R1T Ride Quality Harsh on Bumpy Surfaces

[uthatch]

Good stuff. I was so damn wordy on my review, that I didn’t go into as much detail as I could have. I actually kind of like the yoke at this point, but don’t like the horn situation. While I do like the auto present and auto close doors, I agree with you. I also feel like I fight with them a lot. It’s a bit of a love-hate relationship. I think I like the auto close door when you hit the brake pedal the most among the various door features.

I also think the falcon wing doors are cool in some situations, but incredibly annoying in my garage. I’d probably do fine without them. That was actually one of the reasons why I wanted to look at Rivian. At this point, it’s one of those features that I tolerate.

Best of luck!

Yep, the auto close is good, I agree. The rest of the door interactions are irritating to me and is also a reason for me to try the Rivian. Plus I do use the truck aspect as well, so that will be handy.

We have a Y too and I like that car a lot. I may just end up keeping the R1T, sell the X, and score a M3P for around town and ease of use. Plus they’re a really nice deal now…and I can buy it for my mom in NJ where’s there’s no EV sales tax and she qualifies for the federal rebate yet, let her drive it some and likely convert her from her Explorer to Tesla. Then just take that car, road trip it back to LA, and get her a regular long range Y. LOL, TMI, but as I write this out it sounds like I’m really trying to make the Rivian work!

The only fly in that ointment is the refreshed 3 right around the corner…I might have to wait for that.

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[DaveA]

I find it to be the road breaks that are most annoying. Not even the big stuff. Just the quick impacts of midwest roads. Sets off a small vibration (not to mention the thump/thunk mine has) thru the whole chassis.

Saw this story (link/video below) on reddit...the guy had a loose steering rack....might be something to look into?

 

[MichaelD]

Fit and Finish:

• I’d give a slight nod to the MXP.

I LOL'd. ;-) but I returned my last Model X within the 7 day window because of some astonishingly bad defects (one of the last to return a Tesla that way before they ended the practice). It would have been my 4th Tesla.

I realize it's too late to matter, but just for the record:

Two starting handicaps for your perceptions were the vehicle being a truck (more height means more motion over the same surface irregularities) and 22 inch wheels. But putting it in Sport in a parking lot with your family in the vehicle is just asking for trouble. Sport is for you, in the twisties. Passengers (all the time) and bad roads call for App Purpose + Soft + Auto height.

Glad you got your own X back, though! Enjoy and have fun

 

[HarisonAltDelete]

Its pretty harsh on the 20s as well...but that was kinda to be expected. At speed its smooth...but low speeds are clunky. Its very strange. Its one of the items the SC will look at for me next month, but pretty sure I'm gonna get "normal".

That's so weird, I found that mine on ATs at about 45 PSI rides better than my current gen G63, and as good as my L322 rover

 

[DaveA]

Just got the truck back from SC yesterday. They said they went through everything on the suspension and everything seemed good, etc....but one of my tickets was for the half-shafts and they did replace the driver's side for excessive play and greased/new bolts, spacers, on the others and not really feeling the suspension clunk anymore... so guessing it had something to do with that. They had given me an Enterprise rental...a Ford Ranger...and I can attest the R1T drives/rides 10x better than that vehicle. (No offense to any Ranger owners)

 

[pc500]

This is very interesting considering I've talked to other model x owners who find the rivian to be nicer.

 

[Kiafoulis]

It's definitely bumpy on my R1T. I had an F-150 Lightning for a few weeks and it was like driving a Cadillac, super smooth. My R1T is like driving a G Wagon.

I agree that the ride and impacts translating into the steering wheel is way too much. It’s a shame that AP w/ Soft tuning is so sharp and exhibits bump steer. I wish I could go for a drive with other members who “love the ride”to gather a good comparison, alas that won’t happen. I also have a problem towing with my R1T as the entire vehicle shakes really bad after 55mph. Had it in for service and everything is “normal” - bull shit it is! Nothing left to do but chalk it up to I think I got screwed. It has awesome attributes, but for me it’s number 1 use case (daily driving) is unfortunately its Achilles Heel.

 

[R1Tom]

I agree that the ride and impacts translating into the steering wheel is way too much. It’s a shame that AP w/ Soft tuning is so sharp and exhibits bump steer. I wish I could go for a drive with other members who “love the ride”to gather a good comparison, alas that won’t happen. I also have a problem towing with my R1T as the entire vehicle shakes really bad after 55mph. Had it in for service and everything is “normal” - bull shit it is! Nothing left to do but chalk it up to I think I got screwed. It has awesome attributes, but for me it’s number 1 use case (daily driving) is unfortunately its Achilles Heel.

The shake isn't normal nor is the bump steer. Mine doesn't do either. But the impact harshness is real. It can be tamed a bunch by using rally mode which I believe is removing most of the anti-roll control if not all of it. Acts like my Jeep when rollbar is disconnected. But that defeats a bunch of safety stuff, so I don't use it on road anymore. I did for a bit.

So this makes me think that, and I am educated speculating, that a few things are in play here.

One is that these things weigh 7000#. Combined with the extreme range of ride heights they designed in, and the desire for longevity, they selected bushings that are on the hard to very hard side.

Another is the weight dictates high tire pressure....which isn't helping.

Then that roll control system works by increasing shock stiffness I believe, as opposed to a physical roll bar which only adds stiffness when the travel on each side of vehicle is different.

So combine all that, and what we get is impact harshness that is alot higher than I would like.

I have come to kinda accept it, but it is annoying. It doesn't help that there are several sources of added noise going on somewhere in mine. Mine has all been diagnosed as "normal" also.

 

[Carloc]

I have 22s and have had a loaner on 20s for the last 11 days. As far as ride comfort I really don't notice much difference besides lower efficiency. Compared to a model YP this thing floats on a cloud depite still being a fairly stiff ride.

I had mine (used) on 21s for few weeks and swapped for 20s. The differerence is noticeable. The 20s make it softer on bumps but more “big truck” on turns/handling. I off-road a lot so the 20s are a must have and I will accept the more sloppy road manners. Still good but not as sharp. Diff with 22s I suspect will be more intense.

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