Vion R1S Third-Row Roof Shade: Real Heat Relief

If you have a Gen 2 Rivian R1S, you already know the Dynamic Glass Roof stops at the second row. The third row gets nothing. No tint, no shade, just open glass and whatever the sun decides to do back there. Here in Southern California, that is a problem about ten months out of the year.

I have never been quiet about where I stand on roof shades. I do not like tinting the glass roof, and even the Dynamic Glass Roof, as good as it is, still lets light pour in. I would rather block it out completely and keep the ability to pull the shade off when I actually want the sky back. So when Vion reached out and said they finally made a third-row roof shade for the R1S, the answer was easy. They sent this one over to test, the same way they did with the front and second-row roof shade I installed a few months back.

Why the Third Row Needed a Roof Shade

The Dynamic Glass Roof is genuinely a great feature. It tints on demand and does a solid job knocking down heat, and I still like running a roof shade on top of it. But it only covers the front and second rows. The third row sits under plain glass with zero help. My guess is cost savings, because not many people think about who is sitting back there. If you have kids or you actually use all seven seats, you do.

A tinted roof still lets a ton of light through, and light is heat. That honeymoon period where you love staring up at the sky runs out fast when you live in the Southwest. Even if you are in Florida, I do not know how you do it without a shade. The whole point of a roof shade for me is that it goes solid, and I can take it off whenever I want the glass back.

What Comes in the Box

The third-row roof shade is also on Amazon if that is where you prefer to shop, and it is about as simple as an accessory gets. You get the shade itself plus a small set of clips, and there is even a printed picture showing exactly where the clips go. One side of the shade is solid black, the other side is a honeycomb pattern, and a tab tells you which way is up. It literally reads “this side up,” so the honeycomb faces the sun and the flat black side faces down into the cabin.

The quality is good. The clips all carry the Vion logo and they are identical, so there is no left or right to figure out. One detail that matters: for the third row, you only get three clips, and Vion wants the center clip installed in the middle, with one clip on each side. Adding extra clips or moving them around will create gaps. Less is more here.

Installing the Vion Third-Row Roof Shade

The trick that makes this painless is the order you do it in. Attach the clips to the shade first, not to the edges of your roof. Once the clips are on the shade, you just slide the whole thing into place and push the sides in. Trying to clip it to the roof edge first will fight you.

I will admit I put the clips on upside down my first try. Remember, honeycomb up, flat part up, with the logo oriented correctly. Easy fix once you catch it. The other thing to know is that the shade is not a perfect rectangle. The rear edge is a bit shorter than the front, so it only fits one way, with the tab facing toward the front. If you somehow get it backwards, you will know immediately, because it will not seat right and you will see it sticking out.

The Fit, and Getting It Right

Once it is seated, the fit is really nice. The one thing I noticed is that the section without a clip can sag down a little. The fix is easy. Move the side clip toward the back rather than the front, and it holds the panel up much better. Honestly it is up to you and how you like it to sit, but that small adjustment cleaned it up for me.

There is a surprising amount of room back in the third row of the R1S, and now it finally gets the same sun protection as everyone up front. No more baking under bare glass.

The part I keep coming back to is the flexibility. The whole shade pops out in seconds if I ever want the open glass back, so I am not locked into anything the way I would be with tint. On a road trip where the kids are in the back and the sun is overhead all afternoon, it stays in. On a cooler day when nobody is sitting back there, I can pull it. That is the trade I want from a roof accessory, and it is the same reason I run the shade up front.

So, Is It Worth It?

For me, yes. It is a clean, well-made shade that does exactly one job and does it well, and it fills a gap Rivian left wide open. It still makes me wonder why Rivian skipped the Dynamic Glass Roof in the third row. Cost savings, probably. But that is what makes an accessory like this useful in the first place.

Vion sent over an air filter to test alongside this too, and I am still running it. It is holding up clean, same as the last batch of gear they sent. If you run a Gen 2 R1S and you actually put people in that third row, this is one of the easier upgrades to recommend. Your back-row passengers will notice the difference the first hot day they ride along.