R1 Strut Damper Assembly - Teardown Video

[onesoil]

One of them lived in Kazakhstan for a good chunk of his life before working for Land Rover and then Rivian.

Well then perhaps he was forced to make some concessions with the design that probably frustrated him at the time, or when/if he’s lived with the choices made through any serious extended winter conditions (especially any meaningful time at/below 0°). Some lf these things wouldn’t necessarily be apparent until they have been lived with for enough time, and will hopefully be improved by Gen 3, or whenever there’s a more major platform overhaul.

But of course I’m just speculating… and have assumed that some of the decisions couldn’t possibly have been made by someone who has lived through a full winter like we sometimes have. I’d love to ask this designer/engineer (or whomever you’re referring to) why the windshield wipers freeze up so badly, why the defrost can’t keep up with frozen/refreezing precip, or why it is that the headlights sometimes ice up and require one to physically de-ice frequently in the right (or wrong conditions). Or why it is that the wipers don’t automatically go into wiper service mode when you park and the truck is in Snow Mode. Or why they omitted to run a wiper fluid line to the rear camera in the R1T (and/or have brighter reverse lights so you can actually use the mirrors). Or why when they finally added climate keep, they kneecapped the implementation by requiring you to reset the clock each time you cycle from drive to park and back again (especially annoying when it’s -10° and you’re in and out of your truck de-icing your windshield wipers )—this last one being a decision made by a whole different team, of course. Or how about why the flashlight has four nubs that feel very similar, one of which is the button, and 3 of which aren’t (highly specific, I know, but to me somewhat of a microcosm for some of the many form-over-function design decisions made with these vehicles). Or any number of design decisions I don’t understand or agree with… but I digress. And they didn’t ask me, nor has Rivian been particularly open to receiving my feedback.

Regardless of who was responsible for/where the designing/engineering occurred, I feel that the final product is fairly flawed unless you park in a heated garage or live in warmer climates. And I’m sure I’m not alone (as in, I know many people with Rivians in VT who share similar complaints). So that would either point to poor execution, insufficient testing, lack of relevant experience, excessive compromise or inadequate prioritization of relevant features, inexperience living in harsher climates, or some combination of all of the above.

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