R1S mules - what are they testing?

[Cactusone]

People are seeing R1S mules still cruising around even as they (reportedly) enter production, any idea what they are testing? Driver+ would be my guess or is it something else? On the pessimistic side, are they still fine tuning the R1S at this late stage prior to release to the public? Is there some issue causing a delay that requires road testing? Seems like the media would be getting invites by now to test drive if it was 100% ready, or no?

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[electruck]

They will be fine tuning even after start of production. Just look at the R1T and the feedback coming in from customers and reviewers such as Out Of Spec. Whether there is anything that would delay production is anybody's guess. The R1S is so similar to the R1T that it seems unlikely there would be are any big tuning surprises at this point. Supply chain, however, is a completely different situation.

 

[dleewla]

yeah, they should continue to test. at the very least, they would be testing any software updates. under the hood, they could also be testing improvements for the next gen R1T/R1S

 

[Taycanfrank]

Everything. There are still R1T "mules" operating, I'm sure, it's just no one cares because there are customer cars on the road.

You might as well have someone driving them around rather than parking them in a lot or destroying them.

 

[Dark-Fx]

The patience of anyone with one on order.

 

[Speedrye]

While similar to the R1T, the shorter wheelbase alone will require different coding for suspension tuning, traction control, stability control, drive modes, powertrain management, etc. Hopefully they're fine tuning all of that and not just playing with the radio, haha.

Maybe they're testing their new in-house motors instead of the Bosch units. No telling what test mules are testing sometimes.

 

[R1Sky Business]

drain

 

[shamoo]

From my personal experience (knowing people who work there), the R1S around Irvine (Southern California) are primarily employees driving for personal reasons. Most of the management has access to vehicles whenever they want and they are signed out.

They do have to provide feedback to the engineers but most of the time it is just employees driving around after work.

Is that all of them? Probably not, as I'm sure there are "test mules" everywhere, including the ones I've seen.

 

[Sdvictor]

While similar to the R1T, the shorter wheelbase alone will require different coding for suspension tuning, traction control, stability control, drive modes, powertrain management, etc. Hopefully they're fine tuning all of that and not just playing with the radio, haha.

Maybe they're testing their new in-house motors instead of the Bosch units. No telling what test mules are testing sometimes.

I came here to say this. A ton of people (not all) don't realize that a wheelbase change effectively changes the handling characteristics of a vehicle entirely.

There was one case years ago where Consumer Reports tested the stability control of a truck, and it would constantly break the stability control and lose control of the vehicle. They realized that it was tuned for a slightly different vehicle that had a different wheelbase on the same platform. The manufacturer had to do a TSB and update the software. Most companies these days are smarter than that and have to fine tune whenever their vehicles as the wheel base and body styles change.

When you shorten a wheelbase, and don't do anything else; it can make a vehicle "twitchy" and "Skittish". It will definitely change the ride feel (typically less smooth the shorter the wheelbase) and handling.

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