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Parked next to a Rivian not long ago - it really stands out and seems to be garnering a ton of praise. I own TSLA but I also bought Rivian stock and have added to it as it has plunged. I think it has the potential to be a long term winner but who knows - certainly all the stats are impressive as hell and I like the clean looks. Right now all these cool EVs are too expensive for my blood….
About to put another clutch master in the car. I don't even use it really anymore since I've gotten my 964. Went to drive it, pedal felt just a touch off to me, thought it was due to being used to other car's clutch, checked master anyway and was dry. Weird, as this is now the 4th one. 1st replacement due to pentosin when doing gt2 conversion which I get, next one failed when the clutch line broke and dumped fluid, so I believe the shock to the system caused the seals to go, and now this.
Awaiting your review after having it for a while...
I'm still posting some Rivian stuff in this thread, kind of a '996 Turbo drivers impression of the Rivian EV' as there seems to be some interest.... If a few find it annoying, have zero interest in EV's, whatever, no worries, let me know and i'll start a separate thread.
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Today I had my first chance to drive it in the Twisties... Me and a buddy did the same short canyon loop we do for a shorter evaluation drive in many cars... We've ripped this particular section countless times in 996 Turbos, 991 Turbos, air cooled 911's, a Carrera GT, 458 Italia, 458 Speciale, F40, Dino, 355, Corvette C8, 992 GT3, etc... It definitely can put cars to the test and can pretty quickly separate a great handling car from a lesser car and make its weaknesses come to light.
Not exactly fair to push a pickup truck through this loop, is it? But we did, both me and a buddy who has also driven (mostly owns) the cars above. We were both just blown away! It simply defies the laws of physics that a 7,000+ pound curb weight truck could be a joy to push through the twisties like that! And when a pass was needed, holy **** this thing scoots! Effortless braking, great turn in, some road feel (very few newer vehicles can match the steering feel of our 996 Turbos and earlier Porsches), FLAT cornering, no body lean, very little understeer (easily modulated with throttle), etc... Sounds like I'm reviewing a sports car, right??
Lots of youtube reviews so far talking about range, camping with the R1T, four wheeling with it, etc.... They are missing the program. This is absolutely a driving enthusiasts daily driver and is actually FUN to drive when the roads get twisty!
Nice write up - how long from when you put a deposit down until you took delivery? My neighbor puts deposits on everything - wonder if he is close to getting his.
Nice write up - how long from when you put a deposit down until you took delivery? My neighbor puts deposits on everything - wonder if he is close to getting his.
Actually, not long considering... Deposit 11/2/21, delivery 6/25/22. Now I know I was able to get myself bumped by adjusting my configuration a bit when I heard they were batch-building and had some info on what was rolling off the line. Chose the 21" wheels with all season Pirellis (instead of 20" with AT tires), adding the power tonneau cover back into the build (long story on that one), made sure I had the black interior (my preference anyway) , and avoiding a couple of exterior colors (absolutely LOVE the El Cap Granite anyway!) and BAM, I got a VIN and delivery seven days later. Maybe lucky, maybe repeatable, not sure.
I wonder if they intended it to drive that way, like if the engineers and designers and testers actually sat down and said "let's make sure to minimize body roll,optimize turn in, and make it drive like a sports car" or if it's just a product of the electric car form (low COG, torque vectoring and adjustable power to each wheel, slapping big pretty brembos on, etc.
I wonder if they intended it to drive that way, like if the engineers and designers and testers actually sat down and said "let's make sure to minimize body roll,optimize turn in, and make it drive like a sports car" or if it's just a product of the electric car form (low COG, torque vectoring and adjustable power to each wheel, slapping big pretty brembos on, etc.
Considering how many McLaren engineers and execs Rivian hired, and that the suspension is quite similar to the 720S cross-link design, I'd say it absolutely was a design goal! I had never even sat in a Rivian, let alone driven one, before I took delivery. It was a leap of faith, hoping this would be the end product. Well rewarded!
This is the McLaren cross-link suspension, very very similar to the Rivian R1T/
Yea I'd say lots has to do with no engine up high and batteries very low helping a low COG
That certainly helps, but not nearly the whole story... Rivian made some very intentional design decisions with their cross-link suspension, 4-motors, and torque vectoring software to do some amazing things. A bit long and dry, but this video does a good job of describing some of it. The torque vectoring and suspension portion starts at ~9 minutes. Also remember that even with the batteries and motors 'down low', even with the suspension in the lowest setting, it still has 33" tires and 9-15" of ground clearance, so the CG ain't all that low overall..
Engines are on the axles? Batteries along the spine?
Motors are inboard, in the four-motor configuration each pair is sandwiched against each other so it almost looks like one motor, but it is two. They have a lower cost two-motor (front and rear) coming. Motors are connected to the wheels with double CV joint axles, not unlike the axle setup on a AWD Turbo. Batteries are flat-pack basically filling in almost the entire area between the frame axle arches and motors..
In other news, I watched a couple videos about changing the coils on the turbo - I have some reservations about doing it myself because the space is tight and my meat clubs are not necessarily gentle enough to make it work.
It looks as if it can be done without removing the rear bumper, but there appears to be an intercooler removal (both sides) and heat shields and liners - this is where I am likely going to break something, thinking it should be lose, and then 'encouraging' it to come free, and ending up with x hundred dollar bill to replace whatever was damaged.. So I am on the fence.
I am not on the fence with respect to gapping the plugs - .026" if memory serves, and changing the oil, as it seems very difficult to break anything there.
Is there a less restrictive way to swap the coils/plugs that doesn't involve taking so much apart?
06-27-2022, 11:26 PM
