R1S Offroading at Hollister Hills with BARC (Bay Area Rivian Club)

[twraps]

Hey folks

Sharing another off-roading fun. It was a last minute decision to go off-roading at Hollister Hills SVRA this Saturday, and CJ and Marco from the Bay Area Rivian Club joined. CJ unfortunately couldn't stay long so hopefully next time...

Another one of these where you look at an obstacle wondering if you can do it, only to conclude "Oh, it seems the Rivian couldn't care less." after you're done That feeling doesn't get old.

Here is a 10min video... mostly narrated by my never-closing-his-mouth 6 year old son (I did cut A LOT of him talking though) It was either that, silence or no video at all, so here we go.


PS. For the record, I am using Pirelli Scorpion XTM AT tires on 22" Range wheels.
PPS. Yes I do like them! And no, they aren't loud. Yes you do take some 15% range hit as with any AT tire. Totally recommend them!

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[savethemanual]

Good times!

 

[SwampNut]

PS. For the record, I am using Pirelli Scorpion XTM AT tires on 22" Range wheels.
PPS. Yes I do like them! And no, they aren't loud. Yes you do take some 15% range hit as with any AT tire. Totally recommend them!

Did you air down? I always wonder if the short sidewalls on 22s do much when aired down. When I go offroad, I do miss my 15 or 17" Jeep wheels.

 

[twraps]

Did you air down? I always wonder if the short sidewalls on 22s do much when aired down. When I go offroad, I do miss my 15 or 17" Jeep wheels.

Yes, aired down to 36psi.

Fun fact - after we were done and airing back up, the compressor didn't turn off at 48psi for some reason, and we only noticed it when it was 76psi or so. We immediately stopped it and aired down to 48psi but I am amazed that the tires didn't blow up.

 

[SwampNut]

Tires can take a lot. I've seen passenger car tires rated under 40 that were inflated to 100. It's interesting to see 36 as an air-down, when my Jeep tires ran that as street pressure and 12-14 aired down. I run the Rivian down to 24 (20" tires rated for 44 street).

The compressor has to be turned on in a certain way to make it auto-stop. It easily defaults to running without stopping. Check the manual, as I can't recall the steps without being in front of it. But I believe that the blinking numbers means auto-stop and solid is stay on. Funny that I use it a lot, but my brain can't speak how, only knows how if I look at it.

 

[twraps]

Tires can take a lot. I've seen passenger car tires rated under 40 that were inflated to 100. It's interesting to see 36 as an air-down, when my Jeep tires ran that as street pressure and 12-14 aired down. I run the Rivian down to 24 (20" tires rated for 44 street).

The compressor has to be turned on in a certain way to make it auto-stop. It easily defaults to running without stopping. Check the manual, as I can't recall the steps without being in front of it. But I believe that the blinking numbers means auto-stop and solid is stay on. Funny that I use it a lot, but my brain can't speak how, only knows how if I look at it.

Haha I fear that if I went much under 36psi they would just separate from the rims. But in all fairness, the off-roading went amazingly well. We did NOT go to black trails (the hardest) but we did several blue trails (medium difficulty) without issues. In this park there is a Rubicon style rock crawling area too, but I didn't feel like destroying my R1S that day.

As for the compressor - it's actually not mine... I don't have a built-in compressor in my R1S and funny enough I forgot my DeWalt portable compressor at home Marco (the other R1S that was with me the entire time) had the kind that inflates all 4 tires at the same time so we were using his the entire time.

 

[SwampNut]

Haha I fear that if I went much under 36psi they would just separate from the rims.

Breaking a bead is far less likely with your lower profile tires. I would like to run under 22-24 myself, but fear that I could be risking it. I don't have any experience off-roading with anything larger than 17s before the Rivian.

 

[natcc99]

Hey! That's awesome.
I was planning on going to Hollister, but plans changed. I might have saw you if I went. Looks like there was a lot of traffic that day.

The beginning of the video scared me. I suggest waiting for the first guy to finish the hill before you start going.

By the way, there is an air station near the spot where you purchased your day pass. It's much faster and you don't have to wrap up the long air hose afterwards.

I'm glad you got to enjoy Hollister. You need to go back because we are getting rain this week.

 

[twraps]

Hey! That's awesome.
I was planning on going to Hollister, but plans changed. I might have saw you if I went. Looks like there was a lot of traffic that day.

The beginning of the video scared me. I suggest waiting for the first guy to finish the hill before you start going.

By the way, there is an air station near the spot where you purchased your day pass. It's much faster and you don't have to wrap up the long air hose afterwards.

I'm glad you got to enjoy Hollister. You need to go back because we are getting rain this week.

I am very new to off-roading (this was my 3rd time) with no formal training so I am learning on the go. I learned that about the hills, in all fairness this one was actually before entering the park and super easy (we weren't aired down or in all terrain mode even), but yes, going forward I was more mindful of my distance when climbing hills. I know CJ teaches off-roading at Hollister and if it wasn't 2.5hrs drive for me (each way!) I'd gladly join his class so I get some boost in my skills & knowledge...but these 5 hours total commute are a killer :/

As for going back - most certainly! I hope to go back in December, weather dependent. Before that, I am planning on trying Pismo beach next month as we're going to Manhattan beach to visit a friend anyway, so Pismo is almost on the way

 

[SwampNut]

I've been off roading in one way/vehicle or another for most of my life. There's nothing wrong with having the pack close on hills unless there's a real risk of someone having to back up, or sliding. Nothing you did that day was anywhere near risky. I've spent hours and hours on trails like that in a tight group.

 

[natcc99]

I am very new to off-roading (this was my 3rd time) with no formal training so I am learning on the go.

There is no harm into that. I'm learning something new all the time and why I enjoy the off-roading community. Almost everyone that I have met has been kind and helpful. They have a "leave no one behind" mentality.

I'm glad you're taking your vehicle out and getting it dirty. Not only are you enjoying your Rivian with your family, but it can also provide a true road test for your wrap and windshield film.

 

[feifan]

Around 4:53, the front-passenger wheel spins backwards as you're going forwards. That's surprising behavior …
and I don't think you're in a quad, so you only have one front motor …
any idea how and why it's doing that?

 

[twraps]

Around 4:53, the front-passenger wheel spins backwards as you're going forwards. That's surprising behavior …
and I don't think you're in a quad, so you only have one front motor …
any idea how and why it's doing that?

It was extremely slippery. My wife was going out every now and then to spot for me + shoot some videos, and she said it felt like walking on ice. So there were several slippages like that. With that said, I've noticed that even though I have a Dual Motor, the car would apply breaks to wheels that shouldn't spin and leave the others, kind of like locking differentials but with software & breaks.

 

[SwampNut]

Around 4:53, the front-passenger wheel spins backwards as you're going forwards. That's surprising behavior …
and I don't think you're in a quad, so you only have one front motor …
any idea how and why it's doing that?

If he had a quad, it couldn't do that. It can do it because there's a differential, which is splitting power between the motor and both wheels. You can do this on a normal vehicle with an exposed driveshaft: Hold the shaft, and turn a wheel. The other wheel spins backwards. What likely happened is that the motor was stopped (didn't need forward power), and the left side went forward, causing the right side to go backwards.

Iliya, did you have it in the tallest suspension setting? It looks like it to me, and you shouldn't use that when you need articulation. You only use it when you need clearance. It makes the suspension very non-compliant. You want the second-highest mode, which keeps all the suspension motion, and helps keep the tires on the ground.

 

[twraps]

If he had a quad, it couldn't do that. It can do it because there's a differential, which is splitting power between the motor and both wheels. You can do this on a normal vehicle with an exposed driveshaft: Hold the shaft, and turn a wheel. The other wheel spins backwards. What likely happened is that the motor was stopped (didn't need forward power), and the left side went forward, causing the right side to go backwards.

Iliya, did you have it in the tallest suspension setting? It looks like it to me, and you shouldn't use that when you need articulation. You only use it when you need clearance. It makes the suspension very non-compliant. You want the second-highest mode, which keeps all the suspension motion, and helps keep the tires on the ground.

Throughout most of the off-roading I kept it at High (not Highest). On this particular part though I put it on Highest as the clearance was a close call just moments before on the climb up. In all fairness, that obstacle looked scary before attempting it, the other person I was with - Marco - decided to not do it...but my wife gave me the clear so if I broke it, it won't be my fault that we need to upgrade to a Quad

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