R1S w/ 22" Wheels - Short Driving Impression

[mkg3]

Just drove it for the first time. Drove it in all around, standard height and soft, and in sports set to lowest height with both soft and hard settings. Both modes in regen normal (which is petty strong)

Accelerator (Go) pedal is heavy, and the steering wheel feedback is quite light creating bit of imbalance, regales of driving modes. If there's supposed to be a feedback difference for the steering wheel, it's subtle and it's not enough for the sports mode. Go pedal is a reminder of just how heavy the vehicle is, I suppose...

In all around standard/soft setting, the vehicle is still pretty stiff. During my (and while my wife's was driving, where I was a passenger in the back seat) drive, I did not notice any proposing or old fashion loveseat on wheels that some have reported. The ride being stiff, I can see how some people may find it to be poor. I did not but I guess I prefer stiffer vehicles. Unfortunately, we didn't have any potholes or poor road surface to gauge how well the suspension dealt with transient road conditions.

In sports mode/lowest, the vehicle transition from side-to-side behaved as desired. In other words, a driver should feel the direction change before any body roll is experienced. This is a combination of the vehicle suspecting setup and tires. Often is the case where the body roll is noticed at the same time or just at the time when the vehicle starts to turn. The weight transfer causes the body roll to take effect just before the tires causes the directional change. So I'm glad Rivian got this right.

In the corners, using the sports mode/lowest, the active suspension does well to keep the vehicle flat and steady. Since this was a 30 min demo drive, and with a Rivian personnel riding along, really was not appropriate to find out how it can corner flat out so I guess I'll have to wait for that until after I take delivery.

Both my wife and I walked away feeling good about the R1S. She too was happy how it drove. She is used to Tesla regen being less aggressive (at least how it feels in the cabin as a driver), so took a minute to get used to it, then she was fine. Other than that she said "I guess I have to get used to driving a bigger SUV again,,," She drove Cherokee, Durango and XC90 so she'll be fine. R1S will be her daily and our family roadtrip vehicle.

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[Guy]

Thanks for this. It is a shame you had no potholes or broken pavement to try out. I rented a T two weeks ago because I had never sat in a Rivian let alone drive one. That ride comfort in standard soft with 20” wheels was fantastic. My order is for an S later this year but hearing it is stiff (but not suffering from the other issues some had mentioned) still leaves me worried.

 

[DB-EV]

Thanks for this. It is a shame you had no potholes or broken pavement to try out. I rented a T two weeks ago because I had never sat in a Rivian let alone drive one. That ride comfort in standard soft with 20” wheels was fantastic. My order is for an S later this year but hearing it is stiff (but not suffering from the other issues some had mentioned) still leaves me worried.

It is not stiff. I just picked up my S today. It drove much nicer than the October 22 S I tested. I only had it for two hours as I drove it to a PPF shop (also for winter tires) so will have it back in a week and then off to Vermont. 20ATs. Drove Conserve low, soft; and Sport stiff Low.

I posted this in another forum:

• Guys - picked up my R1s and drove it for two hours. Worth the 3.7 year wait . . . . Thanks Jazzy for the referral. Conserve mode made we want to drive like an old man (I guess I am an old man). Sport mode made me want to launch. I did launch. Driver + took 100% of the stress out of driving on the LIE . . . . Enough said. Will post once I get some time with this bad boy in a week. Next up road trip to Vermont less than 24 hours after I get her back.

 

[Guy]

It is not stiff. I just picked up my S today. It drove much nicer than the October 22 S I tested. I only had it for two hours as I drove it to a PPF shop (also for winter tires) so will have it back in a week and then off to Vermont. 20ATs. Drove Conserve low, soft; and Sport stiff Low.

I posted this in another forum:

• Guys - picked up my R1s and drove it for two hours. Worth the 3.7 year wait . . . . Thanks Jazzy for the referral. Conserve mode made we want to drive like an old man (I guess I am an old man). Sport mode made me want to launch. I did launch. Driver + took 100% of the stress out of driving on the LIE . . . . Enough said. Will post once I get some time with this bad boy in a week. Next up road trip to Vermont less than 24 hours after I get her back.

How did it ride over broken pavement? Did it dampen very well? Thanks for your perspective, I am hoping to have a demo drive sometime as the only way to know is to actually drive it.

 

[SANZC02]

Thanks for this. It is a shame you had no potholes or broken pavement to try out. I rented a T two weeks ago because I had never sat in a Rivian let alone drive one. That ride comfort in standard soft with 20” wheels was fantastic. My order is for an S later this year but hearing it is stiff (but not suffering from the other issues some had mentioned) still leaves me worried.

I’m driving around in MA right now with bad roads, coming from a Jeep GC I will say that they need to work on the valve configurations. I picked up the R1S with 22s on Thursday and drove it from IL to MA (1100 miles) on smother roads it is great but when the road is rough it can be harsh even in soft setting. A lot of people think it is the wheelbase difference but I think it is the valve setting. It has been over a year since I did the first mile in the R1T so maybe I am not remembering it as well but feels completely different than the R1T to me.

By the time I finish my road trip and get back to CA I’ll have close to 5K on the R1S so I’m interested to see if some of it is a break-in thing and my smooth out a bit with miles. I do think Rivian will probably adjust the settings as well to make it better.

 

[DB-EV]

I’m driving around in MA right now with bad roads, coming from a Jeep GC I will say that they need to work on the valve configurations. I picked up the R1S with 22s on Thursday and drove it from IL to MA (1100 miles) on smother roads it is great but when the road is rough it can be harsh even in soft setting. A lot of people think it is the wheelbase difference but I think it is the valve setting. It has been over a year since I did the first mile in the R1T so maybe I am not remembering it as well but feels completely different than the R1T to me.

By the time I finish my road trip and get back to CA I’ll have close to 5K on the R1S so I’m interested to see if some of it is a break-in thing and my smooth out a bit with miles. I do think Rivian will probably adjust the settings as well to make it better.

Is part of this the 22's? Less side wall?

 

[MaskedRacerX]

Is part of this the 22's? Less side wall?

That's certainly a contributor. Not currently an owner, but I've had quite a few vehicles, and done a lot of different wheel/tire combinations.

It's one of the "fixes" people have with the Tesla M3P (performance), it runs a 235/35-20, very short profile, zero wheel protection, people swap to a 245/40-19 (obv. requiring a wheel change too) and say how noticeably better the ride is afterwards. I realize it's just a few mm, 82.25 sidewall vs. 98 (~6/10"), but those small changes can make a big difference.

That said, I love how the 22" wheel looks, and have had so many vehicles with a "sportier ride", I'm sure I'll love it

 

[SANZC02]

Is part of this the 22's? Less side wall?

I do not think so, there is more sidewall on these 22s than I have on the 20’s on my Jeep GC.

Years ago I had 24s on my Tahoe that had much less sidewall than these 22s.

 

[mkg3]

It is not stiff. I just picked up my S today. It drove much nicer than the October 22 S I tested....

Perhaps it's a point of reference. We purposely drove our Outback (and not Tesla) to the event and comparison was one right after another so that may be a factor.

Another is the 65 series profile versus 50 series. There's 15% difference in width to sidewall height ratio. Being that both tires have the same width (275mm), the sidewall ratio will make a difference on how stiff the ride is. If the width of the 22" tire was much wider for the 50 series, then the actual sidewall hight difference between the two may not be as great; hence, the ride quality may be more similar. I understand why they are the same width as the width makes a significant difference in the rolling resistance affecting the range.

Hope some of you in OC will get to drive one at this event in San Juan Cap. I asked the rep if the drive appointments were random or if it was sent out to preorder holders, I was told that it was sent out only to the preorder holders for test drives. Others could just come and checkout the vehicles. Our appointment time was 1.30pm and as soon as we got there around 1.25 to check in, we were was taken back to the vehicle to drive with a choice of 20" or 22" shod of R1S. Since our config is with 22", selected that vehicle for the drive.

 

[mkg3]

...I picked up the R1S with 22s on Thursday and drove it from IL to MA (1100 miles) .....By the time I finish my road trip and get back to CA I’ll have close to 5K on the R1S..

That's a long a$$ drive!!! Especially in the winter.

I've driven from DC to SoCal and it was tough. We did it in three days on a rental car as we had no other options to get back home at the time. It was on 9/11 and nothing was moving as you might recall.

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