u/aviously1

Finally did a test drive - Performance Catalina Cove on 20” All Terrains, Black Crater interior. All ride settings set to 'standard / default / medium' (Range, Ride firmness, Regen, Steering, UHD drive mode). Ambient temp was about 85-90 on a sunny day.
According to salesman, some of my negative feedback might have been due to all terrains - he suggested coming back for another test-drive on all seasons. Sharing my opinion, comparing with EVs I have extensively driven or researched.

TL;DR: Wanted to like it, but a bit underwhelmed. It is def an 'off-road / adventure' vibe vs a 'family commuter / long road-tripper'.

EDIT DISCLAIMER: Have a ZDX a-spec AWD (GM Ultium), and also driven mini countryman ev (bmw iDrive OS9) extensively. Have a reservation invite to order in Jan-Feb, plan to cross shop against iX3 and EX60.

Will share personal comparisons against ZDX/mini based on experience and iX3/EX60 based on reviews (tho iX3/EX60 are more comparable, ZDX is already 2 year old tech). AMA for any clarifications.

Interior: Nice, but not "premium". Good use of soft touch materials, but still some plastic surfaces. (From reviews, EX60 interior materials look much nicer).
A few places where it felt 'cheap build quality / software bugs':
- Rearview mirror squeaked while adjusting.
- Liftgate drop window raise / lower switch was erratic (worked 50% of the time, even salesman was confused)
- Rear passenger seat heating kept turning on (would not turn off, salesman was confused).
- Door open button did not open door completely once.
- Gear / wiper / UHD stalks felt plasticky (even compared to ZDX ones from GM parts bin)

Seats are super supportive, with good range of adjustment. Slightly more comfy than ZDX. Seat ventilation is effective (more perceptible than ZDX) but loud!

Panoramic roof needs a shade / tint. Direct overhead sun was uncomfortable in the face/head (ZDX has power shades, EX60 has electrochromic dimming, ix3 can be purchased in aluminum roof)

Good spacious cabin, lots of cargo room (to be expected with a 'box' shape)

Both wireless chargers are magnetic Qi - nice!

Controls:
Haptic wheels are finicky. tough to avoid scrolling while pressing in/out.
Steering / Side mirror adjustment is via haptic wheel and center touchscreen. No physical dedicated buttons (EX60 also uses touchscreem, but ZDX, iX3 have dedicated physical buttons).

AC vent control is via touchscreen, and only has 2 presets. iX3 (4 presets) and EX60 (3 presets) also went touchscreen vent control.
Not a fan of electronic door release - EX60's approach seems much better (and future regulatory compliant - even iX5 is going that route).

Infotainment / UI: Rivian OS seems nice, visual and responsive and largely intuitive. Graphics are nice. Lot of car info for geeks. (Not familar with rivian, so there is some learning curve).

Google maps integration is nice, but controls are different from typical google maps (in CarPlay or Android Automotive) - which had me a bit confused. IMO ZDX/EX60 native google maps is best, and BMW/MINI's crappy HERE maps in US is disappointing.

Negative points for no carplay or native Youtube Music, forcing bluetooth seems prehistoric.
Preferred steering position occluded the top corners of driver instrument cluster - This is important, apparently the time & exterior temp are shown here and were occluded.

Did not get time to test phone integration, or Rivian assistant.

ADAS/ UHD: Promising with lot of potential, with some gaps. Much better than ZDX a-spec (no supercruise here). Toss-up compared to Mini (BMW) DAPP. UHD could be quite helpful on long road trips

Took me a while to figure out where / how to enable UHD on local roads, but its nice that it can also work on divided local roads (unlike BMW DAPP handsfree which only works on highways).

UHD/ACC speed adjustment is via a separate stalk using a scroll, and not steering buttons. Could not figure out how to adjust in increments of 1 mph vs 5mph. This is not great as it requires taking hands off the steering - ZDX/iX3/EX60 on steering control implementation is better.

Had one scary moment with an abruptly late lane centering correction, otherwise worked well. Could not trigger a highway lane change using turn indicator. Also it did not automatically suggest lane changes when highway exit is coming up (BMW DAPP does, but only if you use the crappy native HERE maps).

NVH / Ride Quality / Acceleration: This was my biggest disappointment. Ride was harsher and noisier than anticipated (on 'standard / medium' defaults). Especially given that R2 has acoustic laminated glass in front windows, rear windows have regular glass - similar to ZDX.
It was nicely quiet till 50mph, but had noticable wind & road noise at freeway speeds (compared to ZDX). Could feel bumps on poorly mantained road. Again ZDX ride quality is smoother.

Punchy if you floor the accelerator, but there seems to be a slight lag (might be the mechanical clutch disconnect, or software tuning). I did not feel the extra horses compared to ZDX AWD in virgorous city / highway driving.

Might be the boxy shape, poorer noise insulation, or the all terrain tires. Worth revisting with all seasons.

Audio: Acceptable, but not mind-blowing. (tip: since this has native Apple music, try playing some atmos and spatial audio tracks). Atmos speaker localization tests could not isolate between surround / rear / top speakers well. Somewhat on par with ZDX B&O (R2 highs are not as punchy as ZDX), and worse than BMW HK. Volvo's B&W is supposed to be top level. Did not have time to tune the equilizer settings myself, that might have helped.