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Blueassassin

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You can just see how much more aero the Rivian is. The R1T we are hearing rumors of .30 drag motor trend states the gladiator as "the drag coefficient of a giant lunchbox." I think its .6 which isn't much better than my hummer H1 .7 drag.
 

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You can just see how much more aero the Rivian is. The R1T we are hearing rumors of .30 drag motor trend states the gladiator as "the drag coefficient of a giant lunchbox." I think its .6 which isn't much better than my hummer H1 .7 drag.
The Rivian being more aerodynamic than a Jeep isn't exactly sayin' much. The standard is a cow. ????
Rivian R1T R1S R1T vs Jeep Gladiator side-by-side look 51560505297_d1c183f28d_b
 

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Drag = Cd*Af

Low drag coefficient is great, but meaningless if it is applied across a large area. That cow is probably more “aero” than the Rivian!

I’m excited to see what happens when they start making smaller vehicles.
 

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Ethan801

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Any other photos with the Gladiator? Love to see directly from the front or back to get a better idea on sizing... Angles such as above are difficult to discern.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to see a Riv in person yet.
 

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The Rivian being more aerodynamic than a Jeep isn't exactly sayin' much. The standard is a cow. ????
51560505297_d1c183f28d_b.jpg
Anyone else now picturing that cow with long flowing locks of hair... kinda... Fabio-esc... mid 90's?
 

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On the "going gets tough" point, the strengths / weaknesses of the Gladiator / R1T are asymmetrical. It's new tech v. tried and true. Each wheel driven by a separate motor, full torque at 0 rpms v. experience and trail-proven equipment. Electric (no gas cans) v. gas.
 

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BillArnett

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On the "going gets tough" point, the strengths / weaknesses of the Gladiator / R1T are asymmetrical. It's new tech v. tried and true. Each wheel driven by a separate motor, full torque at 0 rpms v. experience and trail-proven equipment. Electric (no gas cans) v. gas.
I think it's not so much new vs old tech but rather a different target market. The Wrangler/Gladiator is targeted at folks who want to be able to do some serious rock-crawling (even though few of them actually do). Hence the rocker panel protection, steep approach/departure angles, etc. And they explicitly provide for a thriving after-market modifications industry (eg bigger tires). Rivian, on the other hand, is designed for a much milder form of off-roading (camping, fishing, etc). Which is too bad because it would have been pretty easy to make it much more capable. How hard would it have been to make the fenders a little higher so one could fit some decent off-road tires? Sure, that might impact range but let the user make the choice. Or get rid of the plastic bumpers which wouldn't survive 5 minutes on the Rubicon trail (or just make it easy to remove them temporarily)?

Rivian has some huge advantages as an off-roader. It could have been a total slam-dunk. But as it is it will be easy for the Jeep crowd to dismiss the R1T as a "Mall Crawler".
 

Autolycus

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I think it's not so much new vs old tech but rather a different target market. The Wrangler/Gladiator is targeted at folks who want to be able to do some serious rock-crawling (even though few of them actually do). Hence the rocker panel protection, steep approach/departure angles, etc. And they explicitly provide for a thriving after-market modifications industry (eg bigger tires). Rivian, on the other hand, is designed for a much milder form of off-roading (camping, fishing, etc). Which is too bad because it would have been pretty easy to make it much more capable. How hard would it have been to make the fenders a little higher so one could fit some decent off-road tires? Sure, that might impact range but let the user make the choice. Or get rid of the plastic bumpers which wouldn't survive 5 minutes on the Rubicon trail (or just make it easy to remove them temporarily)?

Rivian has some huge advantages as an off-roader. It could have been a total slam-dunk. But as it is it will be easy for the Jeep crowd to dismiss the R1T as a "Mall Crawler".
You're describing what I assume will eventually be known as the R1X.
 

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The market and R1X points both make sense. Rivian gives the casual off-roader the tools to tackle trails they might not be able to take on in an ICE truck. Similar to drag racing the Tesla Plaid -- very little skill / experience required to turn incredible 1/4 mile times.

It would be great to see Rivian (once the backlog of orders is addressed...) put something together that really took advantage of the platforms capabilities.
 

kurtlikevonnegut

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You're describing what I assume will eventually be known as the R1X.
The funny thing about this to me is that Ford made such a huge to-do about bringing back the Bronco as the "Jeep Killer" and they waited until the entire industry was on the verge of a seismic shift and used legacy technology to attack the Jeep of today. Meanwhile Rivian has built and is launching an entire platform to compete with what Jeep will be in 10 years (including the R1X which I'd bet will get to market before a fully electric Wrangler).

I think Ford missed a huge opportunity to do with the Bronco what Volvo did with the XC-40, to essentially develop an ICE/EV on the same platform side by side. Rivian has already thrown down the gauntlet that EVs will be king of off-road performance going forward. The Bronco was a dinosaur before it even launched.
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