Gen1 Quad From a Gen2 Owner’s Perspective

[mpshizzle]

For a bit of context here, this is not my first experience with a G1 Quad (You can read about that here). I just had the opportunity to spend some time in a G1 again, and my thoughts have evolved a bit, and I noticed a few different. So I figured I’d post my observations - perhaps it can help some of you debating between G1 and G2 purchases.


I’ve had my G2 R1S Dual Max for about 5 months now, and have put on just under 8,000 miles. I had to take it in for service on the suspension system (details here). While it was in, I had a loaner R1T Launch Edition named BlooBerry (Shout out to the SLC Senior Service Tech for the top notch naming on their loaners). My perspective was a bit different now, having spent a significant amount of time behind the wheel of my G2. The things that stood out to me were very different from last time.

My First day with BlooBerry


Things That I Loved:

• POWER - The quad’s oomph is addicting!
• Meridian Sound System - Noticeably better clarity and a wider sound stage than G2 premium. That said, the G2 system is still quite good and does not deserve the hate it gets on here. To my ear it’s 85-90% of the quality of the meridian system. (This is with Apple Music, Sound Check off)
• Infotainment seemed generally slightly faster than my G2. Not a huge difference. Still laggy at times to be sure. But seemed slightly faster. I’m guessing because it’s the same chipset as G2, but with less workload? .51 came in while I had the truck and seemed to help quite a bit
• The heater is SILENT! The G2 heat pump can be kinda rumbly and loud. That said, .51 came in while in the service center and so far that seems to have reduced the rumbliness quite a bit. Funny side note - I was a bit surprised to find that some mornings the G1 smells like a space heater.. Makes sense, because that’s exactly what it is.

Interesting Quirks and Differences:

• For the first couple of days I found myself reaching for a button that didn’t exist when I was trying to get out. It felt like such a long extra reach to get all the way to the door release (NBD but kinda funny). I had multiple passengers do the same.
• I kept finding myself trying to pull the drivers stock towards me to turn on Highway Assist. Not totally sure whey they felt they needed to change this. Maybe trying to prevent false engagements?
• Driver + is mentioned a few times in the infotainment system in G1, but never in G2. All of the driver assistance features in G2 are called “Rivian Autonomy Platform” instead. This can be seen in the software update screen as well as the Driver Assistance menu
• Both the seatbelt chime and turn signal sounds have a high noise floor behind them on G1. I suspect this may be why they changed both of those sounds.
• Up to this point, Rivian has been very good at adding the same features to both generations, where hardware allows. But I’m curious why they didn’t add the smart turn signals to G1.. It already does that when you’re in highway assist. There may be some more technical underlying reason, but seem within the realm of possibility to do on G1.
• Turn signal syncing is different. On both Generations the turn signal arrow shows 2-3 frames before the turn signal light on the little unreal engine visual. On G1 the audible click is in sync with the arrow, on G2 it’s in sync with the little R1 visual

Things That I Missed:

• SILENCE - That G1 Quad felt SO LOUD compared to my R1S. The biggest offender here was the AT tires. They sure looked cool but they were very noisy. Anything over 20MPH or so and I just heard tons of tire noise (and felt it through the steering, too). The suspension and drive train components were also a bit noisy by comparison. Clunks on acceleration/deceleration from the motors, tiny squeals and clunks from the suspension, etc. The tires, by far, were the loudest part though.
• Automatic clutch disconnect - At one point I just about soiled myself because I forgot I was in conserve mode and had almost no power. Much nicer to have the automatic connect/disconnect like dual and Gen 2 Tri
• The Cameras - camera quality aside, one issue I had with the blind spot cameras is that it felt like they were pointed at the ground. Quality is serviceable, but the aiming is what got me.
• Autonomy - Highway assist used to be about the same on both, but G2 has improved SIGNIFICANTLY since I got it. Much more stable in the lane, especially keeping it tight around corners. I missed lane change on demand as well. All that said, G1 highway assist is still not bad by any means. Interestingly though, there was one specific case where G1 consistently outperformed G2. Here in Utah our HOV lanes have double lines that are very weirdly spaced apart. The G1 more consistently was able to stay centered in the lane, and ignore the outer of the double lines. My G2 will quite often read the outer of the lines as the edge of the lane and put the right tire on the inner line. (see below)
• Diver Screen Visuals - like the autonomy they used to be more ore less the same between the 2 generations, just with G2 showing the glitchy, jumpy mess in 360 degrees. But like the autonomy this has now been VASTLY improved, both in stability and accuracy. I was missing that for sure.

R1T vs R1S Notes:

• I knew going in that the R1T is a bit longer, and thus has a wider turning circle. What I didn’t realize is how big of a difference that makes. I was SHOCKED how much less maneuverable the R1T feels in a parking lot. Still better than something like an F-150, though. I’ve had multiple passengers comment on how the R1S turns WAYY tighter than a vehicle that size has any right to turn. But not so for R1T
• Dolby Atmos is more fun in the R1T. The rear channel is very close behind you, and thus very noticeable. In R1S it feels so far away because it’s like 6ft back and behind 2 rows of seats
• The gear guard cable actuator is loud! When locking/unlocking I thought something was wrong with the gear tunnel latch. (Gear tunnel is VERY cool)

So all told.. I loved my time with BlooBerry. VERY VERY fun to drive. But I was really happy to get Baymax back.



…. And I’m anxiously awaiting the promised post purchase upgrade to dual performance cause… Yeah… that was a reality check getting back into my Dual Max lol


The weirdly spaced HOV lines on I-15 in Utah:

BlooBerry needed the surround view camera alignment fixed on the left side:

-----EDIT------
Spending a little more time back in my own vehicle, I feel like I need to ammend my comment about the rumbly gen 2 heat pump vs the silent gen 1 heater.

As part of my SC appointment, they moved the HVAC refrigerant lines so they are no longer in contact with the bulkhead. Details HERE. But now the heat pump is almost inaudible. If you turn off the radio you can barely hear it in the background. You can still very much feel it in the steering wheel and pedals. But very, very much less noise on the inside of the cabin. So it appears the rumbliness is not "normal" for gen 2. Though enough people have complained about it that I suspect it's a relatively widespread issue.

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[ShadowFx]

Thanks, nice write up.

 

[meshugy]

I have a 2023 Quad with AT20s and recently demo’d a 2025 dual. I didn’t notice any differences in cabin , tire, and/or engine noise. Although, you’ve been driving a 2022 Launch Edition which lacks a significant number of improvements in noise dampening and suspension that the later 2023/24s have. I think those 2022 models are a lot quirkier. The later Quads are more like Gen 1.5, with lots of Gen 2 improvements already implemented save for the better cameras, lights, and ADAS.

 

[fxstein]

Awesome write up!

Being on a later build Gen 1 R1T Quad Adventure, there are a few more things that improved from your list. Blind spot cameras are great for me. Actually better than the ones on the 2024 Model Y we also have.

Noise is definitely a tire thing, recently put on brand new 20” OEM Pirellis and it was so much quieter. Then I also got a set of 20” Nokian winter tires and they are even quieter.
Don’t mind the tire noise to begin with but definitely a significant difference.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. Great as a reference point!

 

[mpshizzle]

I have a 2023 Quad with AT20s and recently demo’d a 2025 dual. I didn’t notice any differences in cabin , tire, and/or engine noise. Although, you’ve been driving a 2022 Launch Edition which lacks a significant number of improvements in noise dampening and suspension that the later 2023/24s have. I think those 2022 models are a lot quirkier. The later Quads are more like Gen 1.5, with lots of Gen 2 improvements already implemented save for the better cameras, lights, and ADAS.

Very well could be the case of the vehicle itself having worse sound dampening. I was almost fooled into thinking the motors were quieter than than the dual, just because the tires ovepowered the motor noise

Noise is definitely a tire thing, recently put on brand new 20” OEM Pirellis and it was so much quieter. Then I also got a set of 20” Nokian winter tires and they are even quieter.
Don’t mind the tire noise to begin with but definitely a significant difference.

I'm actually very curious to drive a Gen 2 with the ATs to compare noise... Curious how much of it is I'm just not used to dailying ATs and how much of it is poor sound dampening on the LE

 

[KRG]

Absolutely awesome comparison! Thank you for sharing. I swapped the tires on mine, which cured some of the tire noise, but I’m sure the Gen 2 is still more quiet. I too like the auto connect/disconnect of the rear motor.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Huge thanks for the post. I would suggest copying it over to the Rivian Reddit. Lot's of owners/potential owners would appreciate the analysis.

A good deal of my qualms with my Jan '23 built R1T's suspension were resolved with a retrofit Gen 2 front sub frame, and new jounce lines. Something your loaner would have lacked. It's difficult to broad stroke all Gen 1 vehicles because there were so many changes made to the platform over it's 3 year run.

Still, very insightful and great analysis!

 

[KRG]

Huge thanks for the post. I would suggest copying it over to the Rivian Reddit. Lot's of owners/potential owners would appreciate the analysis.

A good deal of my qualms with my Jan '23 built R1T's suspension were resolved with a retrofit Gen 2 front sub frame, and new jounce lines. Something your loaner would have lacked. It's difficult to broad stroke all Gen 1 vehicles because there were so many changes made to the platform over it's 3 year run.

Still, very insightful and great analysis!

I’ve heard that. I don’t know what refinements were made before I bought mine but my Feb 2024 build has a dead silent suspension.

 

[runwithscissors]

G1 pricing was great & G2 pricing stinks. No way I'd upgrade at this point and will wait for G3/G4 to see what improvements they can make. G2 just doesn't offer anything to me that could justify the upgrade and I'd never go from a Quad to Dual.

 

[DayTripping]

For a bit of context here, this is not my first experience with a G1 Quad (You can read about that here). I just had the opportunity to spend some time in a G1 again, and my thoughts have evolved a bit, and I noticed a few different. So I figured I’d post my observations - perhaps it can help some of you debating between G1 and G2 purchases.

Nice write up and I think a lot of fair points.

I have a 2023 Quad with AT20s and recently demo’d a 2025 dual. I didn’t notice any differences in cabin , tire, and/or engine noise. Although, you’ve been driving a 2022 Launch Edition which lacks a significant number of improvements in noise dampening and suspension that the later 2023/24s have. I think those 2022 models are a lot quirkier. The later Quads are more like Gen 1.5, with lots of Gen 2 improvements already implemented save for the better cameras, lights, and ADAS.

I think the updates in the Gen1's do really make them a Gen 1.5. I finally had a chance to spend some time in a 2022 Gen 1 LE and I can see why some people complain about it.

G1 pricing was great & G2 pricing stinks. No way I'd upgrade at this point and will wait for G3/G4 to see what improvements they can make. G2 just doesn't offer anything to me that could justify the upgrade and I'd never go from a Quad to Dual.

I agree with you 100% on this if you could get the introductory price. I didn't see the value in the G2's at current pricing so I bought a used G1, which really turned out to be a Gen 1.5.

I have to say I poured over every article I could find outlining the G1 & G2 differences. When I got in the truck and drove them, I have to say it didn't seem like anywhere as a big a deal as the magazine and influencers were making it out to be. My most immediate takeaway when demo'ing the G1 and G2's is that a G1 R1T road so much better than a G2 R1S, that I immediately turned my attention to the T rather than the S.

i didn't find the interface with all the improved CPUs to be better, in fact it seemed less responsive. I didn't like the touch button door release. I hate them on my Teslas. The cameras while they had more resolution, weren't any better functionally.

As I went down the list of differences, it was sort of a step forward here and there and some back. The heat pump was noisy AF. Nowhere near as quiet as my Teslas and definitely worse than the G1 HVAC system. Radio definitely sucked in G2's at the time I drove them. The driver assist on the highway sucked in both G1 and G2. It was a shame that it wouldn't work on any roads near the Rivian store unless I drove at least 5 miles away (in city traffic) to get on a freeway where it might actually work. So both were a total F grade in that category.

Is there more future proofing with the systems? Too early to tell. I've seen how Tesla plays that game and very quickly your new, won't be new enough. At the same time, if there is never any additional functionality added to my truck that it has, I'll still be pretty happy. Yes, I would like launch mode (with the raised speed limiter) ported to the G1 quads if only to answer how much quicker (if at all) the G2 Tri Max is vs a G1 with the same modes.

I honestly kept trying to find a reason to buy the G2 over the G1 without factoring in price. Then I started looking at how they monkeyed around with the pack size to manipulate people into buy the max pack for a big $$$ upgrade amount. The G2's didn't really have the value I was looking for. For some people the "upgrades" might actually be upgrades. They followed the Tesla roadmap here in a lot of ways. For me it was going to be $50k more to buy a new G2 Tri Max over the barely used G1 quads.

Hard to go wrong with either truck. Obviously people who dropped 110k on their new Tri Max hopefully will love them and find ways to justify them over the quads they had, if they did. If I were to buy a new G2, I'd probably just go with a performance dual large pack. If you want the max, they made so you'll likely just step on up to the Tri. Too bad they didn't keep the large pack the same size as the G1's. If they had, they also might sell their very profitable max pack.

Curious to see what they do with Gen 3 and 4. Hopefully, they won't kill off the R1 series. It clearly isn't profitable for them.

 

[narmstrong79]

Gen 1 R1S dual motor with performance upgrade here. While I'm happy I have "sport" mode, for the $5k extra it cost it's not worth it..I never leave all-purpose mode.

Mine is in for service as well, and I'm driving a loaner G1 R1T quad with the 20" ATs the road noise is crazy compared to my R1S wl 22's.

The added power of the quad is noticeable if I do a launch, but in regular daily driving, highway passing etc... The power difference between the quad and my dual is not that noticeable. Having rally and drift mode is "allegedly" very fun in the snow ?

 

[norivian]

Practically the same situation and experience for me. G2 R1S dual max was in service for over a month for a different reason, I got a 2022 R1S quad for a loaner. I consider myself a typical/casual/average driver who will simply enjoy the features and nice things a Rivian offers without getting too picky and particular about things. NOTE: I believe everyone has different experiences with their Rivian because the build quality of every Rivian (especially G1 and far less for G2) seems to vary widely).

- The acceleration was too jumpy for G1 from stop even in all purpose/conserve mode compared to my G2 dual (Yes, am comparing quad to dual but G1 purpose/conserve mode should be more gradual acceleration.);
- The door handles while very nice/solid compared to a Tesla-like button in G2 but is difficult to reach because it’s tight/close to the seat and reaching and pulling it is very awkward to the wrist;
- Camera resolution is just plainly bad like reading without your glasses compared to G2 camera image quality;
- The sound system seemed simply better overall the the G2 premium while G2 seems to be improving still; and
- Pulling down the stalk (in G1) vs pulling towards you (in G2) to enable highway assist is more effort and movement.

 

[fbitz777]

G1 pricing was great & G2 pricing stinks. No way I'd upgrade at this point and will wait for G3/G4 to see what improvements they can make. G2 just doesn't offer anything to me that could justify the upgrade and I'd never go from a Quad to Dual.

Yes I was shocked as I paid 75k for my quad Gen1 R1T in 2022 and could not get equivalent Gen2 with the same features for under 100k

Similar situation happened when I bought by Tesla X for 75k in 2017 and the price kept going well over 100k in 2021. Now they are new at 85k (they just increased them by 5k).

 

[jaredm]

Funny, I actually really dislike the disconnecting motor on my Dual. I would much rather have all-purpose keep both motors engaged and have a Conserve mode I can manually opt-in to for road trips to disconnect it. I drive around in Snow mode most of the time now to keep the motor engaged.

On your G2 Tri, do the rear motors disconnect even in all-purpose?

 

[narmstrong79]

Funny, I actually really dislike the disconnecting motor on my Dual. I would much rather have all-purpose keep both motors engaged and have a Conserve mode I can manually opt-in to for road trips to disconnect it. I drive around in Snow mode most of the time now to keep the motor engaged.

On your G2 Tri, do the rear motors disconnect even in all-purpose?

I agree, I wish dual had the option for AWD all-purpose mode or just have a conserve mode like the quad. It's my understanding Gen 2 Tri all-purpose and conserve work like G1 quad (but with a single front motor, like a dual)

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