Shaqdeez
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Shaq
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2022
- Threads
- 6
- Messages
- 94
- Reaction score
- 96
- Location
- Buffalo NY
- Vehicles
- 2024 Rivian R1S Glacier White /OC/22 Brights
- Thread starter
- #1
Been waiting for quite sometime to get behind the wheel of one of these guys. So some background (would be great if everyone who gives their criticism to provide a at a minimum the type of vehicles you've owned and the type of drive you prefer). With that said, here's a list of the past worth while vehicles to mention that I've owned/leased to give you an idea of why I'm providing these impressions:
Acura TL Type S
BMW 540i
Acura MDX
Chevrolet Traverse
Mazda CX9
Driven ALL Teslas and their variants.
I personally like a firmer ride that can handle well. I'm willing to sacrifice a luxury ride that has a "boaty" handling characteristic for a planted ride but has to handle bumps with confidence and not a bunch of jitteriness.
General Impressions:
- The car build number was (if i remember) 53X or 35X. Had over 4K in miles.
- Build quality was good but expectations weren't too high being a low build number. On top of that I don't really care too much unless it's annoying to look at and of course if it causes any functional issues
- Seats were firmer then I'm used to but not sure how that translates to long rides. I'd give them an 8 out 10. Tesla's later seats are much softer and more comfortable (9 out 10)
- Doors were easy to close. Lot of complaints about doors being difficult to close. Maybe the weather striping wore off making it easier to close?
- Didn't notice any noisy AC Unit or vibration under pedal(s). The weather was in mid - to high 70's. Maybe that's why. But AC was on.
- After configuring my seating position for Driver (I'm 6') and Second row, I had my wife (5' 4) sit in the 3rd row (i use all my seats in my SUVs and have younger ones in the 3rd row) to make sure the set up would resemble how we'd use it. With that said the 2nd row was acceptable and was expecting a few more inches of knee room. The 3rd row was great according to my wife compared to my CX9 (which I'm currently driving). The Traverse had the best 3rd row in any midsize SUV so that's my benchmark. I'd rate it right after that.
- The second row display for the HVAC System (and lights) is unacceptable (i knew this ahead of time). We couldn't change the temperature and fan speed. I thought they rolled out something to at least control the fan speed. That really sucked. Again with olderish kids back their they have different HVAC requirements.
- The lack of vents in the second row ceiling or B pillars again sucked. If you have a larger person the middle of the second row they could potentially block the airflow.
- Loved the size of the Frunk. Storage behind 3rd row was OK. Wish it was more.
Driving Impressions:
This is the main reason why I wanted to test drive the car while the second was ensuring that my family could fit in it comfortably and I could fit the normal stuff I carry. I knew about all the tech and was used to electric power and regenerative braking (again driving a bunch of Teslas for extended times). Now the reason why I mentioned above as to why folks should provide a precursor to the type of vehicles they've owned an their preferences (could usually derive this by the type of the cars they've had) as the driving criticism is it's all relative. With that said, I loved the way the R1S drove. I used the drive modes that I'd thing I'd use (All Purpose, Sport and Conservative). I did notice the porpoising over the different road level variations but I believe to mitigate that is to use All Purpose/ Stiff/ Standard height. That was the best setting I used during the ride that gave me the best driving experience. It handled bumps well. I did notice the jitteriness over sharp bumps in the road and it wasn't that bad. I also didn't worry about that too much as the roads where I'm at are generally smooth. The handling around turns was great as well. Now in Sport mode I did notice that jerking motion but that was due to the sensitive pedal when modulating it. So when letting go of the pedal the regenerative braking kicks in super fast causing that jerky motion. To help mitigate that I put the regenerative braking in Standard and that helped a lot to minimize the jerky motion.
I went into the drive with bad expectation of the drive due to what many have mentioned. But I was shocked as to why the reviews had a different opinion then mine. Again I really believe it's what's folks are used to and what their expectations were. I mean coming from an Escalade, Navigator, Wagoneer and expecting a similar ride isn't fair. Those things are boats.
Anyway sorry for the long post but I'd feel it would've been inadequate and disingenuous (as I like these type of details for myself since I never drove the car until this past weekend).
Acura TL Type S
BMW 540i
Acura MDX
Chevrolet Traverse
Mazda CX9
Driven ALL Teslas and their variants.
I personally like a firmer ride that can handle well. I'm willing to sacrifice a luxury ride that has a "boaty" handling characteristic for a planted ride but has to handle bumps with confidence and not a bunch of jitteriness.
General Impressions:
- The car build number was (if i remember) 53X or 35X. Had over 4K in miles.
- Build quality was good but expectations weren't too high being a low build number. On top of that I don't really care too much unless it's annoying to look at and of course if it causes any functional issues
- Seats were firmer then I'm used to but not sure how that translates to long rides. I'd give them an 8 out 10. Tesla's later seats are much softer and more comfortable (9 out 10)
- Doors were easy to close. Lot of complaints about doors being difficult to close. Maybe the weather striping wore off making it easier to close?
- Didn't notice any noisy AC Unit or vibration under pedal(s). The weather was in mid - to high 70's. Maybe that's why. But AC was on.
- After configuring my seating position for Driver (I'm 6') and Second row, I had my wife (5' 4) sit in the 3rd row (i use all my seats in my SUVs and have younger ones in the 3rd row) to make sure the set up would resemble how we'd use it. With that said the 2nd row was acceptable and was expecting a few more inches of knee room. The 3rd row was great according to my wife compared to my CX9 (which I'm currently driving). The Traverse had the best 3rd row in any midsize SUV so that's my benchmark. I'd rate it right after that.
- The second row display for the HVAC System (and lights) is unacceptable (i knew this ahead of time). We couldn't change the temperature and fan speed. I thought they rolled out something to at least control the fan speed. That really sucked. Again with olderish kids back their they have different HVAC requirements.
- The lack of vents in the second row ceiling or B pillars again sucked. If you have a larger person the middle of the second row they could potentially block the airflow.
- Loved the size of the Frunk. Storage behind 3rd row was OK. Wish it was more.
Driving Impressions:
This is the main reason why I wanted to test drive the car while the second was ensuring that my family could fit in it comfortably and I could fit the normal stuff I carry. I knew about all the tech and was used to electric power and regenerative braking (again driving a bunch of Teslas for extended times). Now the reason why I mentioned above as to why folks should provide a precursor to the type of vehicles they've owned an their preferences (could usually derive this by the type of the cars they've had) as the driving criticism is it's all relative. With that said, I loved the way the R1S drove. I used the drive modes that I'd thing I'd use (All Purpose, Sport and Conservative). I did notice the porpoising over the different road level variations but I believe to mitigate that is to use All Purpose/ Stiff/ Standard height. That was the best setting I used during the ride that gave me the best driving experience. It handled bumps well. I did notice the jitteriness over sharp bumps in the road and it wasn't that bad. I also didn't worry about that too much as the roads where I'm at are generally smooth. The handling around turns was great as well. Now in Sport mode I did notice that jerking motion but that was due to the sensitive pedal when modulating it. So when letting go of the pedal the regenerative braking kicks in super fast causing that jerky motion. To help mitigate that I put the regenerative braking in Standard and that helped a lot to minimize the jerky motion.
I went into the drive with bad expectation of the drive due to what many have mentioned. But I was shocked as to why the reviews had a different opinion then mine. Again I really believe it's what's folks are used to and what their expectations were. I mean coming from an Escalade, Navigator, Wagoneer and expecting a similar ride isn't fair. Those things are boats.
Anyway sorry for the long post but I'd feel it would've been inadequate and disingenuous (as I like these type of details for myself since I never drove the car until this past weekend).
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