UPDATED 6/2 - Delivery day (Hello!) and Return day (Goodbye) ... argh! "Ride height change not possible due to overheated air compressor"

[srwaxalot]

Yes, adjustable dampers allow a lot of variability with the suspension tuning. As does the adjustable height of the Rivian's air suspension. It allows for sportier handling on-road and easier passenger ingress/egress at the lower heights and more off-road clearance at the higher heights. The point a few of us were making in response to Zybane's comment is that you don't get that flexibility with standard coil springs... but that does come at the expense of increased complexity and maintenance. If someone doesn't need the flexibilty and doesn't want to deal with the associated maintenance or air suspension, then the R1 is probably not the vehicle for them.

Yes I agree lowing the hight should make on road handling better and getting in and out easier, unless they go stupid low and or have bad tuning. But I'd argue that they could get good on and off road handling without that system. Me personally air suspension isn't a qualifying or disqualifying feature.

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[opnwide]

As someone whose net worth is much lower as a result of owning two vehicles past warranty with air suspension, when is the warranty over on the R1’s air suspension, 5yr/60,000 miles?

 

[moosehead]

One would think the rest of the Rivian post manufacturing system and RSC’s would be more capable given the Normal line is only operating 30 hours a week.

Tighten it up, literally and figuratively. The soft launch of this company is over, er should say, ending soon.

 

[duessell]

As someone whose net worth is much lower as a result of owning two vehicles past warranty with air suspension, when is the warranty over on the R1’s air suspension, 5yr/60,000 miles?

Is it feasible to convert to standard suspension? I wish they would make that a factory option set at low or medium ride height.

 

[electruck]

Yes I agree lowing the hight should make on road handling better and getting in and out easier, unless they go stupid low and or have bad tuning. But I'd argue that they could get good on and off road handling without that system. Me personally air suspension isn't a qualifying or disqualifying feature.

Yes, they absolutely could have settled for a less flexible, less capable, less costly, more reliable system that still would have satisfied probably 75% (or more) of their customer base. That is not what they chose to do. The R1 is their "halo" platform, designed to impress the world and establish the brand. Look for a simpler, less costly offering in the R2 or other future higher volume platforms.

Edit: I will also say that in order to keep the current tow rating, ride quality would suffer when not towing with the spring rates required of conventional coil springs. Point being, again, that the R1 would be a very different truck without the air suspension.

 

[electruck]

Is it feasible to convert to standard suspension? I wish they would make that a factory option set at low or medium ride height.

This won't be an option anytime soon, if ever.

 

[ironpig]

It does - my first truck had a 12V issue that was caught in QC check.

good to hear. I know it will delay delivery if they find something, but better than having it towed back a week in to ownership.

 

[ironpig]

As someone whose net worth is much lower as a result of owning two vehicles past warranty with air suspension, when is the warranty over on the R1’s air suspension, 5yr/60,000 miles?

yes. 5/60. But if the compressors are failing consistently over the first 2 years they'll likely have to recall and replace.

It's more likely that leaks are causing issues from lines or fittings not being tightened at the factory properly. Hopefully we'll see fewer issues as they QC the vehicles more thoroughly before delivery.

Leaks and compressor burnout are common points of failure with all these systems. But I would still rather drive an r1T with air suspension than with a traditional set up. The ride quality is just so much nicer on air which is why all Range Rover, Lexus, Tesla etc - all go with it.

 

[Dman250]

I’ve never had a vehicle with air suspension or even looked closely at them on specific modern vehicles, but in a past life I was an engineer for a motor vehicle manufacturer that offered rear air suspension. It seems that whether it’s a bad compressor, leak, or just a ride height sensor or software issue, the vehicle should NEVER drop to the point of tire rub, with OEM wheels and tires at least. That’s what bump stops are for. And not the ones inside the dampers either.

 

[Zybane]

As someone whose net worth is much lower as a result of owning two vehicles past warranty with air suspension, when is the warranty over on the R1’s air suspension, 5yr/60,000 miles?

Ya Land Rover has had a simply terrible time with air suspensions. I would only ever buy a LR with coil springs.

 

[TurboTwin]

It seems that whether it’s a bad compressor, leak, or just a ride height sensor or software issue, the vehicle should NEVER drop to the point of tire rub, with OEM wheels and tires at least. That’s what bump stops are for. And not the ones inside the dampers either.

This was my first thought. Imagine if it lost pressure while at highway speeds. Very dangerous for a manufacturer to allow something like that to happen

 

[Kaprice]

Seems like a really bad design for the suspension to even be capable of dropping so low that it sits on the tires. It would be a no brainer to have some kind of physical block that keeps it from dropping that low.

 

[bemulligan]

Anyone know if Rivian is allowing test drives on delivery day? In other words, can people drive the R1 a bit before signing the purchase papers?

You have a week to return it for any reason.

 

[BillArnett]

They need to remove the arbitrary height lock outs from modes (soft sand is standard and highest but doesn't support high) and better separate the height change from the mode change

I agree. I would much prefer to get rid of all the modes completely and just let us control all the parameters directly. I suppose the idea of all the modes is that some people can't figure out what settings are appropriate in a given situation. Fine. But let me have. an "expert" mode that provides unrestricted controls for everything (and stays in that mode when I stop and start again

 

[BillArnett]

I’ve seen trucks with regular spring compete and win Baja and KOH. I’d love to see a Rivian enter one of those races. Actually I’ve heard Dave Cole from KOH has tried to get in touch with Rivian to get them out to one of the races.

Are you kidding? An R1T has no chance of completing KOH. It might be possible by accepting a lot of severe damage and winching up the entire way:

but of course the R1T doesn't have a winch :-(

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