R1T road and driving noise realization

[Donald Stanfield]

Yesterday my uncle came over and we installed the black emblems from Abstract Ocean. He told me to let the truck sit in my climate controlled garage for the rest of the day because of rain and high humidity here so the glue sets.

Well the R1 is pretty much the only vehicle I'm ever in since my purchase in September. We had to take my wife's Audi SQ5 Sportback prestige which was my former daily driver that I wanted to keep when I got my truck since I liked it and didn't want to get rid of it.

After having my R1 driving that thing was like a punishment. Its so much louder and less agile than my R1 I was honestly shocked. I know a large part of that is EV vs ICE not just Rivian but the two aren't even in the same league. That Audi is 80k too so its not like it is cheap crap but comparatively it is. I really gotta get my wife her i4 M50 so I don't have to drive that Audi anymore.

The road noise and engine lag alone make it miserable to drive compared to my truck. Not to mention no one pedal which really destresses a drive.

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[COdogman]

When an SQ5 now sucks in comparison, you know you love your Rivian! I have really loved the one pedal driving so far. I describe it for others and they don't seem to understand how much easier it is.

I know I'm still in the honeymoon phase with mine, but this truck is so smooth I don't know how I could be happy in an ICE vehicle again.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

When an SQ5 now sucks in comparison, you know you love your Rivian! I have really loved the one pedal driving so far. I describe it for others and they don't seem to understand how much easier it is.

I know I'm still in the honeymoon phase with mine, but this truck is so smooth I don't know how I could be happy in an ICE vehicle again.

If my experience is anything to go by idk that feeling is going to change honeymoon phase or not. EVs simply are better to drive. So much quieter and smoother in power delivery. Its like streaming on a gigabit connection vs VHS tapes.

 

[McBogey]

Interesting. We have a Q5 Prestige and it seems whisper quiet in the interior. Double-panel glass helps. I test drove the R1T and thought it similar but admit that was for a short test drive. Great to hear your impression that the R1T was as quiet or quieter.

As for turbo lag, I won’t miss that! (How spoiled am I?) I just hope I get smooth enough with one pedal driving. On the test drive, I wasn’t as smooth as with an ICE car. Heard some say that the one pedal driving can be less smooth especially for the passengers.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Interesting. We have a Q5 Prestige and it seems whisper quiet in the interior. Double-panel glass helps. I test drove the R1T and thought it similar but admit that was for a short test drive. Great to hear your impression that the R1T was as quiet or quieter.

As for turbo lag, I won’t miss that! (How spoiled am I?) I just hope I get smooth enough with one pedal driving. On the test drive, I wasn’t as smooth as with an ICE car. Heard some say that the one pedal driving can be less smooth especially for the passengers.

Within a week I was smoother on one pedal than in an ice car. On high regen in sport mode is how I usually drive and it is smooth as silk in there. The thing that makes it easier is the pedal responds the exact same way every time as there is no lag time.

Once your brain equates braking with lifting off the pedal there is no reason for it to be less smooth than traditional. In fact its easier to come to complete stop because you can give it just that little bit of power at the very end to cancel out the final little jerk from coming to a complete stop.

Some people don't like it but I have had quite a few people drive mine in that mode first try and be decently smooth in 20 or so min of city type driving. My wife is decent with it and she's only driven my truck 10-15 times. I think you'll do fine if you were only a little jerky on your test drive.

I have the double panel glass in my Audi too and my rivian is significantly quieter now that I've been out of it for a bit. Granted a lot of that is in Sport mode with the S the exhaust can get pretty aggressive sounding.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Try driving an R1T exclusively for a couple months, then deciding to take your old 2010 Xterra for a drive.

OMG

I literally bout shit myself driving it to a car wash and back. I thought I was going to die about 4 times and had a full on nervous giggle the entire drive. The suspension felt like welded rods with no give, handling was... Xterra-like, cabin noise was deafening. If I ever have to drive it again, it'll be too soon.

That said, I know a great Xterra about to go up for sale, totally not the one I described above....

I may or may not have knelt down in front of the Rivian after the drive, promising never to cheat on it again.

 

[DaveA]

Every Rivian is different I guess...wife's CX-5 is so much quieter than the Riv. Weird.

 

[NY_Rob]

The road noise and engine lag alone make it miserable to drive compared to my truck. Not to mention no one pedal which really destresses a drive.

I feel the same if I have to use our Honda Pilot to tow our boat vs. towing it with the R1T. It's like a completely different experience as the R1T hardly notices the trailer back there (as it can not "push the vehicle around" like it does with the much lighter pilot) and has plenty of power for taking off from a red light (I don't have to floor the accelerator) and super smooth braking power and regen to the point I hardly even use the friction brakes even when towing. It just makes for a very low stress tow experience vs. towing with the ICE Honda.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

The Audi doesn't have run-flat tires does it?

 

[Donald Stanfield]

The Audi doesn't have run-flat tires does it?

I think it does. I do notice more tire noise in the Audi than my R1 but I got the 21's in my Rivian and they are pretty quiet.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Every Rivian is different I guess...wife's CX-5 is so much quieter than the Riv. Weird.

You have the AT tires it looks like and I have the 21's. I've heard those tires are quite a bit louder than mine so maybe that's why. If that's the case I'm really glad I went with the 21's

 

[CrazyOne]

VW and Audi vehicles have a weird throttle tuning. Nothing happens till I am at 50% throttle or more. When I drive ICE vehicles they seem faster at low speeds, again due to tuning of the go pedal.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I think it does. I do notice more tire noise in the Audi than my R1 but I got the 21's in my Rivian and they are pretty quiet.

That's part of the problem. Run-flats have a nylon disk in the sidewalls. They are less compliant and transmit more noise and harshness than non-run-flats.

 

[Greg Chick]

Interesting. We have a Q5 Prestige and it seems whisper quiet in the interior. Double-panel glass helps. I test drove the R1T and thought it similar but admit that was for a short test drive. Great to hear your impression that the R1T was as quiet or quieter.

As for turbo lag, I won’t miss that! (How spoiled am I?) I just hope I get smooth enough with one pedal driving. On the test drive, I wasn’t as smooth as with an ICE car. Heard some say that the one pedal driving can be less smooth especially for the passengers.

If the driver has skill. and it takes little, the ride using an EV one peddle is smother than an ICE.

 

[md2023]

When an SQ5 now sucks in comparison, you know you love your Rivian! I have really loved the one pedal driving so far. I describe it for others and they don't seem to understand how much easier it is.

I know I'm still in the honeymoon phase with mine, but this truck is so smooth I don't know how I could be happy in an ICE vehicle again.

I have the same experience re: one pedal driving (in my Tesla as well). It seems so trivial to say that I really like the one pedal driving and that it is a considerable feature. I get a response along the lines of yeah, it really is hard pressing the brake pedal.... which is a reasonable response, but still, I really like it.

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