Kyle from Out of Spec Drives The Lightning

[MXA121]

...
What caught my attention in Doug Demuro review was that he said it was more comfortable than Rivian. I got the same impression from Kyle. I know most owners here have not tried Lightning but I am curious what those that have taken delivery think of the R1T ride in Standard Soft mode? And what those that have taken longer drives with it felt like at the end of the trip.

Kyle describes the Lightning as "Floaty" and "Undersprung" but also "Just as it should be" for a f150. Rivian likely runs higher effective spring rates and their wheel/tire combos are more aggressive, which will ride firmer. Still all R1T reviews so far glow about the ride/handling.

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[kurtlikevonnegut]

Really think the Lightning is an ugly truck. I actually think the standard F-150 is one of the better looking trucks but the Lightning loses me with the awful faux grill thing and the aero wheels. The grill looks truly awful in closeup looks from the video when Kyle was walking around.

Very pleased with how Rivian handled the front end compared to what Ford did.

 

[SANZC02]

Really think the Lightning is an ugly truck. I actually think the standard F-150 is one of the better looking trucks but the Lightning loses me with the awful faux grill thing and the aero wheels. The grill looks truly awful in closeup looks from the video when Kyle was walking around.

Very pleased with how Rivian handled the front end compared to what Ford did.

But functionally the way Ford and GM designed the frunk like a standard trunk is way more functional.

 

[Budman]

I am one of those who cross shopped the R1T and the Mach e. Never considered the F150 because it is simply too big. Literally won’t fit in my garage, not even close to fitting. I can’t be the only one with that problem?

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

But functionally the way Ford and GM designed the frunk like a standard trunk is way more functional.

All the more reason it's a shame they put that abomination of a grill on it.

The aero wheels look like they are made of a cheap plastic honestly. Rivian did it the right way with the removable insert for aero.

 

[zipzag]

Kyle surprised me in this review. The R1 is better both off road and when driving hard on road compared to the Lightning. The tradeoff is size. For some people and certain times of life size is the ultimate luxury. Perhaps Kyle feels the need for a large size vehicle with his dog children.

I've had an F250 and I'm a Ford fan. I absolutely do not want that size vehicle but I do want the R1's highly adjustable suspension.

Kyle makes a lot of videos. Perhaps he needs to review his R1T video and remember that he didn't drive the Lightning like he drove the R1T.

The Lightning does look like a great vehicle. The XLT version as a daily driver for someone actually needing the pickup bed is hard to beat for value.

 

[Attesan997]

Kyle surprised me in this review. The R1 is better both off road and when driving hard on road compared to the Lightning. The tradeoff is size. For some people and certain times of life size is the ultimate luxury. Perhaps Kyle feels the need for a large size vehicle with his dog children.

I've had an F250 and I'm a Ford fan. I absolutely do not want that size vehicle but I do want the R1's highly adjustable suspension.

Kyle makes a lot of videos. Perhaps he needs to review his R1T video and remember that he didn't drive the Lightning like he drove the R1T.

The Lightning does look like a great vehicle. The XLT version as a daily driver for someone actually needing the pickup bed is hard to beat for value.

I don't think it's too surprising considering the intent of the R1T and the Lightning. They're both electric trucks but one is designed to offer an alternative to a work truck and a people/family hauler. The other is designed to be an all purpose adventure vehicle with special attention paid to the suspension. Seems reasonable that if you're not going to be cutting through canyons that extra attention paid to the suspension won't really do much. The Lightning would probably be the better highway cruiser but of course won't fit into everyone's garage. There's no true all purpose vehicle in this case.

 

[aw113sgte]

But functionally the way Ford and GM designed the frunk like a standard trunk is way more functional.

It may be more functional for storage, however it has the negative of weaker body structure as you no longer have a beam going across that point. You can also argue better ingress protection. Less likely to have stuff roll out, etc. There are tradeoffs.

 

[zipzag]

I don't think it's too surprising considering the intent of the R1T and the Lightning. They're both electric trucks but one is designed to offer an alternative to a work truck and a people/family hauler. The other is designed to be an all purpose adventure vehicle with special attention paid to the suspension. Seems reasonable that if you're not going to be cutting through canyons that extra attention paid to the suspension won't really do much. The Lightning would probably be the better highway cruiser but of course won't fit into everyone's garage. There's no true all purpose vehicle in this case.

Why would you think The Lightning is a better highway cruiser? The R1 has a lot more sophisticated suspension.

An interesting statistic is the percent of R1T owners who have never owned a pickup. I think it's likely that Kyle has never owned a pickup. The live-ability of a full size pickup in a Kyle size house and garage is not great unless the larger vehicle is truly needed.

But a larger pickup is still not three row seating, which many people want with school age kids.

 

[Attesan997]

Why would you think The Lightning is a better highway cruiser? The R1 has a lot more sophisticated suspension.

An interesting statistic is the percent of R1T owners who have never owned a pickup. I think it's likely that Kyle has never owned a pickup. The live-ability of a full size pickup in a Kyle size house and garage is not great unless the larger vehicle is truly needed.

But a larger pickup is still not three row seating, which many people want with school age kids.

I'm not saying definitively, someone more experienced than myself would have to drive both back to back. Rephrasing maybe it should've said I wouldn't be surprised if the Lightning were the cruiser of the two. It's not try to be more than an ICE F150 with an IRS, it doesn't have to be sporty or handle aggressive maneuvers, it just has to move from point to point with its most extreme use case likely towing.

And I completely agree, the first thing that turned me off about the F150 was its size. I simply wouldn't need to use it for more than maybe 20% of the time. Which means I'd be dealing with meanuvering the thing in close quarters 80% of the time for absolutely no reason.

 

[scooby]

I have always had a bit of bias against Ford and not a fan of exterior design but I like the space in back seat and 9+ KW AC power. I do like the size of Rivian better but am starting to question it now that what I would do If I get the invitation and both Pro and Tax credit are available.

What caught my attention in Doug Demuro review was that he said it was more comfortable than Rivian. I got the same impression from Kyle. I know most owners here have not tried Lightning but I am curious what those that have taken delivery think of the R1T ride in Standard Soft mode? And what those that have taken longer drives with it felt like at the end of the trip.

I would think it would be very difficult to beat the ride of the 4 corner air suspension R1T. Coilover is nice but hard for me to imagine it would be on the same playing field as the R1T.

 

[zipzag]

I would think it would be very difficult to beat the ride of the 4 corner air suspension R1T. Coilover is nice but hard for me to imagine it would be on the same playing field as the R1T.

Especially in a pickup, where the back half has a highly varied load. How the pickup engineer designing the suspension would like to manage that loading is how Rivian has done it. But the Ford engineer doesn't have the budget to get that fancy.

Ford will eventually make a Raptor Lightning which will likely be dynamically adjustable. Rivian competes with Lightning and TRX. Buyers who don't care about this sort of performance should buy less expensive vehicles.

That's why Kyles review is confusing. Mr. ripping and shredding has apparently been domesticated by the needs of his household.

 

[scooby]

Especially in a pickup, where the back half has a highly varied load. How the pickup engineer designing the suspension would like to manage that loading is how Rivian has done it. But the Ford engineer doesn't have the budget to get that fancy.

Ford will eventually make a Raptor Lightning which will likely be dynamically adjustable. Rivian competes with Lightning and TRX. Buyers who don't care about this sort of performance should buy less expensive vehicles.

That's why Kyles review is confusing. Mr. ripping and shredding has apparently been domesticated by the needs of his household.

Of the numerous Trucks I have owned over the years, nothing rides as comfortable as my R1T. The closest thing was my Ram1500 Limited that had 4 corner air suspension. With that said the R1T must simply have a better tune on the suspension. As it rides so much nicer than even my Ram Limited.

 

[moosehead]

It is a tremendous win for Lightning to be such a solid vehicle, as it will be a fulcrum to get the masses converted to EV's faster than virtually any other vehicle. It also might be the first rig to pierce the coal rolling crowd.

Not sure if this is Kyle's seeming preference for the Lightning, but it is likely why he calls it one of the most important, if not the most important EV.

 

[zipzag]

The most important EV was the model 3. After the model 3 success there were always going to be successful EV pickups.

The GM pickup will be very good. So will the Cybertruck.

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