Wheel & tire advice sought

[Yossarian]

Our R1S reservation is presently configured with the 21" wheels & tires, mostly because they offer the best range, and our off-roading consists of very occasionally towing our small teardrop down some gravel or fire roads for a few days of boondocking. With the limited choices in 21" tires, I'm wondering if going with 20" wheels and changing out the supplied AT tires for AS's like the Michelin Defender LTX makes more sense.

The AS's would be on the car most of the time, but I should add that we travel to the mountain west in winter, and frequently wind up in heavy snow conditions. We also have a cabin in the Poconos where snowy conditions also exist, but are becoming far less common. What I'm thinking then, is holding on to the AT's and mounting them during the winter months when we're in areas that have the potential for significant snow. If I had the 21" wheels, I don't think I'd be inclined to get 3-Peak tires to use during the winter months.

Is it worth changing my config to the 20" wheels, and post-delivery, ditching the Pirelli AT's for later winter use and and mounting something like the LTX's in their place?

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[mkg3]

Why don't you simply get a set of 20" in addition to the original 21"?

Many people have two sets - spring/summer/fall, and for winter.

Frankly, I live in SoCal so I don't know what winter tires are..

jk, I lived in NY, NJ and MI so I know what shoveling snow is....

 

[Yossarian]

Why don't you simply get a set of 20" in addition to the original 21"?
. . .

Let's assume for the purposes of this discussion, that I can afford to splurge for the tires but not also a set of new wheels . . .

 

[Thedude]

I would go with the 20” wheels and run the tires until they wear out and then replace them with whatever else you want. When you’re towing the difference in range is small enough that the tires will not make a difference.

 

[Mathme]

This was my largest dilemma when ordering my Rivian (second to color choice). After countless hours of reading reviews, tire rack searching, etc, I went with 20s. The thought that there's only ONE tire available in that size right now isn't comforting when out on a road trip. I live in the Bay Area and drive to Lake Tahoe (over 7400 foot pass and about 225 miles each way) year round and finally decided the 20s will offer the better all around performance over the 21s.

When the ATs wear out, I may go to an AS if it has the 3PMS symbol on them. Although they aren't dedicated snow tires - which are always better in snow - at least there's a lot of options in the 20" size. Additionally some people on here have gone with 60 series vs. the original 65 series which drops the ride height down to the 21" size

As for mileage, attached is a screen shot of what my truck said when I recently charged it to 100% before a Tahoe Trip. Note that I only had about 400 miles on the truck at the time, and that was my first long trip. Also note that when charging to 80%, the truck shows about 230 miles in AP Mode.

 

[Riviot]

Is it worth changing my config to the 20" wheels, and post-delivery, ditching the Pirelli AT's for later winter use and and mounting something like the LTX's in their place?

My hindsight says yes.

I would go with the 20” wheels and run the tires until they wear out and then replace them with whatever else you want. When you’re towing the difference in range is small enough that the tires will not make a difference.

I did this. Down to 6 or 7/32 in the front and 5/32 in the back at 29k miles. I'm trying out the Pirelli AS3+ , mounting next week ?

 

[140 degrees]

Let's assume for the purposes of this discussion, that I can afford to splurge for the tires but not also a set of new wheels . . .

Actually, the pricing doesn't work as you assume. If you reconfigure your R1S to the 20" rims, you also get the underbody shield. The cost is $3600 for the change. If you buy a set of 20" rims and tires from the shop, the cost is $4300. Lets assume a second set of tires cost $400 each. That means you could have one set of rims with two sets of tires for $5200 or two sets of rims with mounted tires for $4300.

 

[Yossarian]

@140 degrees - I think the options and pricing may be a bit different in my case.

My recollection is that for pre-March '22 reservation holders, you could opt for the 20" wheels/tires and the underbody shield separately, and that they were $1,800 and $1,700 respectively. I'm old, so my memory is unreliable though.

I also was pretty imprecise with my flip remark about splurging on tires. What I meant was buying a set of Michelin Defender LTX's (~$1,400) and keeping the stock tires for winter use rather than selling them. The total outlay for the wheels and new tires would be in the $3,200 range.

 

[iansriv]

"Is it worth changing my config to the 20" wheels, and post-delivery, ditching the Pirelli AT's for later winter use and and mounting something like the LTX's in their place?"

I like this option IF you're not changing out the tyres every weekend like most ppl that track their cars do. You could also go with the 21" and probably find winter tyres by the time winter arrives which by the looks of the heatwave we're getting may not be for years.

 

[goldburger]

The 21’s have been reported to have great performance in the snow whereas the 20” AT’s have mixed reviews in the snow.

Aside from per tire price and lack of treadwear warranty I love these tires. The wheels look really good blacked out too. None of the 20” wheels looks particularly good to me and while knobby tires look cool all I care about with an EV is range. I say stick with the 21’s and if you really need another set do the cheap dodge ram wheel with winter tires (plenty of posts on here use the search).

 

[GRtruck]

I'm planning to get a set of 20s for Winter/off-road play. I'm planning to use the Ram 2363 wheels. I'm also hoping to see the Michelin Defenders in 21s soon. They're actually all over the internet, but don't appear to be available on the Tire Rack/Discount Tire, etc sites. https://mammothracing.com/products/michelin-defender-ltx-m-s-2-275-55r21-116h-xl

 

[Guy]

The 21’s have been reported to have great performance in the snow whereas the 20” AT’s have mixed reviews in the snow.

Aside from per tire price and lack of treadwear warranty I love these tires. The wheels look really good blacked out too. None of the 20” wheels looks particularly good to me and while knobby tires look cool all I care about with an EV is range. I say stick with the 21’s and if you really need another set do the cheap dodge ram wheel with winter tires (plenty of posts on here use the search).

Range is important but for most people charging at home is what they use 99% of the time so range is not that critical and the additional cost for driving 10k miles is around $70 so doesn’t matter. Hence why a lot of people go with the 20 or 22” wheels.

 

[usulio]

The 21’s have been reported to have great performance in the snow whereas the 20” AT’s have mixed reviews in the snow.

Noticed that too on this forum, but I wonder if that is an absolute comparison or down to expectations. People might be comparing 21s to other all-seasons while they might compare the 20s to other 3PMSF rated and winter-specific tires.

 

[MidnightRivian]

20" AT all day long. You can switch later on down the road to something that is all seasons to get some range back.

Ride quality on 20 AT in sport / low / stiff is amazing.

 

[AbhorViolence]

Our R1S reservation is presently configured with the 21" wheels & tires, mostly because they offer the best range, and our off-roading consists of very occasionally towing our small teardrop down some gravel or fire roads for a few days of boondocking. With the limited choices in 21" tires, I'm wondering if going with 20" wheels and changing out the supplied AT tires for AS's like the Michelin Defender LTX makes more sense.

The AS's would be on the car most of the time, but I should add that we travel to the mountain west in winter, and frequently wind up in heavy snow conditions. We also have a cabin in the Poconos where snowy conditions also exist, but are becoming far less common. What I'm thinking then, is holding on to the AT's and mounting them during the winter months when we're in areas that have the potential for significant snow. If I had the 21" wheels, I don't think I'd be inclined to get 3-Peak tires to use during the winter months.

Is it worth changing my config to the 20" wheels, and post-delivery, ditching the Pirelli AT's for later winter use and and mounting something like the LTX's in their place?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Everything Mathme said above.

I also went back and forth and researched this endlessly, until I realized how much less expensive 20" AT (get 275/60/20, not 65) tires would be, and more options, while probably matching the range of the 21s.

Once I figured that out, I knew I wanted the 20" (forged) wheels. Then when a Launch Edition R1T that matched my preferred build showed up in the shop, it was a no brainer. As long as it doesn't have the "all terrain upgrade" which includes spare and Reinforced Underbody (which they charge full price for even on LE), you're getting the 20" wheels for free on LE. Add in the fact that I was also able to get my preferred Forest Edge interior, also free on LE (normally $2000), and I saved an extra $3800 vs my already pre 3/1/22 pricing.

Mine also has the RUS but unfortunately that's a $2000 option on LE vs $1700 for early pricing Adventure, so I did take a $300 hit there but still $3500 less than same config would have cost me if I made it my order.

I plan on driving on the AT wheels for a bit and see how I like them. Then either just use them till they're worn out and get AS 275/60's then, or swap out sooner and sell the AT tires.

Only issue here is when I swap I'll need to get the truck recalibrated for 33" wheels (stock 21, 22, or 275/60/20) vs the 34" of the stock 275/60/20 AT tires. That may require a trip to the service center and cost anywhere from $60 to $400 from what I've read, since Rivian doesn't have it changeable in software (yet), unfortunately.

If you're planning on regularly swapping them, you might as well just leave it calibrated for 34", but understand numbers will be off by 3%.

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