Snow Mode?

[COdogman]

Sand mode has greatly reduced regen. It's harder to find the "sweet spot" where the vehicle will just coast the motors under low traction conditions. The Rivian is easier than the polestar though, since the R1T has quite a bit of motor noise and the Polestar has basically none.

Ah ok. Thank you for the correction!

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[moosehead]

Sand mode is the only config as of now that offers “Low” Regen as default or option, the rest only offer Standard or High Regen.

 

[evergreenmachine]

Hey All! So after a couple snow storms here in Colorado, I can say that the R1T on steep descents in snow (I'm running the 20" Pirelli ATs) can be really sketchy.

I have a steep grade dirt road with left curve near my house, and first snow, with All-Purpose mode, high regen, the truck would lock tires and slide sideways with the grade....it was not much fun at ALL (like a serious O-SH*T moment!).

Next snow, I reduced the regen to standard, which seemed to help a bit, but it was still really hard to feather the accelerator to keep the wheels moving at a low speed without sliding out....but seemed to be much better than high-regen mode. I'll try Sand mode on the next snow and see if that makes it more manageable.

The tires are 3-Peak rated (which should make them totally fine on light to moderate snow, thought perhaps not as good as a dedicated snow tire), but I think that with the heavy weight of the vehicle, keeping the wheel rotational speed low but consistent to where the tires won't break away is a learning process at least for me. In a standard ICE diesel truck (Dodge 3500), we just leave the gear in low (1st), and the descent is never a problem even in super deep snow.

That being said, going uphill with the R1T, with weight and AT tires, its like the thing is on rails...I can rip uphill WAAAYYYY faster than I should for sure...our 3500 fishtails like crazy with now weight in the back, the R1T, not even a slip on the uphill.

Be interested to hear if anyone has figured out the descent part on steep grades as I am still personally in Learn Mode!

 

[Dark-Fx]

Hey All! So after a couple snow storms here in Colorado, I can say that the R1T on steep descents in snow (I'm running the 20" Pirelli ATs) can be really sketchy.

I have a steep grade dirt road with left curve near my house, and first snow, with All-Purpose mode, high regen, the truck would lock tires and slide sideways with the grade....it was not much fun at ALL (like a serious O-SH*T moment!).

Next snow, I reduced the regen to standard, which seemed to help a bit, but it was still really hard to feather the accelerator to keep the wheels moving at a low speed without sliding out....but seemed to be much better than high-regen mode. I'll try Sand mode on the next snow and see if that makes it more manageable.

The tires are 3-Peak rated (which should make them totally fine on light to moderate snow, thought perhaps not as good as a dedicated snow tire), but I think that with the heavy weight of the vehicle, keeping the wheel rotational speed low but consistent to where the tires won't break away is a learning process at least for me. In a standard ICE diesel truck (Dodge 3500), we just leave the gear in low (1st), and the descent is never a problem even in super deep snow.

That being said, going uphill with the R1T, with weight and AT tires, its like the thing is on rails...I can rip uphill WAAAYYYY faster than I should for sure...our 3500 fishtails like crazy with now weight in the back, the R1T, not even a slip on the uphill.

Be interested to hear if anyone has figured out the descent part on steep grades as I am still personally in Learn Mode!

Drive backwards full throttle?

 

[moosehead]

@evergreenmachine’s experience is going to continue to be the common challenge for skiers wanting to pilot a Rivian in winter conditions.

We typically descend 3-5k’ elevation in any given day driving to and from the ski areas in the Rockies. If we’re lucky, it is in pounding snow.

Several roadway passes in CO top out at circa 11k’, many mountain bases are at circa 8k’. Denver is circa 5,300’.

The Wasatch, Sierras, Cascades, and Canadian Rockies are similar elevation changes.

 

[Andystroh]

That being said, going uphill with the R1T, with weight and AT tires, its like the thing is on rails...I can rip uphill WAAAYYYY faster than I should for sure...our 3500 fishtails like crazy with now weight in the back, the R1T, not even a slip on the uphill.

Be interested to hear if anyone has figured out the descent part on steep grades as I am still personally in Learn Mode!

Hey just curious how your 3500 does on the descent? Does it have similar tires, and are you able to more easily control the descent with traditional pedal controls?

 

[EzMev]

If I remember correctly Out of Spec Kyle's first review last winter had the wheels locking up downhill in snow. The fact they have Sand Mode & Drift/Rally seems completely insane to prioritize over safe downhill snow handling which is a fairly ubiquitous use case in most of the US...odd priorities 0_o

 

[evergreenmachine]

Hey just curious how your 3500 does on the descent? Does it have similar tires, and are you able to more easily control the descent with traditional pedal controls?

Descends without an issue in 1st gear, Mich LTX tires with quite a bit of wear on them....

 

[dleewla]

yeah, you'd think they would have thought of and released snow mode before sand mode. much more common use case for snow than sand for half the country during winter.

 

[moosehead]

Dear Sweet Baby Jesus, please bring us snow mode for Thanksgiving. Cause today it snowed, and I took the Hyundai, cause well, it has a snow mode.

Amen.

PS: If we don't get snow mode by Thanksgiving, I will have to resort to praying to the great pagan god, Santa Claus. Which would be sad, seein' how it's getting close to your birthday.

 

[COdogman]

Dear Sweet Baby Jesus, please bring us snow mode for Thanksgiving. Cause today it snowed, and I took the Hyundai, cause well, it has a snow mode.

Amen.

PS: If we don't get snow mode by Thanksgiving, I will have to resort to praying to the great pagan god, Santa Claus.

Come on Rivian. You made the man drive a Hyundai today!

 

[M00v0vr]

I used Sand mode this past weekend on Mt Hood, conditions varied from dry pavement to snow/ice packed. The lower regen is a plus however a true snow mode would be preferred. Not sure what Rivian is waiting for.

 

[Kuro-Rivian]

Been driving past 3 days in snow & ice and my experience is very different with the caveat that I'm on true winter tires (toyo open country). All purpose has been great even on high regen. Standard regen is better and option to go even less regen would be even better yet. Yes, there is slipping occasionally at 10 mph or below. Which is gonna largely be a tire specific and abs phenomenon. No amount of "snow mode" can fix that. On both ice and snow I've did a hard lift of the accelerator and truck stays straight. Flat, downhill, 20mph, 70mph, whatever. Sand Mode regen setting i don't see much use for unless I was really loooow speed driving downhill. But traction control algorithm/setting in Sand Mode is really really janky accelerating on ice & snow. Rally and drift mode are fun in snow. Looking at the 20" at pirelli tire patten and sipes...they just don't look like they are gonna be stellar snow performers. They are 3 peak rated but whoopee do.

Anyways, that's my experience.

 

[sierraskier]

Been driving past 3 days in snow & ice and my experience is very different with the caveat that I'm on true winter tires (toyo open country). All purpose has been great even on high regen. Standard regen is better and option to go even less regen would be even better yet. Yes, there is slipping occasionally at 10 mph or below. Which is gonna largely be a tire specific and abs phenomenon. No amount of "snow mode" can fix that. On both ice and snow I've did a hard lift of the accelerator and truck stays straight. Flat, downhill, 20mph, 70mph, whatever. Sand Mode regen setting i don't see much use for unless I was really loooow speed driving downhill. But traction control setting in Sand Mode is really really janky accelerating on ice & snow. Rally and drift mode are fun in snow. Looking at the 20" at pirelli tire patten and sipes...they just don't look like they are gonna be stellar snow performers. They are 3 peak rated but whoopee do.

Anyways, that's my experience.

This. Winter tires and no issues with regen braking. In fact, for me it works just as good as semi-auto and paddle shifters did on my Audi (which I loved and used religiously in winter)...possibly even better as you have slightly more control over "engine braking" than the pre-defined shift points of the 6-speed.

That said, I wonder if a "snow mode" requires additional safety testing / certification as opposed to off road modes that are not intended to be driven on the street?

 

[DTown3011]

Winter tires, in my experience solve 90% of the issues. I drove my Tesla Model 3 on full regen with NO winter tires this morning in a snowstorm with zero issues, sure there was a few slips but that's winter driving. I just wish there were more winter tire options available for the R1T currently.

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