Swap out - or not?

[Yossarian]

I'm a few weeks out from delivery of my R1T with 20" dark wheels. I do very little off-roading and would rather have All Season rather than AT tires, to potentially gain some range and lower the road noise. My original thought was to swap the Scorpions as soon as possible after delivery for Defenders, selling off the Pirelli's to partially offset the cost of the Michelins. As I did some research however, I'm not convinced this is a value for money proposition or really even necessary given my goals.

With respect to cost, five new all season tires (I have the full-size spare option) is a rather expensive proposition. At Costco, five Defender LTX AT2's will run over $2k, even with the current Michelin promotion. From what I see in the Member Classifieds, a set of used Pirelli Scorpions, four with 100 miles and the fifth with zero, will fetch not much more than half that. Thet less costly alternatives do improve the net cost, but pretty marginally.

Again from what I see posted in this and the other Rivian forum, many, probably even most folks, say that the Scorpion's are not particularly noisy, ride reasonably well and most importantly, provide pretty decent range. I also suspect that range will be improved somewhat by rotating with the spare in the mix.

None of this makes a very compelling value for money case for swapping immediately after delivery. It seems to make more sense to simply roll (literally) with the OEM Scorpion AT's since there is no additional cost, and more importantly, no real negatives in terms of noise, comfort and range. Replace when the time comes, 30 or perhaps even 40,000 miles down the line.

Anything I'm overlooking here?

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[MidnightRivian]

Use what you have and then later down the road change it up.

I plan to use up my 20” tires and then probably get all seasons on 20” or go with 22” OEM wheels with all seasons.

In the end I want to have off-road set for rough terrains / rock crawling and on-road set for handling / road noise.

 

[VSG]

From a cost perspective, I don't think it makes sense.

There's nothing wrong with the Pirellis.

The LTX AT2 is also an All Terrain tire, and there's no compelling data to show that it gets any better mileage than the Pirellis.

Yes, a set of AS tires instead of the AT Pirellis could probably slightly increase the range because for example they might have a less aggressive tread and lower rolling resistance than AT tires. But we're not talking a huge amount in any case. And because all tires are optimized for different factors, I'm sure there are AS tires that will do *worse* than the ATs (if for example they are optimized for wear rather than rolling resistance).

 

[Voronbrg]

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/michelin-defender-ltx-platinum-tires-review-update.28229/

 

[beyondgravity]

I got delivered with 20 AT dark; but I am so happy to have swapped out to 21 option. I gained 50-60miles and can go from Hunterdon county to Montauk without needing a charge through New York City.

i have been able to drive in snow and beaches with my 21s; but I have not gone to serious off-roading and don’t intent to either anytime soon. For me efficiency and thus covering distance, beats everything else; as I am 98% only on road.

 

[COdogman]

I would just use up the ATs then replace them with something new. Who knows, by then there might be more options and better pricing by then.

 

[emoore]

Go with the 20s. Many more options than the 21s.

 

[Riviot]

Are you looking at stock size, 275/65R20? Those are expensive in Defender LTX MS2. Try 275/60R20, they're much cheaper, still 116 load index, and with the potential OTA update can be easily changed.

 

[usulio]

I think the main reason would be if you really care about range. You could pick up ~50 miles of range, which is a lot. However, I've been happy enough with my range on the Pirelli all-terrains so I don't care. You might need to run the numbers on specific trips. This thread discusses high-efficiency tire options: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-wheels-and-33-tires-options-275-60r20.24561/

 

[Yossarian]

Are you looking at stock size, 275/65R20? Those are expensive in Defender LTX MS2. Try 275/60R20, they're much cheaper, still 116 load index, and with the potential OTA update can be easily changed.

I actually wanted to go with the 60 series since those tires are not only less expensive but also close to the 21" wheel/tire combination and should give better range. When I contacted my local big box retailers however, I was told they will not mount them because they differ from the factory 65 series recommendation. It did not seem to matter to them that the load index was the same as the OEM tire, and I kind of threw in the towel at that point.

 

[iansriv]

Firstly-congrats! I know how long you have been waiting. As others have noted, I would stay with the 20 AT. I originally wanted the 21s for the same reasons you listed but after test driving both, I went with the 20s. I plan to rotate the 20s every 5k miles and see how things go. IMHO the 20 AT really complement the look of the Rivians. Cheers.

 

[Riviot]

I actually wanted to go with the 60 series since those tires are not only less expensive but also close to the 21" wheel/tire combination and should give better range. When I contacted my local big box retailers however, I was told they will not mount them because they differ from the factory 65 series recommendation. It did not seem to matter to them that the load index was the same as the OEM tire, and I kind of threw in the towel at that point.

My coworker just had them installed on his R1S Saturday by Discount Tire, no problem at all. Costco has the Costco-version for $10 less each tire, it's the X LT A/S 2. It's showing $1111 before tax right now. Discount Tire shows $1329 for LTX MS2.

 

[Yossarian]

My coworker just had them installed on his R1S Saturday by Discount Tire, no problem at all. Costco has the Costco-version for $10 less each tire, it's the X LT A/S 2. It's showing $1111 before tax right now. Discount Tire shows $1329 for LTX MS2.

It looks like the policy varies from Costco to Costco and more than a few folks seem to have success getting Costco to install the 275/60R20 tires on their Rivian. I asked in person at the two Costco's I frequent and was told at each that they were not allowed to deviate from what their computer listed as applicable for the R1T, and could only install the 65 series. The price differential between the two is considerable, over $100 per tire for the Defender!.

Discount Tire is unfortunately not an option for my area; their closest store is in VA, about 200 miles away.

 

[Riviot]

It looks like the policy varies from Costco to Costco and more than a few folks seem to have success getting Costco to install the 275/60R20 tires on their Rivian. I asked in person at the two Costco's I frequent and was told at each that they were not allowed to deviate from what their computer listed as applicable for the R1T, and could only install the 65 series. The price differential between the two is considerable, over $100 per tire for the Defender!.

Discount Tire is unfortunately not an option for my area; their closest store is in VA, about 200 miles away.

How about America's Tire? It's the same chain, different name.

https://www.americastire.com/buy-tires/michelin-defender-ltx-m-s2/p/127371

 

[Diggie]

+1 for staying with the ATs until they’re too noisy (hearing 15-20k miles or so) so on average about a year or two. Then swap to all season’s when you’re ready. Better options, pricing, and more data on most of these tires as well.

That’s what I plan to do.

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