Colorado Checking In

[zefram47]

I was really hoping to not need a dedicated set of rims and snow tires just because of having to store 4 huge wheels in my garage. But, the lack of grip I experienced in the last 2 snow storms, combined with the very unsettling feeling of losing control of 7500 pounds of vehicle, led me to change my mind.
I have the original 20" Pirelli ATs which are 3MPSF rated, but after 30k miles I'm down to 6/32 tread. Even new, felt they were a little dicey going over Monarch pass in a snow storm. Plus, this amount of mass leads to a lot of momentum which added to my unease when trying to stop.
Anyway, I went with Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT3 tires and TPMS from Discount Tire. DT has a 48 mm offset wheel "coming soon" but nothing in stock, so the wheels came from Tire Rack.
Some shopping tips:
- Tire Rack website clearly states the OEM lug nuts work on the new wheels. Not true. Fortunately, Discount Tire knew this, and had the correct, thinner lug nuts in stock. The OEM nuts will strip the bolts before getting to proper torque
- For those that this applies to, I could have saved some money ordering the TR wheels through DT (DT now owns TR). DT offers a military discount, Tire Rack does not even though they are part of the same company. Found this out after the fact.

I look forward to your review of the LT3. I've been on the Blizzak LT for nearly two seasons now and they work well, but I've been curious about the Nokians.

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[Aardvark]

I look forward to your review of the LT3. I've been on the Blizzak LT for nearly two seasons now and they work well, but I've been curious about the Nokians.

I'll report back. I thought I would get a chance to test them after last night's blizzard, but the road were fairly clear this morning.
I used Blizzaks on my former Model X and was very impressed with them. I went with Nokians after reading a number of reviews that give them a slight edge over the Bizzaks.

 

[Aardvark]

I'll report back. I thought I would get a chance to test them after last night's blizzard, but the road were fairly clear this morning.
I used Blizzaks on my former Model X and was very impressed with them. I went with Nokians after reading a number of reviews that give them a slight edge over the Bizzaks.

An initial, but small, data point.
I went out last evening in 2" of fresh snow over a layer of ice and frozen slush.
The Nokians provided a noticeable, significant handling improvement over my moderately worn (6/32" of tread) OEM 20" Pirelli ATs. In similar or even less severe conditions with the Pirellis, the back end was always squirrelly, even on gentle turns. The Nokians were sure-footed with excellent grip, and not a hint of rear end slipping around turns. I was in standard height, all-purpose, low regen. I tested some moderately aggressive stops that would have caused the start of a sideways slip with the ATs. Stops with the Nokians were dead straight, with the car's traction control aiding in very reasonable stopping distances.
I really can't compare the Nokian Happs to my previous Blizzaks on our former Model X. Different car weights, and different conditions would make any comparison purely subjective. I can say the the R1S with Nokians felt at least as sure footed and controllable as the Model X with Bizzaks. I would be happy with either of these.
I'm ready to tackle Monarch Pass in a storm for another trip to Crested Butte.

 

[usulio]

Hello, glad to come across a CO forum! Looking for some help on deciding between standard or large battery (max is not an option). I’m leasing. Large will cost me $230 more each month. May road trip 3x this year at 600-900 miles each way but can take our ICE Telluride. Otherwise, I drive about 20 miles/day with a twice a month trip to Steamboat (from front range- about 150 miles one way for me) in the summer (warm weather). I may go to steamboat 2-3 times in the Winter. Not sure if I’d need to stop in Silverthorne or Kremmling in the winter. Anyone have experience driving from the front range to Steamboat in the winter? Will the LFP standard 270 mile range battery get me there without charging? I will have the black sport wheels.tires and put snow tires on in the winter. Thanks for your help.

I have a gen 1 quad large, so I'm extrapolating from that. Thoughts
* $230/month is a lot of money if it's not helping you, but...
* My really rough rule of thumb is for every 1,000 feet of net elevation gain, add 10 miles of range required. Steamboat is about 2,000 feet higher than Denver, so pretend that it's at least 170 miles for range purposes.
* I think in summer, that'll be no problem for the Standard Pack. I would be surprised if you typically average less than 2.4 mi/kWh on that trip (keeping your speed reasonable) which is 220+ miles of range. Compared to other places, our highway speeds are a bit lower and our air is thinner, which helps range even though we have elevation gain/loss.
* In winter, on a really cold day, with winter tires, building in some buffer ... I would pretty seriously consider the large to guarantee that trip with no stops. (Edit: I might expect you to get as low as 1.8 mi/kWh in cold, hopefully not lower, hopefully usually higher.)
* On the other hand, there charging stations in Georgetown, Silverthorne, Frisco, etc so you could get the Standard pack and know that you might want to hit those chargers under bad conditions, but might not need to.

Just my take.

 

[usulio]

An initial, but small, data point.
I went out last evening in 2" of fresh snow over a layer of ice and frozen slush.
The Nokians provided a noticeable, significant handling improvement over my moderately worn (6/32" of tread) OEM 20" Pirelli ATs. In similar or even less severe conditions with the Pirellis, the back end was always squirrelly, even on gentle turns. The Nokians were sure-footed with excellent grip, and not a hint of rear end slipping around turns. I was in standard height, all-purpose, low regen. I tested some moderately aggressive stops that would have caused the start of a sideways slip with the ATs. Stops with the Nokians were dead straight, with the car's traction control aiding in very reasonable stopping distances.
I really can't compare the Nokian Happs to my previous Blizzaks on our former Model X. Different car weights, and different conditions would make any comparison purely subjective. I can say the the R1S with Nokians felt at least as sure footed and controllable as the Model X with Bizzaks. I would be happy with either of these.
I'm ready to tackle Monarch Pass in a storm for another trip to Crested Butte.

Good to hear. I've been running the Hakka R5s and no really tough tests for them yet, but only good things to report on a few trials of snow and ice.

 

[PoorDick]

FWIW, your "rough rule of thumb" is spot on. I live above Avon, and the 3 miles stretch from the valley floor to my house is 1,100 feet (7,500 to 8,600) and uses right at 10 miles of range every time. I gain about 3 miles going down each time as well (as long as the regen stays on, which it does not in cold weather...)

 

[BlueThunder]

I have a gen 1 quad large, so I'm extrapolating from that. Thoughts
* $230/month is a lot of money if it's not helping you, but...
* My really rough rule of thumb is for every 1,000 feet of net elevation gain, add 10 miles of range required. Steamboat is about 2,000 feet higher than Denver, so pretend that it's at least 170 miles for range purposes.
* I think in summer, that'll be no problem for the Standard Pack. I would be surprised if you typically average less than 2.4 mi/kWh on that trip (keeping your speed reasonable) which is 220+ miles of range. Compared to other places, our highway speeds are a bit lower and our air is thinner, which helps range even though we have elevation gain/loss.
* In winter, on a really cold day, with winter tires, building in some buffer ... I would pretty seriously consider the large to guarantee that trip with no stops. (Edit: I might expect you to get as low as 1.8 mi/kWh in cold, hopefully not lower, hopefully usually higher.)
* On the other hand, there charging stations in Georgetown, Silverthorne, Frisco, etc so you could get the Standard pack and know that you might want to hit those chargers under bad conditions, but might not need to.

Just my take.

Thanks for the note. The large ended up being $400/month more so I decided against it. While I can afford it, it just didn’t make sense for my use case. We typically stop in Silverthorne or Kremmling for a break anyway. Thanks again.

 

[runningdenver]

I wanted to post back on the 12v replacement issue. A month ago I got the notification in the app, and the vehicle, that I needed to make a service appointment to replace the 12v. I have a Sept 23 R1S QM. The earliest mobile appointment wasn't for 4 weeks, which made me nervous, as I'd seen a lot of horror stories about 'bricked' Rivians on the forums.

I inhaled various threads about what was going on with the batteries. For my simple mind, it sounds like the 12v battery is powering gear guard, and much of the day to day features, and as a result typically gets drained every few days, at which time the big battery wakes up and recharges it, and the cycle continues. Because the default 12v is underpowered, when it's done enough cycles it's not holding the charge as well/long, and so if runs out while the vehicle is sleeping, the car can't wake to re-charge it - and now you have a 'brick'.

Anyway - I followed all best practice. Tried to minimize 12v usage (turned off gear guard for the last month etc), tried to have it plugged in all the time at home, and try not to leave it unattended too long parked away from home. I did manage a trip up to the mountains 2 weeks back, which was fine. I plugged it into a 120v while I was up there to keep the trickle going. This last week the warnings got worse. As well as 'diminished range', I got a 'diminished performance' warning last weekend. That capped my max speed at 50 mph, so no highway trips.

Fortunately I got through the month, it was replaced today very quickly, and for free by mobile service, so hopefully I've got a few years free of 12v battery issues... the engineer told me my 12v battery was in a bad way - but fortunately their proactive notifications and support meant I got it replaced without any major inconvenience.

Another anecdote. It seems like the warnings prevent the R1 installing firmware updates - which makes sense. It would be even worse to brick halfway through an update. The mobile tech confirmed that today. An hour after he left, I got the notification for the latest update. Happy to have this behind me.

 

[TPL]

Hi all,
Anyone in the front range area have an R1S with the Megawatt rock sliders installed? I'd love to take a look in person at an R1S with these before I pull the trigger. Thanks!

 

[BrentInCO]

Hi all,
Anyone in the front range area have an R1S with the Megawatt rock sliders installed? I'd love to take a look in person at an R1S with these before I pull the trigger. Thanks!

Yes, I am in Highlands Ranch and DTC. Love them. Looks like you’re in the north metro. Perhaps someone else near there will also chime in over the next few days.

 

[zefram47]

Hi all,
Anyone in the front range area have an R1S with the Megawatt rock sliders installed? I'd love to take a look in person at an R1S with these before I pull the trigger. Thanks!

Not an R1S, but I have the Megawatt on an R1T in Arvada.

 

[jfoonly]

Hi all,
Anyone in the front range area have an R1S with the Megawatt rock sliders installed? I'd love to take a look in person at an R1S with these before I pull the trigger. Thanks!

Great choice. I have them on a Gen1 R1S in Boulder. I'll be available Mon eve or anytime Tues. Fair warning, they're muddy.

 

[Gurule92]

Hey, if anyone knows of a well priced r1t in CO lmk. Saw the one for 50k in person and it's pretty beat. I'm on the hunt

 

[TPL]

Great choice. I have them on a Gen1 R1S in Boulder. I'll be available Mon eve or anytime Tues. Fair warning, they're muddy.

Thanks everyone for the replies! jfoonly I'll reach out to you directly to see if we can connect.

 

[uphill]

Hello, glad to come across a CO forum! Looking for some help on deciding between standard or large battery (max is not an option). I’m leasing. Large will cost me $230 more each month. May road trip 3x this year at 600-900 miles each way but can take our ICE Telluride. Otherwise, I drive about 20 miles/day with a twice a month trip to Steamboat (from front range- about 150 miles one way for me) in the summer (warm weather). I may go to steamboat 2-3 times in the Winter. Not sure if I’d need to stop in Silverthorne or Kremmling in the winter. Anyone have experience driving from the front range to Steamboat in the winter? Will the LFP standard 270 mile range battery get me there without charging? I will have the black sport wheels.tires and put snow tires on in the winter. Thanks for your help.

I do that drive the opposite direction with snow tires and a gen 1 large pack. There are so many places to charge that I wouldn't sweat it. You won't go more than ~90 miles without passing a fast charger. The Georgetown Chargepoint has been perfect in my experience, fwiw.

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