2026 Rivian R1S Quad Max

"But what really impressed me about the new R1S is its ride quality. Its adaptive air suspension comfortably soaked up broken pavement and highway expansion joints, whereas the previous "Gen 1" R1S (2024 and earlier) navigated rough roads with the refinement of a skateboard. This hasn't come at the expense of handling, either. The R1S feels buttoned down and stable around turns, with steering that's refreshingly hefty and mechanical-feeling. Side-to-side body motions are kept in check. The regenerative braking system works well too, and it's capable of slowing the SUV to a smooth stop in its one-pedal driving mode. If you didn't think EVs could off-road, think again. I rock-crawled the R1S Quad up steep ski trails to the top of California's infamous Donner Pass, and I was astounded at how well this big SUV handled the rough terrain. With up to 14.9 inches of ground clearance in its highest setting, the R1S towered over rocks and its suspension flexed willingly across obstacles. The grippy Pirelli Scorpion tires (included in the All-Terrain package) managed to find traction on the hillside, even with a wheel or two cocked in the air. If anything, the only drama was losing sight of the trail on particularly steep inclines, where all you see is the sky through the windshield. Fortunately, that's quickly solved by using the forward-facing camera."

"My Rivian R1S 1 Year Owners Review (AMA) Its been 1 Year to date already with my R1S so here is my 1 year Ownership Log/Review but first a TLDR for those who want the short version. **TLDR:** Hands down one of the best vehicles I owned regardless of how it is fueled. It being able to update its components and add features on the fly on a monthly basis is icing on the cake as I have never owned a vehicle like that prior. The vehicle has been majorly bug free with the occasional hiccup but nothing major but you only hear/see the bad parts online so this is a positive saying nothing (knock on wood) major has happened even with me beating up the vehicle since day one on purpose for shakedown testing. 10/10 Would Recommend to any Car Enthusiast even you petrolheads out there! PSA Love our Discord: **Long Version:** I have a Build thread here with a Lot more Details but here are some highs and lows. * Delivered: September 19th 2022 * Delivery Issues: Minor Paint Drops, Wrong Matt, Drivers side Squeak some gasket spacing issues (All Resolved except for drips to which I will accept). * Total Miles thus Far 9,563 * Longest Trip: 342 miles RT in 1 day (stopped for charging 2x times adding a total of adding 26kw to arrive home with 3%/11 miles) on August 1st 2023 * Opted for DIY Paint Correction and Ceramic Coating (No PPF) full pic thread * Some Race Track Fun * Added some accessories such as EV Sportline Running Boards * Painted Wheels Black * Did a Rally Cross/Barista Cross Event * Off Roading in Green Ridge Forest with Mid Atlantic Rivian Group * Some Storm Damage here * Moose/Mattress Testing Overall my R1S year ownership is now here and I couldn't be happier with the vehicle. Service seems mostly responsive and quick at least when I went early in July but now I hear my local SC is booked until January so Service definitely could use a LOT of work from what I hear othe"

"I enjoyed plenty of headroom and legroom in the first two rows (for reference, I'm 6-foot-2), and I found the front seats to be nicely cushioned and supportive. The second-row seat cushions are firmer, but this row's slide-and-recline function makes it easy enough to find a comfortable position. Adults can fit in the third row, but access is pretty limited. These seats will be much more accommodating for kids. Inside, the R1S sports a modern aesthetic with mostly premium materials like quilted synthetic leather upholstery, soft-touch plastic, metal trim and ash, walnut or driftwood accents. The look is minimalist but tastefully done. Build quality seems first-rate, with no ill-fitting panels or rough edges to speak of and minimal wind or road noise intrusion. **Read more about interior »**"

"Delivered: R1S Gen 2 Tri Max Ascend, Ocean Coast + Driftwood This past weekend, I took delivery of a new 2025 Rivian R1S Gen 2 Tri Max with Ascend interior in Ocean Coast + Driftwood. I hadn't seen any real world photos/videos of the new Driftwood color option, so I wanted to share a few shots and some initial impressions after 48 hours of ownership. Pics below, plus full video walkthrough including up-close shots of Ascend interior and Dynamic Glass Roof. **Ascend interior** * The upgrades to the materials and colors are really classy. I love how much plastic they've ditched in favor of nicer materials. * There's vegan leather covering all the door panels, the hinged pockets on each door, along the bottom of the center console area near the footwells, and on the steering wheel cover where the horn is. * Instead of plastic seatback shells on the driver and passenger seat, they're now wrapped in a flecked heather gray fabric. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest upgrades to the interior with the Ascend package, because those seatbacks are such a large, visually-prominent surface for all your passengers and now they look far more premium. * Driftwood pairs beautifully with the Ocean Coast vegan leather. It has a grayish-blue wood grain pattern running through it which looks quite elegant. * All 3 rows have plaid stitching patterns on the seat backs and cushions, and there are plaid-colored accents on all floor mats, the sides of every headrest, on the back of the upper grab handles, and on the straps of the seatback pockets. * There are bronze metallic accents (instead of silver) along the dash, center console, door cards, speaker grilles, and seat controls. * The headliner is a nice suede-like material. * My Tri Max configuration still has 3rd-row side compartments / cubbies. (VIN series 57XXX, manufactured Sep 2024) **Premium Audio** * Everyone else is right: music sounds muffled. I'm coming from a Tesla Model Y which had a noticeably wider soundstage. * Vocals and mid/high frequency sounds get muddied together and lose their sense of separation. * It feels like it just makes the cut for an acceptable sound system at this price range. It makes me wonder what the baseline, non-premium audio sounds like. * In the EQ settings, I increased the sliders towards the right (1k, 2k, 4k, 8k) which helped bring back some clarity to the highs. **Dynamic Glass Roof** * When enabled, the glass turns opaque after a second or two while still letting a pleasing amount of light into the cabin. I could still clearly see raindrops sitting on the top of the glass, but otherwise, everything turns a bright, milky color and distant objects (buildings, trees) are no longer visible. * When disabled, the glass is still fully transparent but just a smidge fainter or cloudier-looking than standard glass, though not distractingly so. **Ride quality, noise, vibrations, harshness** * Coming from a Tesla Model Y with"

"In terms of 'cons' our biggest issue by far has been reliability. We were stranded 1.5 hours from civilization on a long winding potholed dirt road near Mt. St. Helens when the Rivian went into a 'driving disabled' mode due to a 'Park brake failure' issue. We had to be rescued by a caravan of 1940's era Jeep aficionados on day long tour. It took Rivian three visits to the service center after the dreaded light came on again in the middle of one of our mountain trips two more times, and a total of three months to track down the issue to a crimped wiring harness above the rear drivers side wheel. Unclear what caused it to be crimped - the hard offroad usage, running a log into our passenger side half-axle, pulling trees, or a manufacturing flaw. It's been almost two months since the final diagnosis and remediation and no recurrence. Replacing the harness also fixed a 'vehicle over current' error we were consistently getting while charging, which Rivian was unable to debug and kept attributing to our home charger. (This is another pet peeve - our Rivian SC has flaky high speed chargers that constantly error out, making it impossible to debug our intermittent charging error). Oh, and our suspension also sprung a leak and ingested dirt so the compressor and all lines and dampers had to be replaced (under warranty)."

"Real World Data Shows Rivian R1S Dual Standard LFP Range Gap vs EPA I complained to Rivian about this over a year ago and provided actual trip data with pictures. They took the car in for inspection and then told me that the almost 50% loss of range is normal."

"Rivian halted the rollout of its 2026.07 software update on Saturday after the build triggered phone key and key fob failures on Gen 1 vehicles and wiped owner data including elevation records, saved radio stations, and contact addresses. Deployment data from the third-party tracking platform _Rivian Roamer_ shows the update went from 2,187 new installs on Thursday to 3,555 on Friday before dropping to just four on Saturday — a near-complete halt. The fleet currently shows 2,551 out of 5,712 monitored vehicles with the update installed, down from a peak of approximately 70% before Rivian stopped pushing the build. _Rivian Roamer_‘s fleet distribution data as of Saturday showed the fleet split roughly in half: 47% on 2026.07 and 53% still on the previous build, 2026.03 — meaning more than half the tracked fleet will remain on the older software until a patched version is released. The 2026.07 build arrived after a nearly seven-week gap from the previous update, 2026.03, which Rivian released on February 19 under the name “Cold Snap.”"

"The one thing I would say in addition to greater reliability in general; is that I wish Rivian had a higher bar for 'failure' modes. Rendering a vehicle 'undrivable' should only be done in cases where it is clearly safer to prevent the vehicle from moving, than risk stranding the driver (and family hours away from civilization). In the places we take this vehicle - almost nothing meets that bar. The parking brake system definitely does not meet that bar for me. It let us drive for 30 plus minutes with an error that said something like 'Service Parking Brake System Soon' before we parked it and went for our hike. Preventing us from shifting to drive after the hike, stranding your family hours away from help, with no cell signal, and then forcing your entire family to hitch hike with a bunch of jeepers, and tow the vehicle out of the depths of Gifford Pinchot National Forest is definitely not the safest outcome or lowest cost for Rivian. I've heard anecdotally that the Subara does an amazing job of functioning - even when electrical lines have been severed and electronic shifting and other features you would think would be critical are knocked out."