Ride quality R1S vs R1T? Should I be worried about reviews?

[mkg3]

So, I like a firm ride. Probably because I haven't owned any American brand vehicle, except Tesla and now Rivian, for over 30 years, but have rented plenty of them during that time on business trips or one way rental to-and-from the airports.

After playing around with the ride heights and suspension settings, I have found that, for me, its either Sports mode with the lowest, stiff and reduced stability, or All Purpose, low, stiff and reduced stability. Even in the Conserve mode, I have the suspension set to stiff. In all three cases regen set to standard. I wish there is a low regen setting....

In general, I've found that stiff eliminated bouncing issues that I've noticed at times on the SoCal freeways. Its counter intuitive to go harder than softer to get rid of the fore-and-aft oscillation, since softer suspension should dampen the motion faster.

As the post above mentions, it is up to the personal subjectivity. For me, R1S feels, drives, and behaves like a truck framed SUV. It's a good thing in our family that my wife likes that. When I met her, she was driving a Cherokee Classic. R1S is her daily and our roadtrip mobile...

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[McMoo]

I recently switched to stiff in all purpose mode for everyday with the R1S and the bouncing is gone. Ride is a bit harsher and the 22” wheels don’t help but overall feels fine and the handling has improved. Something in between soft and stiff would be good.

 

[GurgenPB]

I HOPE this new subframe and suspension will address my issue - likely all of OUR issue:


R1S Jarring Ride Driving Diagonally at Slow Speed


Wondering if this is unique to my R1S – Driving at slow speed (perhaps 3 – 10 mph) from main road and turning onto a driveway apron – or – driving diagonally (with steering input) across even subtle elevation in otherwise smooth pavement – This causes an unpleasant rocking and jarring experience for all passengers – causing their upper torso to jerk side to side due to the unyielding, non dampening suspension

Does anyone else experience this?

Is there a software fix (or perhaps a hardware fix) for this very disturbing suspension disorder?

Appreciate to hear of your experiences with your R1S ride behavior

Precisely what I’m experiencing with my R1S adventure, 22”. Now has 5600 miles.

This is my first post on this forum, I know, but I started to read about this online, since I simply couldn’t believe that the R1 S would release a car with this glaring and oversight. The right quality is UNBELIEVABLY BAD.

I have a Taycan cross Turismo 4, 991 911 GT3, Audi Q5 and have had many many cars over the years. I have been tracking for the last 19 years, and have designed my own suspension setups and dialed them in several times.

i don’t know how this car could pass quality control.
I once had, upon delivery at the Porsche dealership, the technician forget to remove the spring shipping inserts, which restrict spring movement by 80 to 90% during transport from factory. When I first drove that car, it instantly felt like something was definitely wrong. I took a look in the wheel well, and saw the bright yellow colored inserts, which weee then removed. This is how this car feels.

For me, there is absolutely no difference between soft and stiff. I haven’t had the time to officially inquire, but has anyone seen this before.

 

[Guards Red Car]

Hi Gurgen

I also have a Porsche Taycan - With the low center of gravity (best of ANY Porsche) this car has the absolute BEST ride of any vehicle I've ever driven - smooth, supple, dampened, responsive

That said, I do LOVE my R1S - it is so superb in so many categories

However, the Rivian R1S' choppy side to side head toss phenomenon at low to medium speeds across uneven pavement is so surprising and disappointing - my wife and kids constantly complain that the Rivian has such a harsh ride compared to the 2020 BMW X7 which it replaced

I truly hope this can be corrected by Rivian Engineers in a software tweak ..... I would be devastated if this jarring ride is from a major hardware flaw.....

I hope others will come forward with their experiences so that this issue gains the importance it truly deserves.....

 

[MWB]

Precisely what I’m experiencing with my R1S adventure, 22”. Now has 5600 miles.

This is my first post on this forum, I know, but I started to read about this online, since I simply couldn’t believe that the R1 S would release a car with this glaring and oversight. The right quality is UNBELIEVABLY BAD.

I have a Taycan cross Turismo 4, 991 911 GT3, Audi Q5 and have had many many cars over the years. I have been tracking for the last 19 years, and have designed my own suspension setups and dialed them in several times.

i don’t know how this car could pass quality control.
I once had, upon delivery at the Porsche dealership, the technician forget to remove the spring shipping inserts, which restrict spring movement by 80 to 90% during transport from factory. When I first drove that car, it instantly felt like something was definitely wrong. I took a look in the wheel well, and saw the bright yellow colored inserts, which weee then removed. This is how this car feels.

For me, there is absolutely no difference between soft and stiff. I haven’t had the time to officially inquire, but has anyone seen this before.

Out of curiosity, what is your VIN#?

 

[GurgenPB]

Hi Gurgen

I also have a Porsche Taycan - With the low center of gravity (best of ANY Porsche) this car has the absolute BEST ride of any vehicle I've ever driven - smooth, supple, dampened, responsive

That said, I do LOVE my R1S - it is so superb in so many categories

However, the Rivian R1S' choppy side to side head toss phenomenon at low to medium speeds across uneven pavement is so surprising and disappointing - my wife and kids constantly complain that the Rivian has such a harsh ride compared to the 2020 BMW X7 which it replaced

I truly hope this can be corrected by Rivian Engineers in a software tweak ..... I would be devastated if this jarring ride is from a major hardware flaw.....

I hope others will come forward with their experiences so that this issue gains the importance it truly deserves.....

Thank you, you know what I mean exactly... the only sad thing would be for them to fix it somehow via software (don't see how that's possible, though I need to run some more tests - this is my wife's car) right after I sell it. I am very close t listing it for sale...

 

[GurgenPB]

Out of curiosity, what is your VIN#?

#004506

 

[Guards Red Car]

6600

#004506

 

[BaD KaRmA]

https://reddit.com/r/Rivian/s/ckaq5tP16w
Ride quality improvements listed in next update hopefully addresses some of the issues.

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