rraj2k81
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- Joined
- Apr 25, 2021
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- Location
- Burlington, Ontario.
- Vehicles
- 2022 Tesla Model S LR
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- #1
So I finally had a chance to get my demo/test drive done today.
I got into a Rivian Blue R1S with OC and the AT tires.
After three years of waiting here is what I thought of this vehicle.
Things that I liked and that genuinely surprised me:
1. Ocean Coast - One of if not the best interiors I have had experienced in vegan/non-leather/renewable material class interiors. It's no where near anything the Germans are doing, but below that, it's deinitely one of the most unique and best looking/feeling interiors. It feels unique, different, spacious and airy.
2. The Turning Radius - I don't know how many else feel this way, but for a vehicle of this size, it has a really sharp turning circle. I was able to make some quick u-turns and three-point-turns, which really surprised me.
3. Spacious Interior - While any vehicle in this class would be very spacious, between OC and how they made use of this space, it's a very airy and spacious interior.
Things that need work, but I can live with in its current form:
1. Driver+ - 'When' it engages, it's as good as Tesla's autopilot and a very confident system. There were even little surprises, like how it recognized lane merges, which even the Tesla AP does not recognize
But as I have mentioned before here, Rivian needs to decouple the Active Steering functionality from the mapped highway and allow Drriver+ to fully engage on any road.
I like the fact that Driver+ would re-engage after I did a lane change, but it would only re-engage after I center the vehicle. I wish it would just re-engage as soon as the lane change is done without waiting to straighten and center the vehicle. If the vehicle has gotten between two lanes, just engage and recenter the car like AP does.
If I were to compare this to Tesla's AP, I would give this a 6/10, but I can live with it.
2. The Rivian Audio System - This is not the best system I have heard nor would I say it's the worst system. I would say it's a middle of the pack system. The system is loud and clean, but there were a few issues for my ears.
There was a hollowness/mirkiness in some of the mid/high tones, with a flat EQ.
And the bass had a very non-liner feel to it. Not sure how I can explain it, but it felt out of place. I am not a big thumpy/boomy bass person, but I like bass when it accompanies the music, but in this system the bass felt little bit out of place and boomy in places.
I would imagine both of these could be smoothened out.
The biggest issue I had was, vocals/voice was not coming from the centre channel. I was having a hard time getting a proper stereo stage, with a center voice channel. The voice was alwas from the left and right channels and I am not a fan of that. I had all the surround processing turned off and the audio position set to center. Not sure what else I could do, but I need to give this another try.
The Tesla sounds system IMO is a far better system, it is not as loud as the Rivian, but it has better fidelity than the Rivian.
But, again not a deal breaker, I can live with it.
3. The Displays - There are couple of niggling issues with the displays
The center display is placed with a slight slant away from the driver and this was kind of annoying, because the furthest corner of the display is quite a reach because of this. This probably would not have been noticable had I not been driving with a display that can be fully tilted towards the driver.
The driver display resolution is not very crisp. I can easily notice the low resolution animations, especially the 'Rivian' in the display which you can easily notice the jagged animations. I do wish Rivian would enhance the resolution of the graphics in the driver display. Hopefully this is not a limitation on the display itself.
4. Tire/Road Noise - Damn this thing is loud. I had to turn up the music to drown out a lot of the tire noise. The tire noise started getting louder as early as when I hit 100 kmh and I noticed I was dropping my speed because of this.
Deal Breakers:
Now comes the part that really disappointed me and has become a bit of a deal breaker for me.
There is no better way to say it, but the suspension tuning, drive quality and drive dynamics are a let down.
Drive Dynamics
First, this thing is a heavy vehicle and it drives like a 7000lb vehicle. This weight most definitely influences its driving dynamics and in no way does it drive like a sport car. I guess based on what people have said how it drove like a sports car, I had high expectations, but 7000lbs is not going to defy physics.
Getting back into my Model S after the test drive, flet like getting into a go kart after driving the R1S.
Suspension Tuning/Drive Quality
The next let down is the suspension and ride quality. The R1S was very jarry and rough in it's stiff suspension and on the other end bouncy and wallowy in the soft setting. And there wasn't a single in between that made the S drive any better. No combination of drive mode and ride/suspension setting made the R1S drive any better. The only time it rode somewhat smooth was when I was on a smooth stretch of highway tarmac.
I took it into a not so smooth parking lot, where the surface had quite a few potholes and speed bumps , and the R1S was driving as if it was driving through the Rockies. No suspension setting would smoothen out the drive.
The only thing is, the vehicle I test drove had the ATs and that could have contributed to a lot of the bounciness and road noise. I have another test drive scheduled later this month, when the guide said they would have the 22 sports back on. So I will see how different the ride becomes.
But, if this is the ride quality, Rivian needs to go back to the drawing board and re-engineer the entire suspension tuning, because what I test drove did not feel like the advanced Mclaren esque suspension they have been going on about. Just feels like some body threw in some springs and called it a day.
If I had to give some comparison to the driving dynamics and suspension, I would say the Tesla has better suspension and driving dynamics for a 5000lbs car than what the Rivian has for a 7000lb SUV.
For any one who is going to say it's apples and oranges comparison, the Tesla is better at being an apple than Rivian is being an orange, when it comes to driving dynamics and suspension tuning.
I got into a Rivian Blue R1S with OC and the AT tires.
After three years of waiting here is what I thought of this vehicle.
Things that I liked and that genuinely surprised me:
1. Ocean Coast - One of if not the best interiors I have had experienced in vegan/non-leather/renewable material class interiors. It's no where near anything the Germans are doing, but below that, it's deinitely one of the most unique and best looking/feeling interiors. It feels unique, different, spacious and airy.
2. The Turning Radius - I don't know how many else feel this way, but for a vehicle of this size, it has a really sharp turning circle. I was able to make some quick u-turns and three-point-turns, which really surprised me.
3. Spacious Interior - While any vehicle in this class would be very spacious, between OC and how they made use of this space, it's a very airy and spacious interior.
Things that need work, but I can live with in its current form:
1. Driver+ - 'When' it engages, it's as good as Tesla's autopilot and a very confident system. There were even little surprises, like how it recognized lane merges, which even the Tesla AP does not recognize
But as I have mentioned before here, Rivian needs to decouple the Active Steering functionality from the mapped highway and allow Drriver+ to fully engage on any road.
I like the fact that Driver+ would re-engage after I did a lane change, but it would only re-engage after I center the vehicle. I wish it would just re-engage as soon as the lane change is done without waiting to straighten and center the vehicle. If the vehicle has gotten between two lanes, just engage and recenter the car like AP does.
If I were to compare this to Tesla's AP, I would give this a 6/10, but I can live with it.
2. The Rivian Audio System - This is not the best system I have heard nor would I say it's the worst system. I would say it's a middle of the pack system. The system is loud and clean, but there were a few issues for my ears.
There was a hollowness/mirkiness in some of the mid/high tones, with a flat EQ.
And the bass had a very non-liner feel to it. Not sure how I can explain it, but it felt out of place. I am not a big thumpy/boomy bass person, but I like bass when it accompanies the music, but in this system the bass felt little bit out of place and boomy in places.
I would imagine both of these could be smoothened out.
The biggest issue I had was, vocals/voice was not coming from the centre channel. I was having a hard time getting a proper stereo stage, with a center voice channel. The voice was alwas from the left and right channels and I am not a fan of that. I had all the surround processing turned off and the audio position set to center. Not sure what else I could do, but I need to give this another try.
The Tesla sounds system IMO is a far better system, it is not as loud as the Rivian, but it has better fidelity than the Rivian.
But, again not a deal breaker, I can live with it.
3. The Displays - There are couple of niggling issues with the displays
The center display is placed with a slight slant away from the driver and this was kind of annoying, because the furthest corner of the display is quite a reach because of this. This probably would not have been noticable had I not been driving with a display that can be fully tilted towards the driver.
The driver display resolution is not very crisp. I can easily notice the low resolution animations, especially the 'Rivian' in the display which you can easily notice the jagged animations. I do wish Rivian would enhance the resolution of the graphics in the driver display. Hopefully this is not a limitation on the display itself.
4. Tire/Road Noise - Damn this thing is loud. I had to turn up the music to drown out a lot of the tire noise. The tire noise started getting louder as early as when I hit 100 kmh and I noticed I was dropping my speed because of this.
Deal Breakers:
Now comes the part that really disappointed me and has become a bit of a deal breaker for me.
There is no better way to say it, but the suspension tuning, drive quality and drive dynamics are a let down.
Drive Dynamics
First, this thing is a heavy vehicle and it drives like a 7000lb vehicle. This weight most definitely influences its driving dynamics and in no way does it drive like a sport car. I guess based on what people have said how it drove like a sports car, I had high expectations, but 7000lbs is not going to defy physics.
Getting back into my Model S after the test drive, flet like getting into a go kart after driving the R1S.
Suspension Tuning/Drive Quality
The next let down is the suspension and ride quality. The R1S was very jarry and rough in it's stiff suspension and on the other end bouncy and wallowy in the soft setting. And there wasn't a single in between that made the S drive any better. No combination of drive mode and ride/suspension setting made the R1S drive any better. The only time it rode somewhat smooth was when I was on a smooth stretch of highway tarmac.
I took it into a not so smooth parking lot, where the surface had quite a few potholes and speed bumps , and the R1S was driving as if it was driving through the Rockies. No suspension setting would smoothen out the drive.
The only thing is, the vehicle I test drove had the ATs and that could have contributed to a lot of the bounciness and road noise. I have another test drive scheduled later this month, when the guide said they would have the 22 sports back on. So I will see how different the ride becomes.
But, if this is the ride quality, Rivian needs to go back to the drawing board and re-engineer the entire suspension tuning, because what I test drove did not feel like the advanced Mclaren esque suspension they have been going on about. Just feels like some body threw in some springs and called it a day.
If I had to give some comparison to the driving dynamics and suspension, I would say the Tesla has better suspension and driving dynamics for a 5000lbs car than what the Rivian has for a 7000lb SUV.
For any one who is going to say it's apples and oranges comparison, the Tesla is better at being an apple than Rivian is being an orange, when it comes to driving dynamics and suspension tuning.
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