Finished R2 demo test drive? Share your review / impressions

[emroch]

Frunk struts do not open any further than where they rest after the auto open; someone mentioned or asked about this before. It is a little shallow of an angle then one might expect, but I don't foresee any issues it.

This is not true. You can push the hood open further by hand. It takes a little bit of force, so it feels like it's stopping you, but it definitely works. Here are two photos of the natural auto-open position and the true max position:

Sponsored

 

[goldburger]

Going from an R1 immediately into an R2 is jarring. The size is so much smaller. It feels like a smaller car, but I didn’t have my seat position as high as typically like it.

Not a fan of driver display size— squat and long with an abnormally large bezel. Really hated the track wheels I couldn’t get the hang of it at all. I’m sure I would have but it felt so over-engineered. The two glove boxes are nice I guess but I’ve lived without one since 2022 not sure what I’d even put in them. The back window touch button barely worked and the window wouldn’t close. Tiny frunk. Rear cargo is decent, but I always keep the third row down in my R1 so I’d be losing a decent amount.

it’s only $300 less a month than my R1 lease, not sure I’ll make the change.

 

[Jeremy3292]

This is not true. You can push the hood open further by hand. It takes a little bit of force, so it feels like it's stopping you, but it definitely works. Here are two photos of the natural auto-open position and the true max position:

Ok, I stand corrected then. I tried pushing on it and it didn’t move so idk how much force is required. I didn’t want to break it of course.

 

[IvanSlow]

Reserved a test drive for today, but not for me. My wife is the average height American woman, 5' 3", and is so uncomfortable driving my R1T that she has only done so once. She loves her 2011 RAV 4, but it is very near the end of its life. Took her to see the exterior of R2 in Palo Alto, but it looked to her so much like the R1S that she was not interested. She felt very comfortable driving the R2. In fact, she loves the way it drives, handles, the visibility, and even warmed to some of the tech. My review is that even with a 34" inseam, I really liked the back seat.

 

[mdpa]

Reserved a test drive for today, but not for me. My wife is the average height American woman, 5' 3", and is so uncomfortable driving my R1T that she has only done so once. She loves her 2011 RAV 4, but it is very near the end of its life. Took her to see the exterior of R2 in Palo Alto, but it looked to her so much like the R1S that she was not interested. She felt very comfortable driving the R2. In fact, she loves the way it drives, handles, the visibility, and even warmed to some of the tech. My review is that even with a 34" inseam, I really liked the back seat.

If she doesn’t intend to go offroad, she should at least try a Tesla Model Y. Much more car like, so a different experience. I like the way both of them drive, but they are very different in feel and approach.

 

[IvanSlow]

If she doesn’t intend to go offroad, she should at least try a Tesla Model Y. Much more car like, so a different experience. I like the way both of them drive, but they are very different in feel and approach.

True, I took my first ride in a Y this week, very impressed. And wife will not be off-roading. But, it's a car. Wife likes sitting up above cars, has come to enjoy the visibility down the road. The NYT article about pedestrian deaths & injuries due to ever-increasing height of vehicles has something to do with this. Wife's visibility out the windows compared to 2011 RAV 4 made her feel confident that she could still see bikes/peds and also see down the road, even with all the Silverados and F250s around.

 

[Mos Eisley]

This is not true. You can push the hood open further by hand. It takes a little bit of force, so it feels like it's stopping you, but it definitely works. Here are two photos of the natural auto-open position and the true max position:

I appreciate the example; only wondering if "can"= "should"

 

[emroch]

I appreciate the example; only wondering if "can"= "should"

The hinge is clearly capable of it. The "wings" at the back of the hood clear the cowl easily, so it feels intentional. But to your point I have no idea if the gas struts are designed to tolerate this on a regular basis. I don't recall reading about it in the manual, but it would be nice if they mentioned it one way or another.

 

[Mos Eisley]

The hinge is clearly capable of it. The "wings" at the back of the hood clear the cowl easily, so it feels intentional. But to your point I have no idea if the gas struts are designed to tolerate this on a regular basis. I don't recall reading about it in the manual, but it would be nice if they mentioned it one way or another.

Yeah- it’s the struts I wonder about.

 

[ben24]

Did the test drive yesterday. Didn’t test the tech that much. Never had an EV, so I just concentrate on driving. Too many things to like so I’ll just mention what I didn’t like. Right glove box is taped cause it won’t close. When I accelerated hard, my wife immediately tried to grab on a grab handle, which is missing. Our Corolla have it. She feels like the seats are thin. I’ll get the launch edition, if no longer available, I’ll go for the premium.

 

[rbdavis808]

Our test drive yesterday was a smashing success: my wife decided that (i) she can live with enforced OPD and (ii) she's down with Forest Green after seeing several R1 FGs parked in the lot! (Still not sure I don't prefer CC, but FG is no worse than a very close second with me and way better than all the other choices.)

Nothing else major to report that hasn't already been extensively chewed over here, besides which the allotted drive times are so short it's hard to do deep experimentation with anything. Here in Honolulu that problem's exacerbated by the lack of a non-demo showroom model (there's no space as the 'showroom' isn't much more than a waiting room for service visits), so any time you want to spend poking around the vehicle slamming the doors, goofing with the scroll wheels, etc., comes out of your 30-minute demo window. It was not crazy hard to get a time slot here (inaccessibility to non-locals otherwise willing to drive from 3 hours away?), so I expect to re-demo many times between now and when our Premium/RAP1+LIDAR even becomes orderable.

I still have sunroof concerns but don't see them as insuperable for our particular circumstances. At the time of our noon drive, with the car almost certainly in the sun all morning, the glass was extremely warm if not quite too hot to touch. The sales guy expressed skepticism that XPEL tinting would void the warranty but suggested I call a national Rivian support number to confirm, which I will certainly do. Probably more significantly, though, we've tentatively decided to down-hoard to return our garage to 2-car usability, so the car will at least never be parked at home outside which would otherwise provide the vast majority of total sun exposure.

My other concerns about the car (mostly the odd radio and MP3 player deficiencies) also remain but are not disqualifying when balanced against the car's many compelling positives. Unless I read a lot more reports here of new deliveries being hauled back to the shop on a flatbed between now and Premium/RAP1+LIDAR production time we're probably good to go!

 

[Just Passing By]

This is not true. You can push the hood open further by hand. It takes a little bit of force, so it feels like it's stopping you, but it definitely works. Here are two photos of the natural auto-open position and the true max position:

Perhaps either deliberate or a happy accident that enables those of shorter stature/limited reach to be able to close the hood, while still allowing those of taller stature the ability to open up further to avoid braining themselves on a lower hood position.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I appreciate the example; only wondering if "can"= "should"

Same deal with the spare tire bay in the R1T. The hinges only open up to about 45 degrees naturally. If you are storing stuff in there, it's perfect. It'll open the full 90 degrees if you push on it to be able to get a spare out.

 

[Tom(myBoy)]

As I mentioned in my post after my demo a week+ ago, we are looking for a “compelling proposition.”
To that end, I am looking at the charge curves over 80%.

So far, I am seeing that they drop significantly for many other models.
- What is the drop down for the R2 above 80%?
- How does this for the R2 compare to other 400 & 800v architecture models?

please feel free to point me to data via links. Thx

 

[Jeremy3292]

As I mentioned in my post after my demo a week+ ago, we are looking for a “compelling proposition.”
To that end, I am looking at the charge curves over 80%.

So far, I am seeing that they drop significantly for many other models.
- What is the drop for the R:2 above 80%?
- How does the R2 compare to other 400 & 800v architecture models?

please feel free to point me to data via links. Thx

Every EV tapers heavily at 80% whether 400v or 800v, unless you live in China. 800v is faster 10 to 80% than 400v but everything slows down at 80% not bc of heat but bc cell capacity is nearly full. R2 appears to be as good as any 400v vehicle is capable of. If you want faster you’ll have to buy an 800v vehicle.

One YouTube video did 6% to 78% in 28 minutes. I am thinking you can do 10 to 70% in around 20 minutes. From what I’ve seen R2 tapers heavily after around 73%.

Sponsored