Tire Replacement Info

[Der]

I just replaced those atrocious perellis last week to the Defenders. And I’ll say this…. The car is a completely better driving experience. I’m blown away at how bad those pirellis made the car drive and feel. I too looked at the Toyo’s, but I just don’t take it off-road enough to warrant the range loss.

I did the same two months ago at 20, 054 miles on the OG Pirelli and I completely agree. Blown away am I .

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[Zorg]

Rotating religiously? Having my Raptor, I learned rotation is VERY important with ATs. 5000 miles or suffer the consequences lol

No, which is probably part of the issue

 

[usulio]

Just in case anyone else would find this useful...

My vehicle: Gen 1 quad R1S, large battery
I'm at 34,500 miles on my OEM 20" Pirelli Scorpions. When my snow tires go on this winter (Nokian Hakkapeliittas), I'll be replacing my non-winter tires. I had no less than five tire threads bookmarked on this forum and have read over 300 posts about replacements. With information overload, I decided to summarize the parameters that are important to me (of course, there will be other opinions and priorities in the forum). We do mostly highway travel and trips to national and state parks that require light or zero off-roading, and trips to Colorado ski areas. I want low noise, good efficiency, good wear, and good to excellent rain/snow performance. Even though I have dedicated snow tires, I have been surprised more than once by a late-May heavy Colorado snow after removing snow tires. I don't care at all about the looks of the tire. Two winters ago, as I was sliding sideways in 23 inches of snow toward a ditch, I never once thought, "well at least my Pirellis look awesome." (epilogue: my brand new traction boards at the time worked great!). I also don't care about price. With 7500 lbs of car under me driving through the Colorado mountains in all weather, and after a couple white knuckle moments, I want the tires that are going to keep my family safe.

The tires below have all been discussed in forum threads. What struck me was that for every one of these, for every person that said "I love these: improved efficiency and greatly reduced noise," another person would claim "I'll never buy these again: reduced efficiency, and louder than my Pirellis." So that is why you don't see a column on "Forum Reviews." But I did get some good info from the personal experiences of others and greatly appreciate all those that provided comments.

The prices all come from TireRack.com. All the tires are 275/65R20 except the Goodyear Wrangler ATs that are 275/60R20 (and not available in the 65s). The reviews come from TireRack, but some of these tires are too new to have published reviews.
For me, and for what it's worth, I am leaning toward the Toyo Open Country- SL. I like that it is designed for EVs, has low rolling resistance and a 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake rating, and still provides an off-road capability. It's still a close decision between the Toyos and the Michelin LTX M/S2s. Over many years of driving, I've had great luck with Michelins, but I'm leaning toward the Toyos.

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Why are you focused on 34” instead of 33” which should be more efficient?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

What struck me was that for every one of these, for every person that said "I love these: improved efficiency and greatly reduced noise," another person would claim "I'll never buy these again: reduced efficiency, and louder than my Pirellis." So that is why you don't see a column on "Forum Reviews." But I did get some good info from the personal experiences of others and greatly appreciate all those…

That’s because it’s all anecdotal subjective experiences. Different driving styles. Different environments. Different tastes. Different hearing sensitivity. Plus, some people have tendency to lose objectivity, ignore laws of physics, and exhibit bias towards what they’ve chosen. And some don’t even know what the numbers on the sidewall mean. Threads for one tire often get contaminated by hot takes of another. LT for SL and vice versa. Understandably confusing for anyone using forum search, especially when they don’t know enough about tires to know what they are looking at… and would rather get a quick black or white answer (when the right one is much more nuanced).

 

[sfvR1S]

I just replaced those atrocious perellis last week to the Defenders. And I’ll say this…. The car is a completely better driving experience. I’m blown away at how bad those pirellis made the car drive and feel. I too looked at the Toyo’s, but I just don’t take it off-road enough to warrant the range loss.

I'm not an expert on tires, but isn't that expected since you went from AT to AS? It'd be more interesting to understand how Pirelli AT's compare to other AT's.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I'm not an export on tires, but isn't that expected since you went from AT to AS? It'd be more interesting to understand how Pirelli AT's compare to other AT's.

Exactly what it is. From a less pavement-oriented tire (AT) to a pavement-oriented tire (AS)... Like, no duh, it's smoother on the.... *drumroll... pavement.

 

[beatle]

I had Firestone Destination A/Ts on my Ridgeline for many years. Great tires. They wore like iron and had predictable grip in everything. I did not notice the noise. They replaced a worn set of LTXs.

My R1T has just over 12k miles, and I've been doing 5 tire rotations every 4500 miles (rotated early before a trip). I'm actually starting to get the hum already as some tires that have not had their "break" as a spare. It is not an unbearable sound, but it's noticeable.

 

[bateman_atx]

Same experience here regarding the Pirellis .. i bought used and was really unhappy with the ride, the grinding noise when I turned the wheel all the way .. it was very unsettling and an unsettled ride.

I got the Michelins and its like a diff SUV.

This was reinforced when I recently had a 10K mile loaner with the Pirellis and it was again, an awful driving experience with that same grinding sound and very unsettled ride (borderline dangerous at high speeds over expansion joints)

 

[PaythePiper]

I'm not an expert on tires, but isn't that expected since you went from AT to AS? It'd be more interesting to understand how Pirelli AT's compare to other AT's.

Well with my raptor on ATs it rode like a dream. My whole point is I’m very very shocked at how bad those pirellis made the driving experience

 

[Aardvark]

Why are you focused on 34” instead of 33” which should be more efficient?

No reason other than matching the specs of my original tires. However, I am aware that Rivian is delivering new vehicles with 33" Goodyears, so I probably should be looking at more 275/60R20 options. Thanks for pointing this out.

 

[JRock]

I haven’t swapped out the original Pirellis yet, but when I do, it’s gonna be Michelin Defenders for me. Having had a couple dozen vehicles over the years, I’ve never had a better, higher quality, more dependable tire that makes such a huge difference in ride comfort and traction. Both of my adult kids have them on their vehicles, because of my insistence. It’s the little things that bring that elusive piece of mind.

 

[Mathme]

So far I'm liking the OEM Goodyear Territory's on my R1T. They are quiet, about 20 miles more efficient on a AP 100% charge, handle nice, and look good. Ditch the OEM Pirelli ATs and don't look back. With only occasional off roading, these should work well.

 

[W in NC]

My subjective observations.
My OEM Pirellis lasted 19,900 miles (20” 275/65/20’s). They were surprisingly noisy at first, probably due to the large tread blocks contacting the pavement. Contrary to the experience of others, mine got progressively quieter up the the point when they were replaced (although they were worn down to 2mm tread at the end).
I replaced them with Michelin Defender LTX Platinums (also 275/65/R20). I wanted their robustness and off-road capability compared to the lighter LTX’s. Plus the Platinums looked better and more matched to the R1S.
Out of interest sake, I did a few unscientific sound measurements with an Iphone app named Decibel X (handheld, non-calibrated, free). Measured on smooth asphalt, the Michelins were noticeably quieter, at 30mph about 5dB lower (51-55dB versus 55-59). On rougher pavement, the Michelins were also significantly quieter. I attribute the noise on rougher surfaces to more transient NVH transmitted up to the suspension and frame, not tread noise. The Michelins seemed to be much more effective in dampening these vibrations.
Frankly, I was surprised by how noisy moving vehicles are, and how the ear gets acclimatized to the background noise level. Interestingly, in my R1S the greatest source of interior noise by far is the HVAC fan.
Too early to judge efficiency (small differences in range not my greatest concern). Hope I get more miles on this set of tires vs. the OEMs.

 

[PaythePiper]

My subjective observations.
My OEM Pirellis lasted 19,900 miles (20” 275/65/20’s). They were surprisingly noisy at first, probably due to the large tread blocks contacting the pavement. Contrary to the experience of others, mine got progressively quieter up the the point when they were replaced (although they were worn down to 2mm tread at the end).
I replaced them with Michelin Defender LTX Platinums (also 275/65/R20). I wanted their robustness and off-road capability compared to the lighter LTX’s. Plus the Platinums looked better and more matched to the R1S.
Out of interest sake, I did a few unscientific sound measurements with an Iphone app named Decibel X (handheld, non-calibrated, free). Measured on smooth asphalt, the Michelins were noticeably quieter, at 30mph about 5dB lower (51-55dB versus 55-59). On rougher pavement, the Michelins were also significantly quieter. I attribute the noise on rougher surfaces to more transient NVH transmitted up to the suspension and frame, not tread noise. The Michelins seemed to be much more effective in dampening these vibrations.
Frankly, I was surprised by how noisy moving vehicles are, and how the ear gets acclimatized to the background noise level. Interestingly, in my R1S the greatest source of interior noise by far is the HVAC fan.
Too early to judge efficiency (small differences in range not my greatest concern). Hope I get more miles on this set of tires vs. the OEMs.

Yeah but the Pirellis still suck compared to other full AT offerings. I’m curious how their new tire is, but I’ll go with a trusted AT tire if I go that route after these fantastic defenders wear out.

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