Stepping Down from 21" to 20" Atomic Wheels - Any experience with efficiency?

[swimman]

I recently preordered the Atomic AWS in 20" which should be delivered in January. Stock tires are 21" so dropping down an size and plan to use the Michelin LTX MS2 tires on the new wheels. Anyone using these now and can comment on efficiency (R1S quad)? Curious to know how they compare to the stock 21" Pirellis and the lifetime efficiency of 2.73 kwh which I currently have.

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[Lrak1973]

I did the switch to Atomic Wheels AW10s and Goodyear Wrangler (Riv specific) tires. Efficiency has been roughly the same with those tires and wheels. only had the Wranglers on for 1500 miles, though.

 

[LL75]

I recently preordered the Atomic AWS in 20" which should be delivered in January. Stock tires are 21" so dropping down an size and plan to use the Michelin LTX MS2 tires on the new wheels. Anyone using these now and can comment on efficiency (R1S quad)? Curious to know how they compare to the stock 21" Pirellis and the lifetime efficiency of 2.73 kwh which I currently have.

2.73 lifetime of 21" is amazing. I got 2.3 lifetime 16k miles all purpose mode. Currently run 20" Atomic with general grabber and got 2.32 with 12K miles on it.

 

[mabowden]

2.73 lifetime of 21" is amazing. I got 2.3 lifetime 16k miles all purpose mode. Currently run 20" Atomic with general grabber and got 2.32 with 12K miles on it.

Yeah what the heck. do you mostly city drive? I'm mostly highway (70+mph) and my lifetime is 2.38.

 

[swimman]

My wife is the primary driver and I'd estimate it's 60/40 city/highway over the 16k miles. I was surprised to see 2.73 efficiency over those miles. I try to nudge it up every time I drive but it gets tougher to do with the more miles accumulated. I don't drive it crazy but I'm also not easy on it. My wife is definitely more sedate! About 3.7k of those miles were done in conserve mode for the longer 1000 mile (times 2) and one 1700 mile round trips. Tires rotated every 5k and each tire currently measures just a smidge under 6/32. Excited to get the Atomic wheels and Michelin tires.

 

[mabowden]

My wife is the primary driver and I'd estimate it's 60/40 city/highway over the 16k miles. I was surprised to see 2.73 efficiency over those miles. I try to nudge it up every time I drive but it gets tougher to do with the more miles accumulated. I don't drive it crazy but I'm also not easy on it. My wife is definitely more sedate! About 3.7k of those miles were done in conserve mode for the longer 1000 mile (times 2) and one 1700 mile round trips. Tires rotated every 5k and each tire currently measures just a smidge under 6/32. Excited to get the Atomic wheels and Michelin tires.

Gotcha. Makes sense. I'm probably 20/80 city/highway over 33k miles. Most my highway miles are around 75mph. I'm happy with the 2.38 honestly given my usage. 2.73 with mostly city sounds about right!

 

[ndmiller]

I recently preordered the Atomic AWS in 20" which should be delivered in January. Stock tires are 21" so dropping down an size and plan to use the Michelin LTX MS2 tires on the new wheels. Anyone using these now and can comment on efficiency (R1S quad)? Curious to know how they compare to the stock 21" Pirellis and the lifetime efficiency of 2.73 kwh which I currently have.

Start with the weight difference....Both wheels and Tires are less by plenty per corner.....Less to spin up and down, inertia and unsprung weight.

Then tire design and efficiency, OEM 21's are ok/good, Michelin LTX MS2 are fantastic, 9-10 quiet versus OEM 21 5-6 if I remember correctly.

I'd guess with all else equal a redo on your current milage would be noticeably (more than 5%) better along with a significantly better tire wet, dry, snow/ice (better not great) and comfort with a 70k warranty from Michelin. Less work for the suspension as well.

 

[VNCRVN]

I'm very interested to know if ride comfort has improved? I'm planning on switching from stock 21 to 20 with Michellin LTX MS2 for comfort.

 

[HaveBlue]

I'm assuming you guys mean the ltx defender. Super popular tire so I'm lurking on an answer too. We have the ltx a/t2 on our gx470 and they are really great tires. Quiet and smooth AT on the highway while still pretty good off road. The regular ltx ms came stock on landcruisers for decades. They must be good all around.

 

[LL75]

My wife is the primary driver and I'd estimate it's 60/40 city/highway over the 16k miles. I was surprised to see 2.73 efficiency over those miles. I try to nudge it up every time I drive but it gets tougher to do with the more miles accumulated. I don't drive it crazy but I'm also not easy on it. My wife is definitely more sedate! About 3.7k of those miles were done in conserve mode for the longer 1000 mile (times 2) and one 1700 mile round trips. Tires rotated every 5k and each tire currently measures just a smidge under 6/32. Excited to get the Atomic wheels and Michelin tires.

My wife is definitely the same. She drives speed limit on the highway in texas where her R1S got passed by a honda civic ! I put it on sportmode when I drive by myself since she hates it. My dual R1T 21" only get about 2.45 with about 3500 miles on it.
Maybe becasue we are in texas with the high heat causing the low efficiency. But no way we would get anywhere close to yours even with all conserve mode.

 

[LL75]

Start with the weight difference....Both wheels and Tires are less by plenty per corner.....Less to spin up and down, inertia and unsprung weight.

Then tire design and efficiency, OEM 21's are ok/good, Michelin LTX MS2 are fantastic, 9-10 quiet versus OEM 21 5-6 if I remember correctly.

I'd guess with all else equal a redo on your current milage would be noticeably (more than 5%) better along with a significantly better tire wet, dry, snow/ice (better not great) and comfort with a 70k warranty from Michelin. Less work for the suspension as well.

My AW09 Atomic and General grabbers is the lightest combo by far. I got about 2 or 3% improvement compared to the OEM 21". I don't think the weight has that much of a factor in it. Low rolling resistant tires probably would be number 1 on my list of factoring the efficiency.

 

[anthonysfl]

I recently preordered the Atomic AWS in 20" which should be delivered in January. Stock tires are 21" so dropping down an size and plan to use the Michelin LTX MS2 tires on the new wheels. Anyone using these now and can comment on efficiency (R1S quad)? Curious to know how they compare to the stock 21" Pirellis and the lifetime efficiency of 2.73 kwh which I currently have.

I have a real world example. It’s hard to compare people’s data from different geographies and other variables. I’m in southeast FL. It’s also funny people don’t post their average speed when they post the efficiency which helps with context.

I had a R1T, quad large pack with 21’s. Never removed the aero caps. After about 5500 miles, average speed of 32 and a 2.31 mi/kwh.

My R1S, which is not as aerodynamic as the T by a small amount. Also have small mud flaps and side steps installed. Quad large with 20 brights (is programmed for 22’s) 275/60/20 Pirelli AS 3 plus tires. At 5900 miles, average speed of 37mph and a 2.48 mi/kwh.

So, my S is 7.3% more efficient than the T including the disadvantages from the S being a little less aerodynamic, having small mud flaps and side steps, non EV tires and less aerodynamic rims than the 21’s. All while averaging a higher speed.

 

[jemkewl]

I recently preordered the Atomic AWS in 20" which should be delivered in January. Stock tires are 21" so dropping down an size and plan to use the Michelin LTX MS2 tires on the new wheels. Anyone using these now and can comment on efficiency (R1S quad)? Curious to know how they compare to the stock 21" Pirellis and the lifetime efficiency of 2.73 kwh which I currently have.

Did the same thing several months back - stock 21s to atomic wheel 20s but kept the same overall diameter with the ms2s.

Efficiency took a hit for first 1000 miles, but now back to the 2.7 avg over the past 2+ years with my r1t. May have been seasonal or part of the tire vulcanization from riding new tires that impacted the hit.

Spirited driving around corners may be edged out slightly by the stock pirellis, but everything else is equal or better.

 

[swimman]

Good info. My 20" setup will weigh a little less so hoping for the same if not slightly better efficiency. Not very concerned with cornering as the r1s is a sloppy pig when pushing it in corners so I usually take it slow. Not much one can do with 7000+ pounds and tires designed for low rolling resistance (at least with the Pirellis).

 

[LL75]

Yeap. Never do efficiency until at least 500 to 1000 miles. You will be disappointed. My grabbers was sub 2.0 for a good 600 miles before it got better.

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