Gjeebs already owns a Rivian R1S, so his read on the R2 comes from a useful reference point. He drove both on-road and off-road sections of Rivian's Utah launch event alongside co-driver Chris, covering everything from slow rock-crawling at 7,300 feet elevation to spirited runs on mountain switchbacks. His primary observation: the R2 does not feel like a budget version of the R1. In his words, driving it back to back with the R1S made clear how much the lighter, unibody platform has going for it. Where the R1S can feel large and deliberate, the R2 changes direction quickly, holds a line with less effort, and carries less drama at the limit. For buyers who already have an R1 and are wondering whether the R2 is just a smaller version, the answer is no. It is a different kind of vehicle.
Rivian's average transaction price on R1S models has sat around $96,000, which puts the $57,990 R2 Performance at just over half the cost of what most R1S buyers have paid. The question the R2 has to answer is whether it can hold that brand perception at a lower price without feeling like something was obviously removed. Most first-drive coverage says it largely succeeds. The interior cost-cutting follows a consistent logic: materials above the belt line are premium, below the belt line they are not. Touch points like the steering wheel, armrests, and upper door cards hold up. Lower dash and door trim use harder plastic. For buyers coming from a $90,000 R1S, that trade will be apparent. For buyers stepping into Rivian for the first time from a Toyota RAV4 or a Jeep Wrangler, it will not.
The semi-active damper system earned consistent praise across the event's reviewers. The ride height sensor at each corner feeds the control logic continuously, and the result in off-road mode is a car that lets the wheel ends articulate freely while keeping the body reasonably composed. On canyon roads in sport mode, the steering ratio tightens and the throttle sharpens. The 88 kWh usable pack with a 230 kW maximum charge rate is an upgrade over the R1's 215 kW ceiling. Gjeebs flagged two minor complaints that turned up in multiple other reviews from the day: the horn tone sounds like it came from a software library, and the haptic steering wheel scroll wheels work better in a showroom than they do after hours of driving.
Bottom line: The most useful R2 review for existing Rivian owners who are wondering whether the R2 makes sense alongside or instead of their R1. The R2 is not a smaller R1S. It is lighter, more agile, cheaper to buy and to insure, and gives up some absolute off-road capability and interior volume in exchange. If you already have an R1 and use it hard, keep it. If you are in the market for a one-car solution and the R1S feels like more than you need, the R2 is a serious answer.