22” vs 20” Wheel Comparison - Real World

[JWreck]

Looking for real world feedback on the difference between the 20 ATs and 22 sport wheels on an R1S, specifically:
- Noise
- Ride quality
- Tire wear

For context, we have the 20 ATs on our R1S and as the tires age (now at 18k miles) the hum is becoming intolerable. I understand the differences on paper, but looking for real world feedback.

——

“On paper” pros for 22’s for us include lower road noise, more direct steering, slightly increased range and subjectively better looks compared to the 21s (I still like the 20s but this is why I’m only comparing 22s and 20s).

Cons are possibly more harsh ride, less wheel protection for curbs (may need a slight adjustment in mentality as someone may or may not care so much about curbs right now on the 20s ?).

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[LL75]

Looking for real world feedback on the difference between the 20 ATs and 22 sport wheels on an R1S, specifically:
- Noise
- Ride quality
- Tire wear

For context, we have the 20 ATs on our R1S and as the tires age (now at 18k miles) the hum is becoming intolerable. I understand the differences on paper, but looking for real world feedback.

——

“On paper” pros for 22’s for us include lower road noise, more direct steering, slightly increased range and subjectively better looks compared to the 21s (I still like the 20s but this is why I’m only comparing 22s and 20s).

Cons are possibly more harsh ride, less wheel protection for curbs (may need a slight adjustment in mentality as someone may or may not care so much about curbs right now on the 20s ?).

You are comparing AT tires (20") to All Season tires (22") . It is an unfair comparision.
your 20" wheels has so many choices of tires AT and AS. 275/65/20 stock to 275/60/20.
There are a bunch of threads here about 20" tires.

 

[Redline]

Own the 22s, had 2 loners with 20s. Unless I was doing a lot of off roading, I'd never get the 20s. The road noise was noticeably louder, as was the floaty feeling. The ride was smoother though.

 

[JWreck]

Own the 22s, had 2 loners with 20s. Unless I was doing a lot of off roading, I'd never get the 20s. The road noise was noticeably louder, as was the floaty feeling. The ride was smoother though.

It honestly hasn’t been that bad until the last couple thousand miles or so. Now it’s like standing next to a jet engine inside.

 

[LL75]

It honestly hasn’t been that bad until the last couple thousand miles or so. Now it’s like standing next to a jet engine inside.

You should consider switching to All season tires. There so are many choices for your 20". I'm currently run general grabbers HTS60 275/60/20 and they are comparable to my 21" OEM. The best part is it costs less than half. Efficiency is the same as my 21"

 

[JWreck]

You should consider switching to All season tires. There so are many choices for your 20". I'm currently run general grabbers HTS60 275/60/20 and they are comparable to my 21" OEM. The best part is it costs less than half. Efficiency is the same as my 21"

I considered it and decided I don’t want to ?

 

[LL75]

I considered it and decided I don’t want to ?

If you want to stay with AT tires, try Nitto Recon Grappler

 

[Gee Bee]

New oem are better than worn

after 12k miles , time to replace

I decided on five new assys

 

[SwampNut]

I've owned a lot of off-road vehicles with some pretty aggressive tires. I'm also very much a princess when it comes to noise. I've spent a lot of time researching quieter tires. I have 50% tread left on my R1T LE with 15k on it, and the noise is terrible. I'm pretty sure it's worse than my Jeep that had Goodyear MT/R (mud terrains). I am torn between the practicality of cost and how much I hate the noise. That's an expensive upgrade.

If you don't need AT, I would use the Continental ProContact TX. These are SOOOO quiet. I shopped for hours to land on these, and it was successful. It's hard to find tire ratings by simply noise, rather than wear and performance. Another one that's equally good but probably a little more expensive is the Goodyear Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive. Had these on the Tesla and really liked them a lot. Super smooth ride too. I ran them a few PSI below the rating. I run the Contis at exactly the car's recommended air. A chalk test showed both of those were correct and ideal.

When I need new tires on the Rivian, that will be a hard choice. I'm very seriously considering having a set of stock 21 or 22 wheels and road tires to swap in when not going off road. I wish there were a way to demo tires. I will be doing some serious rock crawling, so I need a great tire. Or...do I try to fit something like an 18" aftermarket wheel and aggressive tire, then put streets on my 20s? Dunno.

 

[SwampNut]

I forgot to say, I had great results with the last Jeep I owned, which came with Falken Wildpeak ATs, however I only had that until 10k miles. Right now a friend has them, with more miles, and I need to ask her about them.

 

[Hercules10]

Never understood why Rivian didn't give an option for street tires for the 20s. Seems this would of been a winner considering the poor selection of tires for the 21" tires.

 

[JWreck]

I've owned a lot of off-road vehicles with some pretty aggressive tires. I'm also very much a princess when it comes to noise. I've spent a lot of time researching quieter tires. I have 50% tread left on my R1T LE with 15k on it, and the noise is terrible. I'm pretty sure it's worse than my Jeep that had Goodyear MT/R (mud terrains). I am torn between the practicality of cost and how much I hate the noise. That's an expensive upgrade.

If you don't need AT, I would use the Continental ProContact TX. These are SOOOO quiet. I shopped for hours to land on these, and it was successful. It's hard to find tire ratings by simply noise, rather than wear and performance. Another one that's equally good but probably a little more expensive is the Goodyear Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive. Had these on the Tesla and really liked them a lot. Super smooth ride too. I ran them a few PSI below the rating. I run the Contis at exactly the car's recommended air. A chalk test showed both of those were correct and ideal.

When I need new tires on the Rivian, that will be a hard choice. I'm very seriously considering having a set of stock 21 or 22 wheels and road tires to swap in when not going off road. I wish there were a way to demo tires. I will be doing some serious rock crawling, so I need a great tire. Or...do I try to fit something like an 18" aftermarket wheel and aggressive tire, then put streets on my 20s? Dunno.

Yeah that’s about where I’m at. I don’t like the look of AS tires on the 20s so that’s where the 22s come in. I would absolutely keep the 20s as 1 - they are original for the car and 2 - for off road fun.

 

[anthonysfl]

Looking for real world feedback on the difference between the 20 ATs and 22 sport wheels on an R1S, specifically:
- Noise
- Ride quality
- Tire wear

For context, we have the 20 ATs on our R1S and as the tires age (now at 18k miles) the hum is becoming intolerable. I understand the differences on paper, but looking for real world feedback.

——

“On paper” pros for 22’s for us include lower road noise, more direct steering, slightly increased range and subjectively better looks compared to the 21s (I still like the 20s but this is why I’m only comparing 22s and 20s).

Cons are possibly more harsh ride, less wheel protection for curbs (may need a slight adjustment in mentality as someone may or may not care so much about curbs right now on the 20s ?).

On paper the pro for 22 more direct steering is kind of irrelevant. It’s a 7k lbs SUV. It handles like such. People that get the 22’s and say it handles like a sporty truck are the definition of oxymoron. Just personal opinion. If you want a sporty SUV, then get a Cayenne, Urus, RSQ8 etc. Not a 7k lbs boxy SUV. It’ll never be sporty with its size and aerodynamics no matter what tires you put on it.

Just put 275/60/20 AS tires on. I have the Pirelli AS plus 3 on 20 brights on my R1S. My R1S is 7% more efficient than my R1T with 21’s. Lifetime mi/kwh on R1T was 2.31. It’s currently 2.47 on my S.

20’s on 275/60/20 is the best all around setup for on pavement Rivian’s. Aesthetics aside (even though I think the Rivian 20’s are sweet looking), it rides the best with the most amount of rubber compared to the 21’s or 22’s, least amount of risk of curb rash or popping tire compared to 22’s, a plethora of tires to select from (calling you out Rivian for the 21’s), and the most efficiency of the tire setups.

Lastly, a point on eco friendliness. I originally wanted the 22’s on my pre order. But the more I researched tires and understood the range loss and ride quality. The more I wanted to go against the trend of large wheels and thin rubber. Aesthetics are sometimes hindering true progress. Tire size the same, smaller wheels are more efficient on evs and gas cars. Think about the less emissions we would have if cars all came with the smallest wheel and tire package? There is no practical benefit to the average person driving a car with 22’s and low profile tires.

End rant. Thank you for your time.

 

[JWreck]

On paper the pro for 22 more direct steering is kind of irrelevant. It’s a 7k lbs SUV. It handles like such. People that get the 22’s and say it handles like a sporty truck are the definition of oxymoron. Just personal opinion. If you want a sporty SUV, then get a Cayenne, Urus, RSQ8 etc. Not a 7k lbs boxy SUV. It’ll never be sporty with its size and aerodynamics no matter what tires you put on it.

Just put 275/60/20 AS tires on. I have the Pirelli AS plus 3 on 20 brights on my R1S. My R1S is 7% more efficient than my R1T with 21’s. Lifetime mi/kwh on R1T was 2.31. It’s currently 2.47 on my S.

20’s on 275/60/20 is the best all around setup for on pavement Rivian’s. Aesthetics aside (even though I think the Rivian 20’s are sweet looking), it rides the best with the most amount of rubber compared to the 21’s or 22’s, least amount of risk of curb rash or popping tire compared to 22’s, a plethora of tires to select from (calling you out Rivian for the 21’s), and the most efficiency of the tire setups.

Lastly, a point on eco friendliness. I originally wanted the 22’s on my pre order. But the more I researched tires and understood the range loss and ride quality. The more I wanted to go against the trend of large wheels and thin rubber. Aesthetics are sometimes hindering true progress. Tire size the same, smaller wheels are more efficient on evs and gas cars. Think about the less emissions we would have if cars all came with the smallest wheel and tire package? There is no practical benefit to the average person driving a car with 22’s and low profile tires.

End rant. Thank you for your time.

Haha. I agree - not any attempt to be “sporty”. But maybe the better phrase is “less floaty” in both ride quality and in the steering wheel. It does make a difference in confidence and experience even when driving normally.

 

[JWreck]

On paper the pro for 22 more direct steering is kind of irrelevant. It’s a 7k lbs SUV. It handles like such. People that get the 22’s and say it handles like a sporty truck are the definition of oxymoron. Just personal opinion. If you want a sporty SUV, then get a Cayenne, Urus, RSQ8 etc. Not a 7k lbs boxy SUV. It’ll never be sporty with its size and aerodynamics no matter what tires you put on it.

Just put 275/60/20 AS tires on. I have the Pirelli AS plus 3 on 20 brights on my R1S. My R1S is 7% more efficient than my R1T with 21’s. Lifetime mi/kwh on R1T was 2.31. It’s currently 2.47 on my S.

20’s on 275/60/20 is the best all around setup for on pavement Rivian’s. Aesthetics aside (even though I think the Rivian 20’s are sweet looking), it rides the best with the most amount of rubber compared to the 21’s or 22’s, least amount of risk of curb rash or popping tire compared to 22’s, a plethora of tires to select from (calling you out Rivian for the 21’s), and the most efficiency of the tire setups.

Lastly, a point on eco friendliness. I originally wanted the 22’s on my pre order. But the more I researched tires and understood the range loss and ride quality. The more I wanted to go against the trend of large wheels and thin rubber. Aesthetics are sometimes hindering true progress. Tire size the same, smaller wheels are more efficient on evs and gas cars. Think about the less emissions we would have if cars all came with the smallest wheel and tire package? There is no practical benefit to the average person driving a car with 22’s and low profile tires.

End rant. Thank you for your time.

Also just as an aside, I’m comparing 20s and 22s. I’d hazard a guess that they’re probably not materially different in “eco friendliness”, but if we were to nitpick it seems like universally the 20 ATs last for less miles, and rivian specifies that they also get worse range (5-10% worse) than the 22s. This is why ecological benefits aren’t really relevant here

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