We recently saw Kyle Conner, host of Out of Spec Studios, borrow a Rivian R2 from its very new owner to run some tests, including range and charging trials. While its highway range wasn’t stellar, it did charge incredibly well for a 400-volt battery system. Now, though, Conner’s latest video shows a very different side of the R2, one that even Chris Harris would probably appreciate: drifting.
You’ll be forgiven for not associating Rivian with big, smokey slides. That’s not what the brand is known for. Rivian makes electric pickups and SUVs that are famous for their off-road prowess. So watching one drift around a track like an old-school BMW M3 is shocking to say the very least. Despite such incongruity, the R2 is a wildly capable drift machine and Conner puts it to the test in this new video. So much so that a tire explodes.
To be fair, Conner didn’t set out to destroy a tire. The idea was just to test the R2’s dynamic abilities to see how fun it can be on pavement. Few Rivian owners will ever take their cars to a track of any kind, but it’s a good indicator of how much the R2 can handle when the going gets twisty. What he found might shock you.
In the softest, calmest settings with stability control on, it’s a very safe, easy car to drive quickly. Its traction control systems manage power output so you can keep your right foot pinned to the floor through corners and, at reasonable speeds, shouldn’t run into any pants-ruining moments. However, as you dial the stability control back, it starts to allow for more and more tail-out fun.
When you pull all the safety nets as far back as they’ll go, Connor found out that it will lift-off oversteer on command. Once it oversteers, its slides are balanced and easy to manage. If you want to straighten it out, you can. If you want to hold the slide, it’ll do that, too. For an SUV, it’s remarkably composed and willing to act like a Miata on track. It’s also impressive just how predictable it is. Enter the corner hot, lift off the accelerator, catch the slide, and hold whatever slip-angle you want. It really is a pick-your-drift kind of car.
After sliding the R2 around at will, Connor noticed that the battery and brake temperatures were beginning to rise. That’s when the passenger-side rear tire tore itself to pieces, marking the final slide of the day. Of course, the economy-minded Pirelli Scorpion tires aren’t meant for such tomfoolery, so maybe a stickier set of performance tires would have held up longer. However, few SUVs of any kind will hold drifts like that until their tires give out.
The R2 is an all-electric family SUV with an active lifestyle focus and Conner called it one of the most fun EVs he’s ever driven, among cars like the Porsche Cayenne EV. High praise, indeed. Just make sure you budget for extra rubber.