Speaking of diffs

[HaveBlue]

I had some Nitto snowflake rated tires on my Lexus for a while they were great until the soft snow rated rubber wore off and then they went to hell even though they had tread left. They were horrible tires and not round at all but that's something else.

I think the R1 will excel in most situations except for rock crawling due to the issues discussed here. In all other areas I could see where it will destroy other vehicles. The low unsprung weight of IFS IRS, the hydro-pneumatic suspension, extreme ground clearance for a stock vehicle, the electronic sway bars and the advanced traction control system make it a really advanced vehicle.

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[MountainBikeDude]

So... Did some light off roading on Saturday morning. The goal was to push the limits where possible.

Decided to take a steep banked section in rock crawl mode, and while the T performed admirably, the terrain ultimately let it down, being very soft. On my second attempt of the same area I managed to brute force my way to the top, but decided not crest because I certainly would have bottomed out.

Second leg was some snow about 6-10" deep which it had no issues with. On a snow covered logging road, it was pretty freaking sweet! But when there's a frozen layer under that snow, that's gonna be the real test. Power is almost always front wheel bias in most modes, which is sensible for keeping the vehicle under control and predictable. Can't wait to get back out there later this year while it's snowing!

Shortly after this however, no photos cause I forgot to document my stupidity, I decided to take the "fun path" which was steep like the first section, but had a 2'-0" deep ditch between me and the section. I took it off angle, to avoid bottoming out, but forgot I had lowered the clearance out of Highest to High, and also softened the suspension. Suffice to say, the rear bottomed out as a started climbing, and with the ground being made up of snow and loosely packed dirt, it made things worse.

I increased the suspension height, stiffened things up, go out, flattened the ditch out a bit with some rocks and finally backed out.

Things I learned that day were:
- Always check your suspension settings prior to staring up, or down an obstacle.
- Brake over, and departure angles are not the same as my lightly lifted Xterra which my hitch cover learned very well that day.
- 2500lbs in weight difference from what you're used to, is meaningful, and needs a bit more finesse on some of the more treacherous obstacles, and a heavier foot on the softer ones.
- Yes lockers are predictable, but when at steep angles, in dirt you can easily dig with your hand, you're screwed no matter what.
- Carry a shovel FFS! What was I thinking?!

 

[HaveBlue]

Fun. An uncompacted wet hill in the winter isn't going to by scalable by most vehicles. Can I interest you in a Riviwinch, lol.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Fun. An uncompacted wet hill in the winter isn't going to by scalable by most vehicles. Can I interest you in a Riviwinch, lol.

100% just wanted to see how it would go cope since there was no real risk of being stranded.

 

[R.I.P.]

So... Did some light off roading on Saturday morning. The goal was to push the limits where possible.

Decided to take a steep banked section in rock crawl mode, and while the T performed admirably, the terrain ultimately let it down, being very soft. On my second attempt of the same area I managed to brute force my way to the top, but decided not crest because I certainly would have bottomed out.

Second leg was some snow about 6-10" deep which it had no issues with. On a snow covered logging road, it was pretty freaking sweet! But when there's a frozen layer under that snow, that's gonna be the real test. Power is almost always front wheel bias in most modes, which is sensible for keeping the vehicle under control and predictable. Can't wait to get back out there later this year while it's snowing!

Shortly after this however, no photos cause I forgot to document my stupidity, I decided to take the "fun path" which was steep like the first section, but had a 2'-0" deep ditch between me and the section. I took it off angle, to avoid bottoming out, but forgot I had lowered the clearance out of Highest to High, and also softened the suspension. Suffice to say, the rear bottomed out as a started climbing, and with the ground being made up of snow and loosely packed dirt, it made things worse.

I increased the suspension height, stiffened things up, go out, flattened the ditch out a bit with some rocks and finally backed out.

Things I learned that day were:
- Always check your suspension settings prior to staring up, or down an obstacle.
- Brake over, and departure angles are not the same as my lightly lifted Xterra which my hitch cover learned very well that day.
- 2500lbs in weight difference from what you're used to, is meaningful, and needs a bit more finesse on some of the more treacherous obstacles, and a heavier foot on the softer ones.
- Yes lockers are predictable, but when at steep angles, in dirt you can easily dig with your hand, you're screwed no matter what.
- Carry a shovel FFS! What was I thinking?!

...aaaand, your winch is your friend. Unfortunately no R1's with us this weekend, but maybe just as well as soft as things are.

 

[Davethadog]

It'll likely be an Eaton unit if they can squeeze one in there. Otherwise we'll have to make due with a lunchbox like a Powertrax; which tends to be noisy.

I helped ARB with some of their applications in engineering and would love that option since an ARB compressor is already on the truck but I don't think it's going to happen because there's no conventional carrier housing. It might be possible to route the air line out the side but the casing really doesn't lend itself to fitting all the right parts in all the right places.

What if anything became of this project?

 

[R.I.P.]

What if anything became of this project?

Rivian has unequivocally conceded that diffs are better off-road, and I would expect factory lockers from them to compete with the trail Boss and the at4.

With the current DM setup having been used for only one model a year, I doubt that anybody is going to end up offering an aftermarket solution.

 

[Davethadog]

Rivian has unequivocally conceded that diffs are better off-road, and I would expect factory lockers from them to compete with the trail Boss and the at4.

Wondering what you know about their concession? The outward facing comms seem to be that their new quad motor has better stall torque and that should improve off-road performance enough.

 

[R.I.P.]

Wondering what you know about their concession? The outward facing comms seem to be that their new quad motor has better stall torque and that should improve off-road performance enough.

The presser we attended last week had an off road course where they showed off the prowess of the gen 2 off road. They only let us drive the DMs on that course, admitting that the differential equipped R1's were better suited for the off-road terrain, and helped negate the stall issues.

There were a lot of u tubers there, the vids should start to drop soon I expect.

Of course none of this is news, us off-roaders already knew this.

 

[Eric9610]

With the Quads its 100% a software issue and not a priority right now. Expect once the major issues are resolved you will see a software enabled E-Diff.

Also the only reason they did not have QM's at the trial drive Gen 2 launch is they don't even have a price listed (expect starting price in the $125k range)... meaning they are still engineering samples. Right now they are in profitability mode and the product is good enough.

Look how good the suspension and ride has improved. Take this as an example. I also believe snow mode was updated. They will get it complete it just may not be on everyone's timeline they hope for.

 

[R.I.P.]

With the Quads its 100% a software issue and not a priority right now. Expect once the major issues are resolved you will see a software enabled E-Diff.

Also the only reason they did not have QM's at the trial drive Gen 2 launch is they don't even have a price listed (expect starting price in the $125k range)... meaning they are still engineering samples. Right now they are in profitability mode and the product is good enough.

Look how good the suspension and ride has improved. Take this as an example. I also believe snow mode was updated. They will get it complete it just may not be on everyone's timeline they hope for.

They did have QMs and TMs there. They were demo'd in other areas, areas they excelled at.

It sounds like maybe you were not there?

 

[Davethadog]

With the Quads its 100% a software issue and not a priority right now. Expect once the major issues are resolved you will see a software enabled E-Diff.

Also the only reason they did not have QM's at the trial drive Gen 2 launch is they don't even have a price listed (expect starting price in the $125k range)... meaning they are still engineering samples. Right now they are in profitability mode and the product is good enough.

Look how good the suspension and ride has improved. Take this as an example. I also believe snow mode was updated. They will get it complete it just may not be on everyone's timeline they hope for.

Idk man we’ve been over this. Mechanical solutions seem to have a pretty big advantage so far. If it were an easy software implementation we’d have seen it already.

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