Finished R2 demo test drive? Share your review / impressions

[Timbuk2000]

I just finished a first drive in the R2 at the Rivian South Coast Theater in Laguna Beach CA. Wow! I currently drive a Gen 2 R1S Quad and previously owned a Gen 1 R1S Quad. The R2 suspension in the Performance Edition is excellent. Plenty of power. Love the power window in the rear. First day reservation. Probably going with the Catalina Cove and 20” tires.
PS: I am jealous of the 2 glove boxes.

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[mpw81]

denver space let me take it out by myself. It's a little tough with that location because it takes a while to get anywhere that doesn't have a stop sign every 2 blocks. Funny enough I just ended up heading over near the service center because I didn't want to get on the highway this time of day.

Really impressed. I used the 5x button a few times and was rolling through RINO with all the windows open even though it's 90 out today.

 

[morph860]

Just got back from my demo drive in St. Augustine, FL. They had three R2's there. All of them had the 21'' wheels but they had the 20'' on display inside. They had Half Moon in the showroom with White and Catalina Cove available for demos.

It was pretty slow in the showroom. We had plenty of time to explore the model they had in there. The demo ride was a pre-determined route (Rivian to Bass Pro and back if you are planning on going to this location). We just did a demo on an R1S over the weekend so it was nice to be able to compare the two. I know I don't drive an R1 every day, but I don't feel like they cheaped out with the R2. Everything still felt very solid. I was hoping the R2 didn't look like a mini-SUV or crossover in person and I don't think it did. It's about the size of a WK2 Grand Cherokee. Maybe a tad lower. My wife took a few pictures of one parked next to a 4 door Wrangler. If you include the spare tire on the back of the Wrangler, it's right around the same length. Just a little lower to the ground. Not excessively low. You definitely don't feel like you're sitting on the floor when you get into it.

The haptic wheels will definitely take a bit to get used to. I thought the sound system was above average - even though I only got to listen to FM radio. Not great. But definitely better than a lot of other vehicles I've been in. The pre-sets in the equalizer were nice. I'm sure Sirius or Apple Music would have sounded a lot better.

The rear window button on the outside of the vehicle was giving people some issues in the showroom. It didn't seem to be very consistent. The button on the inside near the mirror worked fine.

The trunk does NOT have the ability to be programmed to a specific opening height. But you can stop it manually by pressing the close button. And it'll stay in that position until you close it. Would be nice if they could make it programmable in a future software update. If I pulled into my garage and opened it without stopping it, it would definitely hit the backside of the garage door.

Other people in the showroom were struggling with getting the frunk to close. Seems like people were afraid to slam it. If you close it the same way you'd close a traditional hood, it works fine. Just make sure your fingers aren't in the way when it closes the rest of the way on its own.

Overall, I thought it drove great. Lots of space. I'm 6'2''. I put the drivers seat all the way back and I was able to sit right behind it very comfortably. The MagSafe chargers were nice. No issues with an iPhone 17 Pro. With it only being my 2nd time in a Rivian, I thought the main screen was easy to navigate. I preferred the setup of the display over what was in the R1S.

Didn't make my reservation until a few weeks ago, so I'm sure I won't be able to get one for a while. But still have some time left on my Wrangler 4xe lease anyways. I didn't notice anything that would stop me from ordering one when the time comes around. Just want to try to see a Launch Green one in person so that I can make a decision between that and Catalina Cove.

As a longtime Jeep owner, this feels like an upgraded hybrid between a Wrangler and a Grand Cherokee. Way better quality. Way less road noise than a Wrangler. Way less rattling than a Grand Cherokee. It's what the Recon should be. I'm sure they'll fumble that one too.

Forgot to look at the door sticker to see what the GVWR is. Did they end up keeping these over 6,000?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

A few reviews I skimmed said the same thing about the halos... that it will probablly take some learning to "click" without accidentally rotate at the same time. Just from looking at images, this accidental rotation could probably be avoided if your hands are being enough that you brace the scroller with your fingers (at the back side) as you thumb it inward or outward.

 

[morph860]

Hot take: we haven't test driven a vehicle in ages.

Same. We usually just buy another Jeep. But I'm officially done with Stellantis after the 4xe experiment.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Forgot to look at the door sticker to see what the GVWR is. Did they end up keeping these over 6,000?

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-capacity-charging-rate-efficiency-etc.57814/

6,173 lbs as shown in EPA certification

 

[dleepnw]

Just back from my drive, very impressed with how put together and polished the vehicle is. Catalina Cove is gorgeous! But my salesmen told me Costal Cloud won't be available until August and no launch editions will come with it. So I will wait for that. I did log into Apple Music, the stereo is good but not great in my opinion (Model Y is great). The sub seems to be in the lower front dash area, I felt it washed out some of the mids/highs and the sub drops out when over 20 (system goes to 30). Should of designed it to be at the rear of the vehicle.

Interesting. That would mean Launch Editions will be completed by August. So roughly 2 months of LE vehicles being delivered. Doesn't seem like they will make that many.

 

[Eric9610]

Interesting. That would mean Launch Editions will be completed by August. So roughly 2 months of LE vehicles being delivered. Doesn't seem like they will make that many.

I think the real question is, Is August the cutoff for orders or deliveries. I can see it being the cutoff for ordering but not delivery. If you say August is the cutoff for orders, add 6 weeks then you are in Oct / Nov.

 

[Utah-Jay]

Made my demo reservation this morning, as with several others my app showed an R1S demo, so I called the Salt Lake SC and left a message that I was interested in the R2 demo drive. Several hours later I received a text from the SC and he said in fact my demo reservation did say R1S, but he said just show up at 2:30 and they would work me in. I gotta say this was amazing. I showed up a bit early and got to see the only R2 they had, it was Coastal Cove Blue, 21” wheels with the A/S tires. I got to check it out prior to the driver ahead of me and was very pleasantly surprised as I was worried it was going to be too small.


For reference, I am 6’2” 205 pounds and was wearing some cushioned athletic shoes with insoles…


The first thing I did was open the trunk and stood under the raised tailgate, I did not have to duck or slouch at all to stand under it. That was a win for sure. I next opened the frunk and as expected it was pretty small, no golf clubs are going in there, but it is perfect for grocery bags, backpacks and the like. Closing it was as expected, just a bit of pressure once it was down and the self latching mechanism worked perfectly.


Once it was my turn a sales/demo guy got in the R2 with me to get everything setup, i.e. seat, mirrors, vents. He also set up the drive settings, I went with All Purpose, and high regen, he was a bit reluctant to give me the high regen as I am not an experienced EV driver, but this was important to me. He gave me a suggested route which included some highway driving as well as regular streets. I was a bit surprised he was not coming with me.


So off I went, it was easy to navigate the screens even while driving using both the steering wheel and the main screen. The music was set on Bluetooth but of course it would not let me connect my phone while driving as the car has to be in Park. For the record, I thought the sound system was very good. I got to a traffic light, put it in park and boom connected my iPhone in a matter of seconds even not being familiar with the OS. I do rent a lot of cars for work though. I instantly put my SiriusXM app on and had no problem listening to XM, I see that as a huge win.


R2 drove amazing, yes it has tons of power. Steering was very responsive, visibility was awesome. I loved the visual information when I used the turn indicator.


Bottom line, I was thoroughly impressed with every aspect of the vehicle.


I have driven 10’s of BMW’s and Mercedes, a Maserati’s, lots of Audi’s, a Lucid, many VW’s, Grand Wagoneer’s and every other thing you can imagine for a guy that rents cars 20+ weeks a year, owned several tricked out Tahoe’s, Suburban’s. I can say I have not driven a better car. Sure my current Mini Countryman is better on winding mountain roads, but that is the only thing I can see the R2 not getting top marks for. That being said I was not on any mountain roads to test it out.


We (it will be my wife’s car) do not drove off road, so that is not a big deal to me/us. She is out of town, but after hearing my synopsis of my experience she is gonna demo it next week.

Edited to add: The ride as very good even on the sometimes rough roads in Salt Lake City, and the phone charger grabbed my phone right away and was immediately charging.

 

[dleepnw]

Does anyone know if the R2 has underbody skid plates and if so what materials they are?

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

Echoing everything above.

I'm a long term Tesla owner without R1 experience (outside of demo drives) and I was pleasantly surprised with the aggressiveness of regen. In the latest 3 & Y software updates, Tesla seemed to have toned down regen and I appreciated having the options of a high regen mode.

That’s good to hear. I drive a Model 3 currently (getting an R2 in 2027) and I hate that they toned down the regen. I have to use the brakes way more now.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

no golf clubs are going in there

Good thing you have internet and on this site: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-area-my-tested-photos-from-demo-drive.59959/

 

[Utah-Jay]

Good thing you have internet and on this site: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-area-my-tested-photos-from-demo-drive.59959/

Well I stand corrected

 

[DaveA]

Ugh. Why is this simple tech such an achilles heal for them

Worked fine for me even with a case that was not MagSafe. Takes a second to get it locked in.

 

[DuoRivian]

Just back from a good session at the KoP, PA space. They have two Catalina Cove models - one in the space and one for test drive. They didn’t accompany me for the test drive. As said by others spacious, well built. Unable to test NVH as much as I would like but motors quieter than Gen 2 R1 quad.

Driver screen is much smaller than I thought and would take a little getting used too.

Was told a new service and delivery center is coming to Colmar (Bucks county) next year which has many more parking spots than Malvern so that will help.

The person at the space also looked up where I was in line and said that I was due to get an order email in 1-2 weeks. I reserved one hour after reservations opened. He said Rivian were starting with the first 15 minutes, then the next 15 minutes, then an hour, then a day and going out from there.

I had been going back and fore on colors and seeing the Catalina Cove and the 20” wheels helped make my choice. They will get a Glacier White one for test drive next week.

Overall impressed but the R1 is still a cut above, as it should be for the price.

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