Test drove gen 2 R1S today (PDM, Max) -- Initial Pros & Cons Review

[evhelphub]

Got to take the gen 2 R1S out on a 15 minute test drive. As a previous quad motor R1T owner, I wanted to share some thoughts on some of the positive and some things that were a bit of a bummer.

Good stuff:

• Motor whine is essentially gone and you can really only hear it when you open the throttle.
  
  
• The cameras are fantastic, as advertised.
  
  
• The AC noise in the cabin has certainly been reduced (more on the AC in the section below, though).
  
  
• I'll be buying the electrochromic roof.
  
  
• Throttle mapping is significantly improved, with smoother, more predictable acceleration.
  
  
• Build quality was very good. It seems like Rivian has notably tightened some things up, including the dashboard, door grab handles, and various components that had more of a plasticky sound before, or didn't fit the way that they should.
  
  
• Really enjoy the new UI, which was quite responsive.
  
  
• The sliding tray will be much more useful than the camp speaker imo.
  
  
• Cabin noise (or lack thereoef) was solid, even with the AC off trying to hear the motor whine. I don't know that I can say it's objectively better than gen 1 from this test drive, as we didn't drive highway speeds, but it certainly removed city traffic noise entirely.
  
  
• The new light bars are a very welcome change. There's more depth to them and they help break up the "face" of the vehicle. Photos don't do it justice.
  
  
• The new aero wheels look pretty cool in person and they ride quite well.

Not so good stuff:

• The AC took forever to get cold and then cool down the cabin. I'm talking at least the first half of the test drive it was a bit warm. This a miss, which you can solve with preconditioning. It's still quite loud on the outside, NBD there.
  
  
• The suspension was interesting. I can't compare it to another R1S, because I haven't spent a lot of time in one. We used all purpose, middle height, and soft settings and it was a bit bouncy for my liking.
  
  • Sport mode could possibly fix this. With these settings though, you can feel the weight sloshing around.
    
    
  • Don't take my initial feedback to heart. The R1T and R1S do ride differently and changing the settings could have made a big difference.
    
  
  
• The front trunk is a bit smaller than I had hoped. Still very usable for a grocery haul or small cargo. If that's the tradeoff to get a heat pump, works for me.
  
  
• There's a little bit of lag with the turn signal camera feed. Sometimes it works as expected, but others you can see the feed glitch or it's slightly behind real time. Maybe a software update can patch this.

Other:

• This R1S had the new base sound system. It was fine and better than less expensive vehicles. Is it good for this price point? No.
  
  • It doesn't have much depth or a ton of bass, but the speakers can be turned all the way up without distorting the sound.
    
    
  • Would I pay $2,000 to upgrade to the previous base sound system? No.
    
    
  • Tesla has them beat pretty bad here, unfortunately. Maybe a super-premium option will become available.
    
• There was an R1S on display with the Ascend trim. I wouldn't upgrade to a tri-motor to get it personally. It looks very nice, but the OG Rivian interior still holds its own.

All in all, you can certainly tell the vehicle is a lot more polished, with many of the initial concerns being addressed, and most of the changes are very welcome or net neutral for me.

Looking forward to getting into a new R1T this fall.

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[DuoRivian]

Thanks for the review. Is the Ascend interior just different colors or higher quality materials compared to Adventure.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Underdash 12V was removed along with frunk 12V second year of production… feels like an eternity ago.

 

[evhelphub]

Underdash 12V was removed along with frunk 12V second year of production… feels like an eternity ago.

Thanks, I didn't realize that. My 2022 still had it so I wasn't sure.

 

[seanocono]

Got to take the gen 2 R1S out on a 15 minute test drive. As a previous quad motor R1T owner, I wanted to share some thoughts on some of the positive and some things that were a bit of a bummer.

Good stuff:

• Motor whine is essentially gone and you can really only hear it when you open the throttle.
  
  
• The cameras are fantastic, as advertised.
  
  
• The AC noise in the cabin has certainly been reduced (more on the AC in the section below, though).
  
  
• I'll be buying the electrochromic roof.
  
  
• Throttle mapping is significantly improved, with smoother, more predictable acceleration.
  
  
• Build quality was very good. It seems like Rivian has notably tightened some things up, including the dashboard, door grab handles, and various components that had more of a plasticky sound before, or didn't fit the way that they should.
  
  
• Really enjoy the new UI, which was quite responsive.
  
  
• The sliding tray will be much more useful than the camp speaker imo.
  
  
• Cabin noise (or lack thereoef) was solid, even with the AC off trying to hear the motor whine. I don't know that I can say it's objectively better than gen 1 from this test drive, as we didn't drive highway speeds, but it certainly removed city traffic noise entirely.
  
  
• The new light bars are a very welcome change. There's more depth to them and they help break up the "face" of the vehicle. Photos don't do it justice.
  
  
• The new aero wheels look pretty cool in person and they ride quite well.

Not so good stuff:

• The AC took forever to get cold and then cool down the cabin. I'm talking at least the first half of the test drive it was a bit warm. This a miss, which you can solve with preconditioning. It's still quite loud on the outside, NBD there.
  
  
• The suspension was interesting. I can't compare it to another R1S, because I haven't spent a lot of time in one. We used all purpose, middle height, and soft settings and it was a bit bouncy for my liking.
  • Sport mode could possibly fix this. With these settings though, you can feel the weight sloshing around.
    
    
  • Don't take my initial feedback to heart. The R1T and R1S do ride differently and changing the settings could have made a big difference.
• They removed the 12v from under the dash. The 120v remains in the front of the cabin, however.
  
  
• The front trunk is a bit smaller than I had hoped. Still very usable for a grocery haul or small cargo. If that's the tradeoff to get a heat pump, works for me.
  
  
• There's a little bit of lag with the turn signal camera feed. Sometimes it works as expected, but others you can see the feed glitch or it's slightly behind real time. Maybe a software update can patch this.

Other:

• This R1S had the new base sound system. It was fine and better than less expensive vehicles. Is it good for this price point? No.
  • It doesn't have much depth or a ton of bass, but the speakers can be turned all the way up without distorting the sound.
    
    
  • Would I pay $2,000 to upgrade to the previous base sound system? No.
    
    
  • Tesla has them beat pretty bad here, unfortunately. Maybe a super-premium option will become available.
• There was an R1S on display with the Ascend trim. I wouldn't upgrade to a tri-motor to get it personally. It looks very nice, but the OG Rivian interior still holds its own.

All in all, you can certainly tell the vehicle is a lot more polished, with many of the initial concerns being addressed, and most of the changes are very welcome or net neutral for me.

Looking forward to getting into a new R1T this fall.

Nice review. Thanks for sharing. Which space did you visit?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Thanks, I didn't realize that. My 2022 still had it so I wasn't sure.

High tone horn was also removed. Low tone remained on driver side until earlier this year or last winter (moves to passenger side, accessible behind wheel well lining).

 

[Davethadog]

Which space was this?

 

[evhelphub]

Thanks for the review. Is the Ascend interior just different colors or higher quality materials compared to Adventure.

I believe more stitching and additional soft touch surfaces, but the same materials. The electrochromic glass roof and Rivian premium audio (former base sound system) are included.

They don't have a gen 2 adventure trim to look at, so it's hard to compare side-by-side.

Nice review. Thanks for sharing. Which space did you visit?

Which space was this?

Austin

 

[seanocono]

I believe more stitching and additional soft touch surfaces, but the same materials. The electrochromic glass roof and Rivian premium audio (former base sound system) are included.

They don't have a gen 2 adventure trim to look at, so it's hard to compare side-by-side.





Austin

Cool, thank you.

 

[sirna7]

Got to take the gen 2 R1S out on a 15 minute test drive. As a previous quad motor R1T owner, I wanted to share some thoughts on some of the positive and some things that were a bit of a bummer.

Good stuff:

• Motor whine is essentially gone and you can really only hear it when you open the throttle.
  
  
• The cameras are fantastic, as advertised.
  
  
• The AC noise in the cabin has certainly been reduced (more on the AC in the section below, though).
  
  
• I'll be buying the electrochromic roof.
  
  
• Throttle mapping is significantly improved, with smoother, more predictable acceleration.
  
  
• Build quality was very good. It seems like Rivian has notably tightened some things up, including the dashboard, door grab handles, and various components that had more of a plasticky sound before, or didn't fit the way that they should.
  
  
• Really enjoy the new UI, which was quite responsive.
  
  
• The sliding tray will be much more useful than the camp speaker imo.
  
  
• Cabin noise (or lack thereoef) was solid, even with the AC off trying to hear the motor whine. I don't know that I can say it's objectively better than gen 1 from this test drive, as we didn't drive highway speeds, but it certainly removed city traffic noise entirely.
  
  
• The new light bars are a very welcome change. There's more depth to them and they help break up the "face" of the vehicle. Photos don't do it justice.
  
  
• The new aero wheels look pretty cool in person and they ride quite well.

Not so good stuff:

• The AC took forever to get cold and then cool down the cabin. I'm talking at least the first half of the test drive it was a bit warm. This a miss, which you can solve with preconditioning. It's still quite loud on the outside, NBD there.
  
  
• The suspension was interesting. I can't compare it to another R1S, because I haven't spent a lot of time in one. We used all purpose, middle height, and soft settings and it was a bit bouncy for my liking.
  • Sport mode could possibly fix this. With these settings though, you can feel the weight sloshing around.
    
    
  • Don't take my initial feedback to heart. The R1T and R1S do ride differently and changing the settings could have made a big difference.
• 
  
• The front trunk is a bit smaller than I had hoped. Still very usable for a grocery haul or small cargo. If that's the tradeoff to get a heat pump, works for me.
  
  
• There's a little bit of lag with the turn signal camera feed. Sometimes it works as expected, but others you can see the feed glitch or it's slightly behind real time. Maybe a software update can patch this.

Other:

• This R1S had the new base sound system. It was fine and better than less expensive vehicles. Is it good for this price point? No.
  • It doesn't have much depth or a ton of bass, but the speakers can be turned all the way up without distorting the sound.
    
    
  • Would I pay $2,000 to upgrade to the previous base sound system? No.
    
    
  • Tesla has them beat pretty bad here, unfortunately. Maybe a super-premium option will become available.
• There was an R1S on display with the Ascend trim. I wouldn't upgrade to a tri-motor to get it personally. It looks very nice, but the OG Rivian interior still holds its own.

All in all, you can certainly tell the vehicle is a lot more polished, with many of the initial concerns being addressed, and most of the changes are very welcome or net neutral for me.

Looking forward to getting into a new R1T this fall.

Rivian Premium Audio ($1750) is NOT the same as the previous base sound system. This is confirmed.

 

[DuoRivian]

Rivian Premium Audio ($1750) is NOT the same as the previous base sound system. This is confirmed.

Oh this is news as it has the same number of speakers. What are the differences?

 

[Electron]

Underdash 12V was removed along with frunk 12V second year of production… feels like an eternity ago.

Thanks, I didn't realize that. My 2022 still had it so I wasn't sure.

I believe the 12V was removed in the 2024 models, correct? Are some 2023 models missing them as well?

 

[evhelphub]

Rivian Premium Audio ($1750) is NOT the same as the previous base sound system. This is confirmed.

Rivian needs to improve communication here. Because some employees I've asked thought it was the same system with Dolby Atmos added.

I've been told different answers on whether or not the hardware which operates the infotainment screen has been upgraded as well. I believe the answer is that it's the same from gen 1 and only the ADAS is improved.

 

[Electron]

Got to take the gen 2 R1S out on a 15 minute test drive. As a previous quad motor R1T owner, I wanted to share some thoughts on some of the positive and some things that were a bit of a bummer.

Good stuff:

• Motor whine is essentially gone and you can really only hear it when you open the throttle.
  
  
• The cameras are fantastic, as advertised.
  
  
• The AC noise in the cabin has certainly been reduced (more on the AC in the section below, though).
  
  
• I'll be buying the electrochromic roof.
  
  
• Throttle mapping is significantly improved, with smoother, more predictable acceleration.
  
  
• Build quality was very good. It seems like Rivian has notably tightened some things up, including the dashboard, door grab handles, and various components that had more of a plasticky sound before, or didn't fit the way that they should.
  
  
• Really enjoy the new UI, which was quite responsive.
  
  
• The sliding tray will be much more useful than the camp speaker imo.
  
  
• Cabin noise (or lack thereoef) was solid, even with the AC off trying to hear the motor whine. I don't know that I can say it's objectively better than gen 1 from this test drive, as we didn't drive highway speeds, but it certainly removed city traffic noise entirely.
  
  
• The new light bars are a very welcome change. There's more depth to them and they help break up the "face" of the vehicle. Photos don't do it justice.
  
  
• The new aero wheels look pretty cool in person and they ride quite well.

Not so good stuff:

• The AC took forever to get cold and then cool down the cabin. I'm talking at least the first half of the test drive it was a bit warm. This a miss, which you can solve with preconditioning. It's still quite loud on the outside, NBD there.
  
  
• The suspension was interesting. I can't compare it to another R1S, because I haven't spent a lot of time in one. We used all purpose, middle height, and soft settings and it was a bit bouncy for my liking.
  • Sport mode could possibly fix this. With these settings though, you can feel the weight sloshing around.
    
    
  • Don't take my initial feedback to heart. The R1T and R1S do ride differently and changing the settings could have made a big difference.
• 
  
• The front trunk is a bit smaller than I had hoped. Still very usable for a grocery haul or small cargo. If that's the tradeoff to get a heat pump, works for me.
  
  
• There's a little bit of lag with the turn signal camera feed. Sometimes it works as expected, but others you can see the feed glitch or it's slightly behind real time. Maybe a software update can patch this.

Other:

• This R1S had the new base sound system. It was fine and better than less expensive vehicles. Is it good for this price point? No.
  • It doesn't have much depth or a ton of bass, but the speakers can be turned all the way up without distorting the sound.
    
    
  • Would I pay $2,000 to upgrade to the previous base sound system? No.
    
    
  • Tesla has them beat pretty bad here, unfortunately. Maybe a super-premium option will become available.
• There was an R1S on display with the Ascend trim. I wouldn't upgrade to a tri-motor to get it personally. It looks very nice, but the OG Rivian interior still holds its own.

All in all, you can certainly tell the vehicle is a lot more polished, with many of the initial concerns being addressed, and most of the changes are very welcome or net neutral for me.

Looking forward to getting into a new R1T this fall.

Thank you for this.

The two points that stood out were the smaller frunk and the new sound system.

Do you happen to know what the cubic feet is for the new frunk? The Gen 1 is 11.1 cubic feet if I recall. The new Gen 2 being smaller is a bummer and hope that it's not too significant. The frunk storage space is really important for a lot of folks.

As for the stereo, definitely not surprised there. You're 100% correct as well in that Tesla has them beat by a large margin. The stock premium Tesla system destroys Rivian. It's such a bummer that Rivian couldn't put a decent system in there, at the very least to just get a "pass" in respect to the price point. Big miss there.

Really appreciate you taking the time to include these details.

 

[DuoRivian]

Thank you for this.

The two points that stood out were the smaller frunk and the new sound system.

Do you happen to know what the cubic feet is for the new frunk? The Gen 1 is 11.1 cubic feet if I recall. The new Gen 2 being smaller is a bummer and hope that it's not too significant. The frunk storage space is really important for a lot of folks.

As for the stereo, definitely not surprised there. You're 100% correct as well in that Tesla has them beat by a large margin. The stock premium Tesla system destroys Rivian. It's such a bummer that Rivian couldn't put a decent system in there, at the very least to just get a "pass" in respect to the price point. Big miss there.

Really appreciate you taking the time to include these details.

I believe the frunk is now 9.9 cu ft.

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