Rivian R2 Experiences

[SpaceEVDriver]

Curious about the narrower tire for winter? Do you mean comfort-wise?

I actually prefer a narrower, dedicated snow for winter, so maybe it works with the A/T's!

Hope it works out

A narrower tire is generally better for snow. And a narrower tire is generally better for off-roading, too. A wide tire tends to interact with more of the offroad surface (less "Leave No Trace") than a narrow tire. When aired down, a tire's tread generally expands in the forward-rearward direction and not in the side-to-side direction. So a narrower tire leaves a more narrow strip of disturbed surface than a wider tire does, for the same air pressure, tread, etc. If you expect to encounter deep sand or swampy bogs, a wider tire may help with floatation, but it'll depend on the details.

Similarly, a narrow tire is generally better for wind resistance and rolling resistance when aired up. So when we take the R2 on road trips in the winter, the narrower tire may give us better overall efficiency compared with the AS tires that came with the vehicle or compared with wider tires that we might have optioned. I said "in winter" specifically because I'm likely to lower the air pressure of these tires when we're likely to encounter slick roads, and I don't know how much that might impact our efficiency.

The reason this tire *might* prove to give overall worse range is that the wheel/tire combination is heavier, more of the mass is concentrated at the outer rim of the wheelset, and the compound has a higher rolling resistance. Some of that higher rolling resistance can be mitigated by allowing the tire to flex less by increasing the air pressure. But I can't do anything about the higher mass and higher mass concentration at the outer rim.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Did you weigh both wheel/tire combos?

I did not.
The interwebs claims the R2's 21" wheelset is 62 pounds in each corner.
Discount tire claims the new wheelset is about 69 pounds in each corner.

I'll try to pull a scale into the workshop this evening to weigh one of each.

 

[R1TVT]

A narrower tire is generally better for snow. And a narrower tire is generally better for off-roading, too. A wide tire tends to interact with more of the offroad surface (less "Leave No Trace") than a narrow tire. When aired down, a tire's tread generally expands in the forward-rearward direction and not in the side-to-side direction. So a narrower tire leaves a more narrow strip of disturbed surface than a wider tire does, for the same air pressure, tread, etc. If you expect to encounter deep sand or swampy bogs, a wider tire may help with floatation, but it'll depend on the details.

Similarly, a narrow tire is generally better for wind resistance and rolling resistance when aired up. So when we take the R2 on road trips in the winter, the narrower tire may give us better overall efficiency compared with the AS tires that came with the vehicle or compared with wider tires that we might have optioned. I said "in winter" specifically because I'm likely to lower the air pressure of these tires when we're likely to encounter slick roads, and I don't know how much that might impact our efficiency.

The reason this tire *might* prove to give overall worse range is that the wheel/tire combination is heavier, more of the mass is concentrated at the outer rim of the wheelset, and the compound has a higher rolling resistance. Some of that higher rolling resistance can be mitigated by allowing the tire to flex less by increasing the air pressure. But I can't do anything about the higher mass and higher mass concentration at the outer rim.

Ahhhh range, yes, when you said "worse" i just wasn't sure what you were referring to.

I would agree regarding a small range penalty (for a few reasons) that will not be offset by the slightly smaller width.

 

[chucchinchilla]

Here's an R2 experience. Did a 2 hour drive yesterday around the Bay Area and the number of R2's on the road was surprising. I guess this region got it's allotment of cars over the past few weeks because there's a lot on the roads. Also I would say the most popular color is easily Catalina Cove aka that blue-green color. Almost every car I saw was that color and that's a good thing because it's very pretty.

 

[Scout_Lookout]

Here's an R2 experience. Did a 2 hour drive yesterday around the Bay Area and the number of R2's on the road was surprising. I guess this region got it's allotment of cars over the past few weeks because there's a lot on the roads. Also I would say the most popular color is easily Catalina Cove aka that blue-green color. Almost every car I saw was that color and that's a good thing because it's very pretty.

Absolutely love hearing this and truly hoping for Rivian's success by way of the R2 and beyond. I've also seen Catalina Cove in person and its stunning! I have a very strong feeling that Scout is going to be the leader in most desirable automotive colors because they actually have the customer base that will take full advantage of it.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Our Silverado has been in the shop for rodent damage ($3k, much less than I'd worried) for about a month. I've been mostly driving the Mustang for work. I picked up the truck yesterday and decided to drive it today.

Oh, boy, the inefficiency of that beast!

 

[cyure]

Our Silverado has been in the shop for rodent damage ($3k, much less than I'd worried) for about a month. I've been mostly driving the Mustang for work. I picked up the truck yesterday and decided to drive it today.

Oh, boy, the inefficiency of that beast!

Rodents! That’s awful.

 

[Broverlander]

Absolutely love hearing this and truly hoping for Rivian's success by way of the R2 and beyond. I've also seen Catalina Cove in person and its stunning! I have a very strong feeling that Scout is going to be the leader in most desirable automotive colors because they actually have the customer base that will take full advantage of it.

I don't want to get too far off on a tangent in this string, but I'm not really in love with Rivian's color palette. It's fairly plain. My R1 is LA Silver because that's the only color I remotely liked. Even that color Rivian has gotten rid of that color to go to something just a shade more grey. My wife will be getting an R2 in about a year. Admittedly, she's not into colorful anything, but even for her, she's not thrilled with the palette and will probably just go with Esker Silver (the darker replacement for LA Silver) or Half Moon Grey.

Scout, on the other hand, appears to have a much more diverse palette, at least with what they've shown us. And I, for one, absolutely love it.

 

[cyure]

I don't want to get too far off on a tangent in this string, but I'm not really in love with Rivian's color palette. It's fairly plain. My R1 is LA Silver because that's the only color I remotely liked. Even that color Rivian has gotten rid of that color to go to something just a shade more grey. My wife will be getting an R2 in about a year. Admittedly, she's not into colorful anything, but even for her, she's not thrilled with the palette and will probably just go with Esker Silver (the darker replacement for LA Silver) or Half Moon Grey.

Scout, on the other hand, appears to have a much more diverse palette, at least with what they've shown us. And I, for one, absolutely love it.

I completely agree. Boring colors. They all have a grey undertone.

I am cautiously optimistic based on what we have seen from SM so far. And I posted the same thing you did a while ago about how the R2s are all grey and blah and @aileen.barraza of the CMF team liked my comment. So that team is aware. Makes me very happy.

 

[cyure]

I don't want to get too far off on a tangent in this string, but I'm not really in love with Rivian's color palette. It's fairly plain. My R1 is LA Silver because that's the only color I remotely liked. Even that color Rivian has gotten rid of that color to go to something just a shade more grey. My wife will be getting an R2 in about a year. Admittedly, she's not into colorful anything, but even for her, she's not thrilled with the palette and will probably just go with Esker Silver (the darker replacement for LA Silver) or Half Moon Grey.

Scout, on the other hand, appears to have a much more diverse palette, at least with what they've shown us. And I, for one, absolutely love it.

PBY!!!!

 

[speedrye]

I completely agree. Boring colors. They all have a grey undertone.

I am cautiously optimistic based on what we have seen from SM so far. And I posted the same thing you did a while ago about how the R2s are all grey and blah and @aileen.barraza of the CMF team liked my comment. So that team is aware. Makes me very happy.

Unlike much of the Scout, I doubt color selections have been finalized, so I'm gonna keep posting about it too. MORE COLORS! Life is too short to drive "meh" or "blah".

 

[cyure]

Unlike much of the Scout, I doubt color selections have been finalized, so I'm gonna keep posting about it too. MORE COLORS! Life is too short to drive "meh" or "blah".

PBY!!! (now my husband is also talking about PBY )

 

[Broverlander]

I completely agree. Boring colors. They all have a grey undertone.

I am cautiously optimistic based on what we have seen from SM so far. And I posted the same thing you did a while ago about how the R2s are all grey and blah and @aileen.barraza of the CMF team liked my comment. So that team is aware. Makes me very happy.

I'll be very interested to see how this plays out at Scout. On the one hand, designers have done an amazing job with the concepts. On the other, Scout needs to move rigs. I'm sure white, grey, and black sell at higher volumes than do, say, purple or yellow. I would think it's about maximizing sales. But Scout has made it's stance clear that it's different, listens to customers, and wants to harken back to its heritage. Scout can put its money where it's mouth is with colors. Even just a few (say 3-4). I think it's done that so far with these concepts. If you really want to harken back to the 1970's, how about a brown color?!?!?!

 

[cyure]

I'll be very interested to see how this plays out at Scout. On the one hand, designers have done an amazing job with the concepts. On the other, Scout needs to move rigs. I'm sure white, grey, and black sell at higher volumes than do, say, purple or yellow. I would think it's about maximizing sales. But Scout has made it's stance clear that it's different, listens to customers, and wants to harken back to its heritage. Scout can put its money where it's mouth is with colors. Even just a few (say 3-4). I think it's done that so far with these concepts. If you really want to harken back to the 1970's, how about a brown color?!?!?!

Do white, black and grey sell because that’s what people want or that’s all that’s available?

I was actually expecting Mountainside to be more brown.

 

[Broverlander]

Do white, black and grey sell because that’s what people want or that’s all that’s available?

I was actually expecting Mountainside to be more brown.

Wow. I really hadn't thought of that. I had not looked at it that way.

I would think it's what people want? Because even when people can get colors, they go with drab. There aren't many options but there are some.

 

[cyure]

Wow. I really hadn't thought of that. I had not looked at it that way.

I would think it's what people want? Because even when people can get colors, they go with drab. There aren't many options but there are some.

We will find out when Scout starts selling colors other than those three. Since we can build to order SM will have a good idea of what colors are selling.

And hey, I don’t mind being the only PBY Traveler out there.

 

[J Alynn]

Do white, black and grey sell because that’s what people want or that’s all that’s available?

I was actually expecting Mountainside to be more brown.

I argue they sell because that’s what dealer buy and easier for manufacturer to allocate more because they’re safe. I’ve said it too many times but replace white with cream, call morning dusk the “gray” and remember Lexus doesn’t offer black-it’s caviar and it’s very dark charcoal with beautiful metallic. So take a charcoal and drop a bit of blue or green in it and make that the “black” color. Still 3 neutrals that stand out from the crowd but satisfy the neutral card

 

[speedrye]

Do white, black and grey sell because that’s what people want or that’s all that’s available?

I was actually expecting Mountainside to be more brown.

I think these things are cyclical, much like fashion or home design. People have had the boring colors for the past decade or two and they're probably ready to enjoy some color in their life. Scout has a compelling product, so let that product speak for itself without relying on the most boring of colors, or absence of color.

 

[R1TVT]

Probably important to keep in mind that all paints are not created equal - that means for any OEM with a lot of different paints, there can be a wide variance in costs incurred (both for the paint, but also for the application in production). With Scout targeting a reasonable base-price level, expectations should be for a nice palette of colors that won't break the bank (and give Scout good brand recognition). Other OEM's have done this based on model alone - picking colors that look really good on that model, then offering only a limited set of colors for that model. That also allows the brand to stand-out and reinforce the color & brand together in consumers minds. Since we some VDub funds for Scout, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a few amazing Porsche colors be offered. Not all - just small a subset, and perhaps at an upcharge.

The Porsche paint program is a company all unto itself it seems, so doing what Porsche does with Scouts out of the gate would be a huge task with a ton of added complexity, increased production times AND cost. I do think we will see some options for a few wild colors that will look really good on a boxy truck. It will be interesting when they launch the visualizer to see if a few of these paint colors are made available. And, some good news, some of the "boring" Porsche grey / green / blue tones look stunning and amazing in the wild:

https://media.porsche.com/paint-to-sample/en

And, for those that ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE THIER OWN COLOR (a color that may be slightly different than Fighting Lady Yellow and the other 120 shades of pale yellow https://colorguide.org/pale-yellow), with Porsche at least, you can make your own color!

Can't imagine Scout doing something like this without building an entirely separate new Paint facility on campus, but it does exist... For a cost.

 

[cyure]

Probably important to keep in mind that all paints are not created equal - that means for any OEM with a lot of different paints, there can be a wide variance in costs incurred (both for the paint, but also for the application in production). With Scout targeting a reasonable base-price level, expectations should be for a nice palette of colors that won't break the bank (and give Scout good brand recognition). Other OEM's have done this based on model alone - picking colors that look really good on that model, then offering only a limited set of colors for that model. That also allows the brand to stand-out and reinforce the color & brand together in consumers minds. Since we some VDub funds for Scout, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a few amazing Porsche colors be offered. Not all - just small a subset, and perhaps at an upcharge.

The Porsche paint program is a company all unto itself it seems, so doing what Porsche does with Scouts out of the gate would be a huge task with a ton of added complexity, increased production times AND cost. I do think we will see some options for a few wild colors that will look really good on a boxy truck. It will be interesting when they launch the visualizer to see if a few of these paint colors are made available. And, some good news, some of the "boring" Porsche grey / green / blue tones look stunning and amazing in the wild:

https://media.porsche.com/paint-to-sample/en

And, for those that ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE THIER OWN COLOR (a color that may be slightly different than Fighting Lady Yellow and the other 120 shades of pale yellow https://colorguide.org/pale-yellow), with Porsche at least, you can make your own color!

Can't imagine Scout doing something like this without building an entirely separate new Paint facility on campus, but it does exist... For a cost.

View attachment 19993

That would be amazing, but probably a little bit out of my budget.