R1S impresses on offroad track at MERUS Adventure Park in TX

[R1TCentralMa]

Interesting suggestion YouTube showed me with this video. Someone will relate to, appreciate this more than me..enjoy!!



The guide, park mgmt(CEO - Dirk) owns a Jeep Rubicon on 40s and wants to see if the Rivian can handle their track.

He is genuinely impressed at the end of the video.

Up to 6:39 it is an intro with a walk-through of the Rivian. At 6:39 the Jeep is taken through the first part of the track.

8:11 the R1S is taken through the same section.

17:15 the guide joins the R1 S owner, Ted, and goes through the second part of the track, the V notch section.

Edit: The "guide", is the CEO. My apologies to him, though he may not see this post..

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[Mr. Ham]

Nice. Good share.

 

[DuoRivians]

Great video!

 

[zefram47]

Oof...home dude needs to keep his arm inside the vehicle and both hands on the wheel. Pretty rough on the controls and looked like he came damn close to flopping when he dropped into one of the holes. Looks like he was in Rock Crawl, Highest, and Soft with brake hold On...highest suspension would compromise articulation and soft runs the risk of bottoming out as the wheels hit the ground again after flying. Standard or High would be better for articulation and ride control. Highest should really be reserved for getting out of an obstacle where High wasn't enough. Still fairly impressive. Really cool to see the motor gauges on the uphill, off-camber, articulated climb.

I did discover last summer that it's way easier to negotiate downhill obstacles in Rock Crawl mode with the brake hold turned off because it's just much smoother to use regen and the brake pedal rather than letting the truck try to apply the friction brakes which is anything but smooth at low speed off-road. On rocky obstacles with a descent I found that stiff suspension was better because it minimized bottoming out as you drop off of rocks and such. Soft was fine on less rocky or rutted out sections of trail.

 

[BrentInCO]

@R.I.P. if you care to watch the video, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.

 

[mroe]

Standard or High would be better for articulation and ride control. Highest should really be reserved for getting out of an obstacle where High wasn't enough.

I think most people would incorrectly assume highest = most articulation. The Rivian UI does a bad job at guiding people into the correct off-road setting in this respect.

That said, the difference is ultimately not that big of a deal per this testing:

 

[R.I.P.]

@R.I.P. if you care to watch the video, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.

Well... "10 out of 10 for articulation"...??

Aside from a couple of really dumb comments like that (no I.S. vehicle is ever going to win an articulation contest) It was a nice demo, and definitely played to the QM's strengths; dry, high traction surfaces.

I think the main takeaways from that vid are the impressive approach and departure angles for the vehicle, while highlighting the need for real metal replacements for front and rear bumper/skid surfaces.

 

[crashmtb]

Oof...home dude needs to keep his arm inside the vehicle and both hands on the wheel.

I had to stop watching.

 

[zefram47]

I think most people would incorrectly assume highest = most articulation. The Rivian UI does a bad job at guiding people into the correct off-road setting in this respect.

That said, the difference is ultimately not that big of a deal per this testing:

IIRC, he only tested High and Standard. I rewatched parts of it the other day because he'd just released his Cybertruck video and wanted to compare them. He mentions this in the video, but the problem with air springs is that raising them higher increases the effective spring rate and conversely lowering the ride height also lowers spring rate. Don't get me wrong, I love having the ability to adjust ride height and accept the issues with it, but understanding what's going to work best in various situations is a good idea.

Before the Rivian I had a 4Runner with a 3" lift, armor, and high clearance bumper. The rig was super capable, but a pain to live with day to day...the Rivian is pretty capable for a bone-stock vehicle and does most of what I want out of it without modification. As @R.I.P. said above, I do wish we could get at least a metal lower front bumper skid as that's been the biggest hinderance to playing in the rocks so far. I have sliders ordered, but no ETA on delivery yet.

 

[zefram47]

I had to stop watching.

When he almost flopped I wondered if I was about to see a broken arm too.

 

[mroe]

IIRC, he only tested High and Standard. I rewatched parts of it the other day because he'd just released his Cybertruck video and wanted to compare them. He mentions this in the video, but the problem with air springs is that raising them higher increases the effective spring rate and conversely lowering the ride height also lowers spring rate. Don't get me wrong, I love having the ability to adjust ride height and accept the issues with it, but understanding what's going to work best in various situations is a good idea.

Before the Rivian I had a 4Runner with a 3" lift, armor, and high clearance bumper. The rig was super capable, but a pain to live with day to day...the Rivian is pretty capable for a bone-stock vehicle and does most of what I want out of it without modification. As @R.I.P. said above, I do wish we could get at least a metal lower front bumper skid as that's been the biggest hinderance to playing in the rocks so far. I have sliders ordered, but no ETA on delivery yet.

FWIW the numbers were: 510 in normal, 488 in rock crawl. For those who haven't seen the Cybertruck video, the Rivian wins out:

My R1T also replaced a built out 4Runner (3rd Gen) with a 3" lift. I just put on the Megawatt sliders a few weeks back and they are great. Ready for more technical trails this summer. There's been a few I used to do in the 4Runner that I've been afraid to tackle without more armor.

 

[HaveBlue]

I had a 3rd Gen as well. 33s, skid plates and sliders, fj80 and tundra springs with long travel, dual arb locking difs. We've probably all crossed paths on mud, pirate or 4x4wire.

I have gx470 as well with a lift, sliders and single arb. The Rivian is super capable as an unlocked vehicle. I'm not sure I'd throw serious obstacles at it all day long but the same goes for anything without locking diffs. It's just too hard on the drivetrain under continuous duty but for the average trail ride with some tough spots, the Rivian will eat those up and continue on.

I see the Rivian got some wheel rash. I feel for him as I incurred some on my Rivian as well first time out. Mine is even more vulnerable with 22s. I ran up some hills like that fully crossed up in the dual motor and it cruised right up like it had a locking diff.

 

[iansriv]

This is why I bought the car. The capabilities are amazing. The reason why I only drive it to the office and back is that my capabilities are limited to just that. Brilliant review. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bradburn]

Interesting suggestion YouTube showed me with this video. Someone will relate to, appreciate this more than me..enjoy!!



The guide, park mgmt(CEO - Dirk) owns a Jeep Rubicon on 40s and wants to see if the Rivian can handle their track.

He is genuinely impressed at the end of the video.

Up to 6:39 it is an intro with a walk-through of the Rivian. At 6:39 the Jeep is taken through the first part of the track.

8:11 the R1S is taken through the same section.

17:15 the guide joins the R1 S owner, Ted, and goes through the second part of the track, the V notch section.

Edit: The "guide", is the CEO. My apologies to him, though he may not see this post..

Thanks for sharing. Impressive performance!

 

[R1TCentralMa]

The owner of the S will be posting his thoughts and photos, per his post today.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...ter-cruising-through-technical-terrain.25436/

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