I am not into off roading so that does not appeal much to us. Smooth ride is really important but the reviews I have seen are all over. Some claim it’s serene quiet and smooth and others have complained it’s too noisy given long chamber and suspension isn’t great. Would be great if you can share your experience vs Air. I am positive Air being sedan and superb suspension is a very high bar but how does R1S compare to say even a Model S or other cars?
- I have AGT 21”, that was told by people it’s not as quiet and road compliant as 19”. People complain about noise for 21”, but not for me. However, I only drive Air on good pavement and mostly highway/freeway cruising miles. I rarely go into inner city bad roads on 21”.
- As for Rivian 22”, road tires, I can only compare to what I have driven before. I believe the feel of car is very different at various height. The All-Purpose mode higher from ground feels less bumpy than the sport mode close to ground in crouching style. Conserve mode running just FWD dual motor is also not bad. What I’m impressed with Rivian is how accurate it reports its range estimator, often dead on. I was able to get to about 300 miles on Conserve mode at 70 mph HA from California to Texas. With 135 kWh large battery, it’s 2.2 miles/kWh. But with AGT, I often gets too spirited driving to 2.7~2.9 miles/kWh; and with very dull driving, I get 3.2~3.3 kWh which translates to 360~390 miles. Does efficiency matter that much? Sure, I can DCFC 7 times instead of 9 times with Air of same distance, but that road tripping is not about racing. I think anything above 300 miles range is acceptable with needed routine rest break.
- As far as ride quality is concerned, it is rather subjective. As my own personal experience relating to our other cars I drove, here is my comparison.
R1S > Model-3, Model-3 is too rough
R1S > Wrangler Rubicon (not surprised)
R1S > F150
MB GL420 > R1S > Honda Odyssey
R1S = F250 Lariat
AGT > Model-S > Polestar 2 > R1S > Model-3
Model-X >= R1S
- R1S has a very quiet cabin until I put on roof rack and added off-road track boards, then I start hearing wind noise at 70mph. Air, even at 110mph, it is still amazingly near silent.
- R1S 22 Meridian speakers system has super rich sound texture and base; however Air’s 21 speakers Dolby ATMOS system is just another dimension on selected ATMOS tracks.
Interior cabin feels refined with many variety of materials like Air. It is not like most GM and Ford cars assembled mostly plastic.
- Space, no other EV currently has more space (cabin + frunk + spare-tire trunk) than R1S. Of course, everyone is saying Gravity will have more. How much % more is all waited to be reveal.
Overall, I share the same sentiment with car reviewers Doug DeMuro and Forrest Jones. R1S is just that good to be on top of their charts.