I wonder if(very light) brake application would tell the motors to freewheel?
Thx BJā¦ still awaiting valid R1T (20āwheels w/AT tread) delivery date here in UT. The Wasatch Mtn folk need to swamp the forums and local service center with demands to optimize for āsnow/coldā. I drive the Powder Mtn road for winter work and trailhead access teaching Avy courses so reliable access to the vehicle/storage after being parked for 6-8 hrs in arctic-like conditions, along with safe passage on steep snow roads, is key.We had our first storm of the season over the weekend, which dropped a foot of snow or more up in the mountains but not a lot of it stuck to the roads. A second storm blew through yesterday, and with the colder temps the last few days it finally stuck and gave me a chance to try the RiT in some snow. It came down pretty hard and sideways at around 7pm as I was heading out to pick up my daughter. Temperature was in the upper 20's. There was probably just an inch or two on the road but it was snowing fast. Travel was about 30mph on the interstate and one car had spun out into the median, so it was pretty slippery.PSI on the tires was around 44 (I need to add a little air.) I was able to drive both street and highway and here are some thoughts after driving. My plan is to use the OEM Pirelli's all winter if I can.
- Overall it handles really, really well. Most of these comments are nitpicks, but I just wanted to point some things out. But it is a confidence inspiring ride.
- I kept it in All Purpose since I wasn't sure what else would be appropriate without a snow mode (more on that in a bit)
- It can be a little slippery out of the chute at a stop sign or traffic light, but recovers quickly. I assume this is due to all the torque, so I imagine I'll get used to that and manage it better over time.
- Braking is good but the regen is likely too strong which can cause it to lock up just a bit and skid. Again, I'll get used to it and a quick touch of the throttle clears it up. But it would be great to have a Low and/or Off setting for the regen, or just a dedicated snow mode that truly optimizes for the conditions. My wife got a Model Y a few weeks before my R1T arrived and I saw that you can dial down the regen on that.
- I probably took one turn faster than I should have and my tail did spin out a little. This one road had some gravel on it FWIW. But mostly it was just poor driving on my part. I have a hard time going slow on turns.
- As you would expect, the sensors get covered up with snow pretty quickly and warning lights get activated. The headlights don't put out much heat and it seemed they got covered up a bit. Nothing that impacted light output to the point where I had to pull over and clean them off, but on a longer drive I wonder how they'd hold up.
- None of the door handles or buttons froze. Prior to my journey I was parked outside all day while at work. Fun trying to find the gear tunnel button under a few inches of snow.
- After driving, the gear tunnel doors wouldn't open. I had to clean off all the snow/ice that had accumulated from the throw from the front tires. I'd never put mud flaps on this truck but that will be an ongoing issue. See photo of where it gathered:
Anyway, I hope this helps those of you who may be curious about how it performs in the snow. I'll try to update this as I get more snow driving in and see if anything changes. Meanwhile, winter is here but I at least get to enjoy some good views during the day.
- I was curious about how colder weather would impact range/battery, since a performance hit is to be expected. I park in my garage (heated to 55Ā°) and I charge to 70%. When I get to work I'm typically at 64-65% remaining. Yesterday it was at 63% and today it was 62%. I park outside during the day so we'll see how this goes over the winter.
- Anyone know if/when Rivian will have things like Scheduled Departure or other items to improve cold weather performance? I'm going to have to set an alarm to remind my to use the app to warm up the truck before I leave work. No where for me to charge or plug in at work.
- Range is rarely an issue for me day to day so it doesn't really matter...until the day I need it. I'll probably do more Conserve mode driving during the winter.
- Too early to tell on the Pirelli tires. I think they'll be fine but need to try them on some steeper roads in the snow.
- One quirk I noticed with the HVAC screen - I have it set to 68Ā° and it shows snowflake icons over the vents even when it's blowing hot air. If I bump it up to 72Ā° the icons change to heat. Are the icons based on temperature and not on what the system is actually outputting?
We had our first storm of the season over the weekend, which dropped a foot of snow or more up in the mountains but not a lot of it stuck to the roads. A second storm blew through yesterday, and with the colder temps the last few days it finally stuck and gave me a chance to try the RiT in some snow. It came down pretty hard and sideways at around 7pm as I was heading out to pick up my daughter. Temperature was in the upper 20's. There was probably just an inch or two on the road but it was snowing fast. Travel was about 30mph on the interstate and one car had spun out into the median, so it was pretty slippery.
- Overall it handles really, really well. Most of these comments are nitpicks, but I just wanted to point some things out. But it is a confidence inspiring ride.
- I kept it in All Purpose since I wasn't sure what else would be appropriate without a snow mode (more on that in a bit)
- It can be a little slippery out of the chute at a stop sign or traffic light, but recovers quickly. I assume this is due to all the torque, so I imagine I'll get used to that and manage it better over time.
- Braking is good but the regen is likely too strong which can cause it to lock up just a bit and skid. Again, I'll get used to it and a quick touch of the throttle clears it up. But it would be great to have a Low and/or Off setting for the regen, or just a dedicated snow mode that truly optimizes for the conditions. My wife got a Model Y a few weeks before my R1T arrived and I saw that you can dial down the regen on that.
- I probably took one turn faster than I should have and my tail did spin out a little. This one road had some gravel on it FWIW. But mostly it was just poor driving on my part. I have a hard time going slow on turns.
- As you would expect, the sensors get covered up with snow pretty quickly and warning lights get activated. The headlights don't put out much heat and it seemed they got covered up a bit. Nothing that impacted light output to the point where I had to pull over and clean them off, but on a longer drive I wonder how they'd hold up.
- None of the door handles or buttons froze. Prior to my journey I was parked outside all day while at work. Fun trying to find the gear tunnel button under a few inches of snow.
- After driving, the gear tunnel doors wouldn't open. I had to clean off all the snow/ice that had accumulated from the throw from the front tires. I'd never put mud flaps on this truck but that will be an ongoing issue. See photo of where it gathered:
Anyway, I hope this helps those of you who may be curious about how it performs in the snow. I'll try to update this as I get more snow driving in and see if anything changes. Meanwhile, winter is here but I at least get to enjoy some good views during the day.
- I was curious about how colder weather would impact range/battery, since a performance hit is to be expected. I park in my garage (heated to 55Ā°) and I charge to 70%. When I get to work I'm typically at 64-65% remaining. Yesterday it was at 63% and today it was 62%. I park outside during the day so we'll see how this goes over the winter.
- Anyone know if/when Rivian will have things like Scheduled Departure or other items to improve cold weather performance? I'm going to have to set an alarm to remind my to use the app to warm up the truck before I leave work. No where for me to charge or plug in at work.
- Range is rarely an issue for me day to day so it doesn't really matter...until the day I need it. I'll probably do more Conserve mode driving during the winter.
- Too early to tell on the Pirelli tires. I think they'll be fine but need to try them on some steeper roads in the snow.
- One quirk I noticed with the HVAC screen - I have it set to 68Ā° and it shows snowflake icons over the vents even when it's blowing hot air. If I bump it up to 72Ā° the icons change to heat. Are the icons based on temperature and not on what the system is actually outputting?
Thank you for that great review. This kind of helpful sharing is the reason I make the time to participate in forums like this. I'm looking forward to hearing more as the winter rolls in.We had our first storm of the season over the weekend, which dropped a foot of snow or more up in the mountains but not a lot of it stuck to the roads. A second storm blew through yesterday, and with the colder temps the last few days it finally stuck and gave me a chance to try the RiT in some snow. It came down pretty hard and sideways at around 7pm as I was heading out to pick up my daughter. Temperature was in the upper 20's. There was probably just an inch or two on the road but it was snowing fast. Travel was about 30mph on the interstate and one car had spun out into the median, so it was pretty slippery.
- Overall it handles really, really well. Most of these comments are nitpicks, but I just wanted to point some things out. But it is a confidence inspiring ride.
- I kept it in All Purpose since I wasn't sure what else would be appropriate without a snow mode (more on that in a bit)
- It can be a little slippery out of the chute at a stop sign or traffic light, but recovers quickly. I assume this is due to all the torque, so I imagine I'll get used to that and manage it better over time.
- Braking is good but the regen is likely too strong which can cause it to lock up just a bit and skid. Again, I'll get used to it and a quick touch of the throttle clears it up. But it would be great to have a Low and/or Off setting for the regen, or just a dedicated snow mode that truly optimizes for the conditions. My wife got a Model Y a few weeks before my R1T arrived and I saw that you can dial down the regen on that.
- I probably took one turn faster than I should have and my tail did spin out a little. This one road had some gravel on it FWIW. But mostly it was just poor driving on my part. I have a hard time going slow on turns.
- As you would expect, the sensors get covered up with snow pretty quickly and warning lights get activated. The headlights don't put out much heat and it seemed they got covered up a bit. Nothing that impacted light output to the point where I had to pull over and clean them off, but on a longer drive I wonder how they'd hold up.
- None of the door handles or buttons froze. Prior to my journey I was parked outside all day while at work. Fun trying to find the gear tunnel button under a few inches of snow.
- After driving, the gear tunnel doors wouldn't open. I had to clean off all the snow/ice that had accumulated from the throw from the front tires. I'd never put mud flaps on this truck but that will be an ongoing issue. See photo of where it gathered:
Anyway, I hope this helps those of you who may be curious about how it performs in the snow. I'll try to update this as I get more snow driving in and see if anything changes. Meanwhile, winter is here but I at least get to enjoy some good views during the day.
- I was curious about how colder weather would impact range/battery, since a performance hit is to be expected. I park in my garage (heated to 55Ā°) and I charge to 70%. When I get to work I'm typically at 64-65% remaining. Yesterday it was at 63% and today it was 62%. I park outside during the day so we'll see how this goes over the winter.
- Anyone know if/when Rivian will have things like Scheduled Departure or other items to improve cold weather performance? I'm going to have to set an alarm to remind my to use the app to warm up the truck before I leave work. No where for me to charge or plug in at work.
- Range is rarely an issue for me day to day so it doesn't really matter...until the day I need it. I'll probably do more Conserve mode driving during the winter.
- Too early to tell on the Pirelli tires. I think they'll be fine but need to try them on some steeper roads in the snow.
- One quirk I noticed with the HVAC screen - I have it set to 68Ā° and it shows snowflake icons over the vents even when it's blowing hot air. If I bump it up to 72Ā° the icons change to heat. Are the icons based on temperature and not on what the system is actually outputting?
Yes! I was out Wednesday morning in Bend and it was super icy. On that steep little downhill eastbound on Portland from College Way the 20" A/Ts and regen worked well to slow the Rivian to a crawl without locking any wheels and maintain full control. I could feel some slippage but I was impressed.
Same. Love this Adamās product! Two coats, eight hours a part for me!
Which is the product you like? They have like 20 different graphene options so curious as to the one you are using: graphene ceramic - Adam's Polishes (adamspolishes.com)
Adam's Advanced Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating (12oz) - 18+ Month Sprayable Graphene Oxide Ceramic Coating for Cars, Boats, RV's & Motorcycle | Adds Extreme Gloss, Depth, Shine & Protection
Awesome thanks - cheaper here, and I also live about 10 mins from their warehouse:
It's been debated for years, but the majority opinion is not to air down for snow. I've never aired down for snow and usually check my pressure to make sure it's sufficient or even a little bit high. Airing down is helpful on sand to distribute the weight on a bigger tire patch, but you still have good contact friction in sand. That does not really apply in snow because you have poor contact friction in snow. By maintaining tire pressure, you improve the possibility that the tire will "cut" through the snow and contact the road, even partially, instead of "floating" on snow. That's the theory....
The issue is that most people will completely lift off the pedal if the vehicle starts to slide so changing the pedal map would not change anything - regen will still kick in and potentially continue the slide. If people learn to feather the pedal it would help. But the reality is that to many drivers, the pedal is an on/off switch.
