I picked up the car at the Mahwah, NJ service center. My delivery appointment was originally scheduled for September 25, 2024 but was delayed twice, because the transporter was running several days late and they couldn't get an ETA from the truck driver. Everyone I interacted with was friendly and apologetic.
• Even though they were super busy trying to process deliveries, the staff were cool and let me install mud flaps right in the delivery garage area before I drove it out of the building. They lent me their screwdriver set so I could pop out a few push pins from the wheel wells. (Thanks Mahwah team!)
• The end-of-quarter rush is real: my guide told me they had 70(!) deliveries scheduled for today, September 30.

Let me know if you have any questions!

That’s a beautiful interior and a great video! Thank you for taking the time to make the video and share with us. I hope you enjoy your R1S as much as we enjoy ours!

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[amd]

For the Ascend interior, can you tell me what material are the 6 o'clock spokes of the steering wheel made out of? I'm curious if it's plastic or covered with vegan leather.

For my '23, it's plastic with minor-sharp edges. I wished it was a better material considering it's a high touch point.

Just checked, and the 6 o'clock spot is also plastic in the Ascend interior. You're right, it's a bit sharp there!

 

[ciderarchitect]

I am not swayed by many of the Ascend changes, but I wish my Gen 1 Ocean Coast had the Driftwood wood accents. That looks like a much better pairing with the light gray vegan leather over the dark ash.

 

[natcc99]

Just checked, and the 6 o'clock spot is also plastic in the Ascend interior. You're right, it's a bit sharp there!

Hello

Thanks for following up and sharing the photos. Yes, you witnessed the same thing in the same spot. Thankfully, I don't think it will cause any cuts or harm. I was just curious if the upgraded premium interior had any changes in that area. Sadly, it sounds like no.

However, it's still better than my ex-Tesla where the glue holding leather was falling off.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

This past weekend, I took delivery of a new 2025 Rivian R1S Gen 2 Tri Max with Ascend interior in Ocean Coast + Driftwood. I hadn't seen any real world photos/videos of the new Driftwood color option, so I wanted to share a few pics and some early thoughts.

I also filmed a quick video tour if you're into that, with close-ups of the Ascend interior and Dynamic Glass Roof:



Here are my initial impressions after 48 hours of ownership:

Ascend interior

• The upgrades to the materials and colors are really classy. I love how much plastic they've ditched in favor of nicer materials.
• There's vegan leather covering all the door panels, the hinged pockets on each door, along the bottom of the center console area near the footwells, and on the steering wheel cover where the horn is.
• Instead of plastic seatback shells on the driver and passenger seat, they're now wrapped in a flecked heather gray fabric. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest upgrades to the interior with the Ascend package, because those seatbacks are such a large, visually-prominent surface for all your passengers and now they look far more premium.
• Driftwood pairs beautifully with the Ocean Coast vegan leather. It has a grayish-blue wood grain pattern running through it which looks quite elegant.
• All 3 rows have plaid stitching patterns on the seat backs and cushions, and there are plaid-colored accents on all floor mats, the sides of every headrest, on the back of the upper grab handles, and on the straps of the seatback pockets.
• There are bronze metallic accents (instead of silver) along the dash, center console, door cards, speaker grilles, and seat controls.
• The headliner is a nice suede-like material.
• My Tri Max configuration still has 3rd-row side compartments / cubbies. (VIN series 57XXX, manufactured Sep 2024)

Premium Audio

• Everyone else is right: music sounds muffled. I'm coming from a Tesla Model Y which had a noticeably wider soundstage.
• Vocals and mid/high frequency sounds get muddied together and lose their sense of separation.
• It feels like it just makes the cut for an acceptable sound system at this price range. It makes me wonder what the baseline, non-premium audio sounds like.
• In the EQ settings, I increased the sliders towards the right (1k, 2k, 4k, 8k) which helped bring back some clarity to the highs.

Dynamic Glass Roof

• When enabled, the glass turns opaque after a second or two while still letting a pleasing amount of light into the cabin. I could still clearly see raindrops sitting on the top of the glass, but otherwise, everything turns a bright, milky color and distant objects (buildings, trees) are no longer visible.
• When disabled, the glass is still fully transparent but just a smidge fainter or cloudier-looking than standard glass, though not distractingly so.

Ride quality, noise, vibrations, harshness

• Coming from a Tesla Model Y with the refreshed "comfort suspension" circa 2023, the R1S Gen 2 is a much smoother, more satisfying ride. I've set it to Standard height with Ride Feel set to Soft and it noticeably dampens all the bumps and potholes that I felt acutely with the stiff suspension in the Tesla.
• Tri Motor acceleration is outright incredible. Even coming from another EV which already had some pep to it, it took me by surprise just how quickly this thing can move, especially given its weight.
• When the wipers are running at high speed, you can feel a thunk in the accelerator pedal every second or two whenever the wipers reach their highest and lowest positions.
• When the AC starts up (example: it's 76°F outside, you get into the vehicle and the AC starts cooling to a set temp of 73°F on Auto), you can feel a low hum/vibration in your feet when they're resting in the driver floor/footwell area.

Build quality

• Really great overall, 9/10. Paint looks good, no egregious panel gaps.
• The driver door appears to rub slightly against the front fender panel as it rotates on its hinge (see the video above). I've seen others report similar door issues where the gap there is too tight.
• The black plastic molding on the lower exterior of the driver door is slightly crooked/misaligned and doesn't line up with the molding on the rear driver-side door.

Delivery experience

• I picked up the car at the Mahwah, NJ service center. My delivery appointment was originally scheduled for September 25, 2024 but was delayed twice, because the transporter was running several days late and they couldn't get an ETA from the truck driver. Everyone I interacted with was friendly and apologetic.
• Even though they were super busy trying to process deliveries, the staff were cool and let me install mud flaps right in the delivery garage area before I drove it out of the building. They lent me their screwdriver set so I could pop out a few push pins from the wheel wells. (Thanks Mahwah team!)
• The end-of-quarter rush is real: my guide told me they had 70(!) deliveries scheduled for today, September 30.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Solid concise video, and great write-up.

 

[R1Tom]

I am not swayed by many of the Ascend changes, but I wish my Gen 1 Ocean Coast had the Driftwood wood accents. That looks like a much better pairing with the light gray vegan leather over the dark ash.

I think a fair amount of the "upgrade" is over the "downgrade" of base model trim on G2. It seems pretty similar to me with some color changes and what seems arguably less expensive to manufacturer seat stitching pattern. But I commend Rivian for pulling off the conveyed "premium" upsell on this with what had to be minimal cost.

 

[Ecupip]

That is the interior I would choose. STUNNING.

 

[FinancialCents]

This past weekend, I took delivery of a new 2025 Rivian R1S Gen 2 Tri Max with Ascend interior in Ocean Coast + Driftwood. I hadn't seen any real world photos/videos of the new Driftwood color option, so I wanted to share a few pics and some early thoughts.

I also filmed a quick video tour if you're into that, with close-ups of the Ascend interior and Dynamic Glass Roof:



Here are my initial impressions after 48 hours of ownership:

Ascend interior

• The upgrades to the materials and colors are really classy. I love how much plastic they've ditched in favor of nicer materials.
• There's vegan leather covering all the door panels, the hinged pockets on each door, along the bottom of the center console area near the footwells, and on the steering wheel cover where the horn is.
• Instead of plastic seatback shells on the driver and passenger seat, they're now wrapped in a flecked heather gray fabric. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest upgrades to the interior with the Ascend package, because those seatbacks are such a large, visually-prominent surface for all your passengers and now they look far more premium.
• Driftwood pairs beautifully with the Ocean Coast vegan leather. It has a grayish-blue wood grain pattern running through it which looks quite elegant.
• All 3 rows have plaid stitching patterns on the seat backs and cushions, and there are plaid-colored accents on all floor mats, the sides of every headrest, on the back of the upper grab handles, and on the straps of the seatback pockets.
• There are bronze metallic accents (instead of silver) along the dash, center console, door cards, speaker grilles, and seat controls.
• The headliner is a nice suede-like material.
• My Tri Max configuration still has 3rd-row side compartments / cubbies. (VIN series 57XXX, manufactured Sep 2024)

Premium Audio

• Everyone else is right: music sounds muffled. I'm coming from a Tesla Model Y which had a noticeably wider soundstage.
• Vocals and mid/high frequency sounds get muddied together and lose their sense of separation.
• It feels like it just makes the cut for an acceptable sound system at this price range. It makes me wonder what the baseline, non-premium audio sounds like.
• In the EQ settings, I increased the sliders towards the right (1k, 2k, 4k, 8k) which helped bring back some clarity to the highs.

Dynamic Glass Roof

• When enabled, the glass turns opaque after a second or two while still letting a pleasing amount of light into the cabin. I could still clearly see raindrops sitting on the top of the glass, but otherwise, everything turns a bright, milky color and distant objects (buildings, trees) are no longer visible.
• When disabled, the glass is still fully transparent but just a smidge fainter or cloudier-looking than standard glass, though not distractingly so.

Ride quality, noise, vibrations, harshness

• Coming from a Tesla Model Y with the refreshed "comfort suspension" circa 2023, the R1S Gen 2 is a much smoother, more satisfying ride. I've set it to Standard height with Ride Feel set to Soft and it noticeably dampens all the bumps and potholes that I felt acutely with the stiff suspension in the Tesla.
• Tri Motor acceleration is outright incredible. Even coming from another EV which already had some pep to it, it took me by surprise just how quickly this thing can move, especially given its weight.
• When the wipers are running at high speed, you can feel a thunk in the accelerator pedal every second or two whenever the wipers reach their highest and lowest positions.
• When the AC starts up (example: it's 76°F outside, you get into the vehicle and the AC starts cooling to a set temp of 73°F on Auto), you can feel a low hum/vibration in your feet when they're resting in the driver floor/footwell area.

Build quality

• Really great overall, 9/10. Paint looks good, no egregious panel gaps.
• The driver door appears to rub slightly against the front fender panel as it rotates on its hinge (see the video above). I've seen others report similar door issues where the gap there is too tight.
• The black plastic molding on the lower exterior of the driver door is slightly crooked/misaligned and doesn't line up with the molding on the rear driver-side door.

Delivery experience

• I picked up the car at the Mahwah, NJ service center. My delivery appointment was originally scheduled for September 25, 2024 but was delayed twice, because the transporter was running several days late and they couldn't get an ETA from the truck driver. Everyone I interacted with was friendly and apologetic.
• Even though they were super busy trying to process deliveries, the staff were cool and let me install mud flaps right in the delivery garage area before I drove it out of the building. They lent me their screwdriver set so I could pop out a few push pins from the wheel wells. (Thanks Mahwah team!)
• The end-of-quarter rush is real: my guide told me they had 70(!) deliveries scheduled for today, September 30.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for showing this. I wish Rivian would have made it clear about the changes to the adventure package in comparison to the Ascend. My VIN was 57XXX so it was after the pivot of interior changes. I’m still very happy with my R1S Adventure Performance Dual Max and probably would have not opted for the Tri or Quad because the copper finishes aren’t my thing, but the mid-production switches were a surprise. Enjoy your Tri-motor. That thing is a beast!

 

[Golfer04]

Thanks for showing this. I wish Rivian would have made it clear about the changes to the adventure package in comparison to the Ascend. My VIN was 57XXX so it was after the pivot of interior changes. I’m still very happy with my R1S Adventure Performance Dual Max and probably would have not opted for the Tri or Quad because the copper finishes aren’t my thing, but the mid-production switches were a surprise. Enjoy your Tri-motor. That thing is a beast!

Any early efficiency estimate?

 

[FinancialCents]

Any early efficiency estimate?

I’m so new at this. I have no idea how to find that?

 

[Arbitrator]

This past weekend, I took delivery of a new 2025 Rivian R1S Gen 2 Tri Max with Ascend interior in Ocean Coast + Driftwood. I hadn't seen any real world photos/videos of the new Driftwood color option, so I wanted to share a few pics and some early thoughts.

I also filmed a quick video tour if you're into that, with close-ups of the Ascend interior and Dynamic Glass Roof:



Here are my initial impressions after 48 hours of ownership:

Ascend interior

• The upgrades to the materials and colors are really classy. I love how much plastic they've ditched in favor of nicer materials.
• There's vegan leather covering all the door panels, the hinged pockets on each door, along the bottom of the center console area near the footwells, and on the steering wheel cover where the horn is.
• Instead of plastic seatback shells on the driver and passenger seat, they're now wrapped in a flecked heather gray fabric. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest upgrades to the interior with the Ascend package, because those seatbacks are such a large, visually-prominent surface for all your passengers and now they look far more premium.
• Driftwood pairs beautifully with the Ocean Coast vegan leather. It has a grayish-blue wood grain pattern running through it which looks quite elegant.
• All 3 rows have plaid stitching patterns on the seat backs and cushions, and there are plaid-colored accents on all floor mats, the sides of every headrest, on the back of the upper grab handles, and on the straps of the seatback pockets.
• There are bronze metallic accents (instead of silver) along the dash, center console, door cards, speaker grilles, and seat controls.
• The headliner is a nice suede-like material.
• My Tri Max configuration still has 3rd-row side compartments / cubbies. (VIN series 57XXX, manufactured Sep 2024)

Premium Audio

• Everyone else is right: music sounds muffled. I'm coming from a Tesla Model Y which had a noticeably wider soundstage.
• Vocals and mid/high frequency sounds get muddied together and lose their sense of separation.
• It feels like it just makes the cut for an acceptable sound system at this price range. It makes me wonder what the baseline, non-premium audio sounds like.
• In the EQ settings, I increased the sliders towards the right (1k, 2k, 4k, 8k) which helped bring back some clarity to the highs.

Dynamic Glass Roof

• When enabled, the glass turns opaque after a second or two while still letting a pleasing amount of light into the cabin. I could still clearly see raindrops sitting on the top of the glass, but otherwise, everything turns a bright, milky color and distant objects (buildings, trees) are no longer visible.
• When disabled, the glass is still fully transparent but just a smidge fainter or cloudier-looking than standard glass, though not distractingly so.

Ride quality, noise, vibrations, harshness

• Coming from a Tesla Model Y with the refreshed "comfort suspension" circa 2023, the R1S Gen 2 is a much smoother, more satisfying ride. I've set it to Standard height with Ride Feel set to Soft and it noticeably dampens all the bumps and potholes that I felt acutely with the stiff suspension in the Tesla.
• Tri Motor acceleration is outright incredible. Even coming from another EV which already had some pep to it, it took me by surprise just how quickly this thing can move, especially given its weight.
• When the wipers are running at high speed, you can feel a thunk in the accelerator pedal every second or two whenever the wipers reach their highest and lowest positions.
• When the AC starts up (example: it's 76°F outside, you get into the vehicle and the AC starts cooling to a set temp of 73°F on Auto), you can feel a low hum/vibration in your feet when they're resting in the driver floor/footwell area.

Build quality

• Really great overall, 9/10. Paint looks good, no egregious panel gaps.
• The driver door appears to rub slightly against the front fender panel as it rotates on its hinge (see the video above). I've seen others report similar door issues where the gap there is too tight.
• The black plastic molding on the lower exterior of the driver door is slightly crooked/misaligned and doesn't line up with the molding on the rear driver-side door.

Delivery experience

• I picked up the car at the Mahwah, NJ service center. My delivery appointment was originally scheduled for September 25, 2024 but was delayed twice, because the transporter was running several days late and they couldn't get an ETA from the truck driver. Everyone I interacted with was friendly and apologetic.
• Even though they were super busy trying to process deliveries, the staff were cool and let me install mud flaps right in the delivery garage area before I drove it out of the building. They lent me their screwdriver set so I could pop out a few push pins from the wheel wells. (Thanks Mahwah team!)
• The end-of-quarter rush is real: my guide told me they had 70(!) deliveries scheduled for today, September 30.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Excellent post with excellent video. I have the same configuration, except I have the Storm Blue exterior, coming with a delivery date of October 31. Did you lease the vehicle and if so, would you be willing to share the following information:? How much was your payment due on delivery? What is your monthly payment? What lease term did you select? What is the percentage residual value?

 

[Golfer04]

I’m so new at this. I have no idea how to find that?

It is on the center screen. Mi/kw on trip A or B
No big deal if you don't see it. Was just curious

 

[FinancialCents]

It is on the center screen. Mi/kw on trip A or B
No big deal if you don't see it. Was just curious

I’m averaging 2.5-3.0 miles/kWh.

The trip A said 0.27 miles/kWh. That didn’t make sense. I reset it and will be doing a 120 mile round trip to see what it says tomorrow.

 

[Golfer04]

I’m averaging 2.5-3.0 miles/kWh.

The trip A said 0.27 miles/kWh. That didn’t make sense. I reset it and will be doing a 120 mile round trip to see what it says tomorrow.

You have to use trip A (or B) to get accurate information. The 15 minute thing isn't accurate (or mine isn't). If you reset trip A and drive for 15 minutes and then compare my numbers never matched.

 

[Uncle Dude]

Nice report! The interior looks premium, let us know what they say about the door.

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