20" Nitto Recon Grappler AT tires 25% more efficient than Pirelli OEM AT! The holy grail!

[moonjeong]

Made this video after posting this thread given the number of people interested - Enjoy!



I’ve run 25k miles on my R1T beginning with my Pirelli OEM AT 20”. Those lasted about 17k miles before the noise was unbearable. I’ve tried several tires since then and found the holy grail of looks, comfort, and efficiency:

1. Pierelli OEM AT 275/65/20: good response, traction, and longetivity. Horrible noise and very stiff. Switched out at 17k miles and historical 1.85 M/kw
2. Michelin Defender LTX MS2 in 275/60/20: These reduced the size of my tire to 33”, but it was butter smooth, quiet, and efficiency jumped to around 2.4 M/KW. Looked bland, actually i hated the look. Was going to keep until i put it in sport in a spirited drive. These tires made the rivian dangerous - wobly, lack of traction. I had around 2k miles i changed them.
3. Michelin Defender Platinum 275/65/20: good look, quiet, soft - even for an LT tire. Traction was not great, but steering response was ok. Over 5k miles, it gave me an average of 1.9 M/kw. The reason i changed them out was because vibrations would always come back after 500-800 miles of being balanced.
4. Nitto Recon Grappler AT 116 275/65/20: AWESOME! Soft, quiet (not as quiet as the LTX), awesome look, no vibration. Best of all? I’m averaging 2.4 M/kw in my first 1k miles! I think it will do better once things settle more. The reason i believe so is because my commute is about 30 miles and with these, i’m consuming around 9% whereas my defender LTX was overing around 10%, with the OEM being around 12-13%.

The peson at Discount Tire pushed me towards the Nitto after my fails with the Michelins - i was not going to listen to him, but he said i will not regret. He told me that these weigh like 48lbs, the lightest AT, are 116 so will be soft and quiet vs an LT, and are much more efficient vs the Recon Grappler non AT. I’m so glad i did, so passing along to this forum! Adding pictrures of the three tires so you can see the look.

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[LL75]

I’ve run 25k miles on my R1T beginning with my Pirelli OEM AT 20”. Those lasted about 17k miles before the noise was unbearable. I’ve tried several tires since then and found the holy grail of looks, comfort, and efficiency:

1. Pierelli OEM AT 275/65/20: good response, traction, and longetivity. Horrible noise and very stiff. Switched out at 17k miles and historical 1.85 M/kw
2. Michelin Defender LTX MS2 in 275/60/20: These reduced the size of my tire to 33”, but it was butter smooth, quiet, and efficiency jumped to around 2.4 M/KW. Looked bland, actually i hated the look. Was going to keep until i put it in sport in a spirited drive. These tires made the rivian dangerous - wobly, lack of traction. I had around 2k miles i changed them.
3. Michelin Defender Platinum 275/65/20: good look, quiet, soft - even for an LT tire. Traction was not great, but steering response was ok. Over 5k miles, it gave me an average of 1.9 M/kw. The reason i changed them out was because vibrations would always come back after 500-800 miles of being balanced.
4. Nitto Recon Grappler AT 116 275/65/20: AWESOME! Soft, quiet (not as quiet as the LTX), awesome look, no vibration. Best of all? I’m averaging 2.4 M/kw in my first 1k miles! I think it will do better once things settle more. The reason i believe so is because my commute is about 30 miles and with these, i’m consuming around 9% whereas my defender LTX was overing around 10%, with the OEM being around 12-13%.

The peson at Discount Tire pushed me towards the Nitto after my fails with the Michelins - i was not going to listen to him, but he said i will not regret. He told me that these weigh like 48lbs, the lightest AT, are 116 so will be soft and quiet vs an LT, and are much more efficient vs the Recon Grappler non AT. I’m so glad i did, so passing along to this forum! Adding pictrures of the three tires so you can see the look.

I have the Nitto grabbler in my silverado and it is a great tires. However, I am surprise that it is the same efficiency as the 275/60/20 defender LTX ms/2. I'm currently run the 275/60/20 general grabber HTS 60 , which is awesome ride, even better than my 21". I don't feel the wobbling in sportsmode like you described. I believed there are a few other members in here currently run that 275/60/20 defenders would chime in about it.

 

[moonjeong]

I was going to go with the HTS60, but the Discount Tire rep urged me to go with the ATs. The Nitto Grappler and the Recon Grappler AT are different tires. One is an LT and the other is a 116 load rated tire. My understanding is that the regular Grappler LT are slightly worse efficiency than the OEs.

 

[LL75]

I was going to go with the HTS60, but the Discount Tire rep urged me to go with the ATs. The Nitto Grappler and the Recon Grappler AT are different tires. One is an LT and the other is a 116 load rated tire. My understanding is that the regular Grappler LT are slightly worse efficiency than the OEs.

still damn amazing if you can get 2.4 kwh with 34" size. If you could do a 25 miles highway test at around 65 mph and report the efficiency would be great.

 

[moonjeong]

I’ll do it when I go back home today. That’s 30 miles and avg speed should be around 60-65 due to traffic. This morning coming I did around 2.6, but going back usually is less.

 

[Ingo B]

I had Nittos on my old Ridgeline. They were fantastic.

 

[Riviot]

Michelin Defender LTX MS2 in 275/60/20: These reduced the size of my tire to 33”, but it was butter smooth, quiet, and efficiency jumped to around 2.4 M/KW.

Did you account for 3% smaller radius? Or did you have computer updated to 21/22 wheel? If not, it was really 2.32.

 

[caiudalmau]

Super interested in this.
I am waiting on my OEMs to start making crazy noise to replace, only 10K miles on them now.
My original thought was to go to a 275/60/20, but then I don't like the idea of any recalibration or mentally calculating what is the real speed. And I really don't like the look as much on the Scorpion AS3 or the GB HTS60.
Now I was convinced to go with the Defender Platinum 275/65/20, but your post is making me think to use yours. They look amazing, no recalibration and looks like big efficiency gain. The range gain is probably related to the tire weight, they are 9.3lb lighter than the OEMs and Defender Platinum:

(2) List of compatible tires : Rivian (reddit.com)

Let us know how the real range is after a little more driving please!!

Also how is the road noise on these?

Thanks

 

[mikehmb]

Thanks for sharing! Wild that you’re able to match the LTX2 efficiency.

And you just threw a wrench into my plans. I was about to go with the Michelins but if the Nittos are really that close …

 

[jjswan33]

Honestly I am a little skeptical on this claim. I have the Nitro Recon Grapplers, admittedly the LT version that are heavier but in general this shouldn't matter much for highway efficiency. That said due to my camper I can't really compare efficiencies.

The tread is pretty aggressive on these tires and 25% more efficient would mean these are more efficient than the stock 21s. At a minimum be careful on grooved highways as the side lugs on these tires like to grip onto things on rough roads causing the truck to get squirrelly.

 

[Discount Tire]

I’ve run 25k miles on my R1T beginning with my Pirelli OEM AT 20”. Those lasted about 17k miles before the noise was unbearable. I’ve tried several tires since then and found the holy grail of looks, comfort, and efficiency:

1. Pierelli OEM AT 275/65/20: good response, traction, and longetivity. Horrible noise and very stiff. Switched out at 17k miles and historical 1.85 M/kw
2. Michelin Defender LTX MS2 in 275/60/20: These reduced the size of my tire to 33”, but it was butter smooth, quiet, and efficiency jumped to around 2.4 M/KW. Looked bland, actually i hated the look. Was going to keep until i put it in sport in a spirited drive. These tires made the rivian dangerous - wobly, lack of traction. I had around 2k miles i changed them.
3. Michelin Defender Platinum 275/65/20: good look, quiet, soft - even for an LT tire. Traction was not great, but steering response was ok. Over 5k miles, it gave me an average of 1.9 M/kw. The reason i changed them out was because vibrations would always come back after 500-800 miles of being balanced.
4. Nitto Recon Grappler AT 116 275/65/20: AWESOME! Soft, quiet (not as quiet as the LTX), awesome look, no vibration. Best of all? I’m averaging 2.4 M/kw in my first 1k miles! I think it will do better once things settle more. The reason i believe so is because my commute is about 30 miles and with these, i’m consuming around 9% whereas my defender LTX was overing around 10%, with the OEM being around 12-13%.

The peson at Discount Tire pushed me towards the Nitto after my fails with the Michelins - i was not going to listen to him, but he said i will not regret. He told me that these weigh like 48lbs, the lightest AT, are 116 so will be soft and quiet vs an LT, and are much more efficient vs the Recon Grappler non AT. I’m so glad i did, so passing along to this forum! Adding pictrures of the three tires so you can see the look.

Thank you for allowing us to earn your business. Thank you for the report out. The feedback is appreciated. Looking forward to hearing how the Nitto's perform for you over time.

 

[moonjeong]

Did you account for 3% smaller radius? Or did you have computer updated to 21/22 wheel? If not, it was really 2.32.

I didn’t have the computer readjusted, but the 2.4 was after the 3% adjustment. Good clarification.

 

[moonjeong]

Super interested in this.
I am waiting on my OEMs to start making crazy noise to replace, only 10K miles on them now.
My original thought was to go to a 275/60/20, but then I don't like the idea of any recalibration or mentally calculating what is the real speed. And I really don't like the look as much on the Scorpion AS3 or the GB HTS60.
Now I was convinced to go with the Defender Platinum 275/65/20, but your post is making me think to use yours. They look amazing, no recalibration and looks like big efficiency gain. The range gain is probably related to the tire weight, they are 9.3lb lighter than the OEMs and Defender Platinum:

(2) List of compatible tires : Rivian (reddit.com)

Let us know how the real range is after a little more driving please!!

Also how is the road noise on these?

Thanks

That’s exactly it. My 0-60 times on the defender Platinum were 3.8 secs on the draggy, they are down to 3.5 on the Nittos. It is a quad, but i always have a lot of ammo and offroad gear in the truck, so that always adds a good bit of weigth… besides i weigh 250 lbs lol.

 

[moonjeong]

Thanks for sharing! Wild that you’re able to match the LTX2 efficiency.

And you just threw a wrench into my plans. I was about to go with the Michelins but if the Nittos are really that close …

I really wanted to love the Platinums… and even til the last moment was doubting the choice… but can’t be happier.

 

[EVTrukHog]

4. Nitto Recon Grappler AT 116 275/65/20: AWESOME! Soft, quiet (not as quiet as the LTX), awesome look, no vibration. Best of all? I’m averaging 2.4 M/kw in my first 1k miles! I think it will do better once things settle more. The reason i believe so is because my commute is about 30 miles and with these, i’m consuming around 9% whereas my defender LTX was overing around 10%, with the OEM being around 12-13%.

The peson at Discount Tire pushed me towards the Nitto after my fails with the Michelins - i was not going to listen to him, but he said i will not regret. He told me that these weigh like 48lbs, the lightest AT, are 116 so will be soft and quiet vs an LT, and are much more efficient vs the Recon Grappler non AT. I’m so glad i did, so passing along to this forum! Adding pictrures of the three tires so you can see the look.

Thanks for sharing... you've given many of us something to consider. I've got about 18,500 miles on my OEM Pirelli's; while they have plenty of tread left, the drone is exhausting. I'm a bad day away from swapping them out - and this may be my next tire. Please continue to update as you put additional miles on them.

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