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Snow performance check-in....focus on tires.

State11

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I am interested in how those who live in snow areas have fared thus far. I live in Tahoe and have had my R1T since August. I got mine out of the shop with 21's with the hope that Rivian would offer 20's in the gear shop or someone would make snow tires for the 21's. So here is how my snow experience has been in the biggest winter to date for the region. When the 20's became available in the gear shop, I bought them immediately.

Before they arrived, I drove over Mt Rose in snow on the 21's. The conditions weren't too bad and it performed fine. I then installed the 20's with the At's before what I didn't know at the time was the next in a never ending series of storms. Some of the dumps over the holidays were no joke and I was very impressed at how the AT's handled very deep snow (2-3 feet). It was amazing at going forward and stopping. Once the roads got cleared a bit, I was a little unnerved by cornering on ice. Our drive way is on a pretty steep street (we are a corner house, so now have a gigantic mound of snow on that corner). I grew up in the central part of NC where if we ever got snow....it was mostly ice, so my tolerance for slipping is not good. I previously had a Discovery with Blizzaks, which was amazing.

So, I found a set of nokian hakkapeliitta lt3's and got them installed on the 20's. The first day, I intentionally parked partially in a snow bank to take the kids sledding and was stuck when I got back. After digging out, they performed pretty well. But I have had some challenging situations with some of the wet storms that end up with snow on top of ice and ice in general. They also don't seem to perform as well as the Pirelli's did in deep, deep snow. And then today, I cut the sidewall of a rear tire and flatted due to me being an idiot. So, I'll be back on the Pirellis for the end of the season to compare,

So, what has been everyone else's experience?.
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CharonPDX

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The supplied Pirelli ATs on the 20s are "3PMS rated," but are *NOT* snow tires. They'll do fine with cautious driving on loose or packed snow; but aren't good on ice. If you expect ice, get proper traction tires or snow socks.
 

COdogman

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On ice the only good tire is a studded snow tire, but that obviously isn’t always best for all other winter conditions. And there is such a wide variety of 3PMS tires, it’s hard to know what you are getting until you test them out. The problem is the testing for 3PMS does not include cornering or braking, which is more than a little important when the weather is bad. They only test on “medium packed snow”.

https://www.lesschwab.com/article/what-is-a-3-peak-mt-snowflake-designation.html

Based on reports of how people described performance of the Pirellis this past winter (both pre and post snow mode), I would say those probably fall somewhere in the middle of the pack. You could do better but you could also do worse IMHO. People who used Blizzaks, Hakkas or other similar snow tires seemed very happy with how they did overall.
 

bgoldber88

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Thanks for the perspective offered here. I have nothing to really offer this discussion because I don't yet have an R1T. However, my wife and I are moving to the front range of Colorado and have a very steep driveway that sees enough snow to make driving it a little unnerving in the winter. I'm definitely planning on a set of winter tires, so I would love to hear others experiences.
 

DTown3011

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I was actually talking to the service center yesterday about this exact topic. I think sometimes people forget that this is an 8500# vehicle and that regardless of snow tires, its going to perform a bit different than your typical ICE vehicle on snow/ice. You are very likely to get additional sliding/slippage unless you have all but the most aggressive, studded snow tire. That said, and I don’t have much data, I have been pleasantly surprised with my 22s in snow the past 2 weeks and this includes multiple trips to the mountains. I have Michelin X-Ice snow tires ready to go, but I took delivery later than expected (early March) and it seemed unnecessary to put them on this late in the season. I look forward to using them all next year, but I think the stock tires are not bad for an off the rack tire, keeping in mind the tremendous weight of this vehicle.
 

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Dark-Fx

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I have been pleasantly surprised with my 22s in snow the past 2 weeks and this includes multiple trips to the mountains.
They work alright in the snow when they are new but once they start to get worn out they are terrible. Definitely plan on snow tires for next season.
 

DTown3011

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They work alright in the snow when they are new but once they start to get worn out they are terrible. Definitely plan on snow tires for next season.
Already in the garage, ready to go (stored now)!

Rivian R1T R1S Snow performance check-in....focus on tires. 066C537B-AFCC-417B-BC44-A3322DE6F438


Rivian R1T R1S Snow performance check-in....focus on tires. C05D56C3-F210-4B91-832A-44F42AE8F792


Rivian R1T R1S Snow performance check-in....focus on tires. 33C7F27B-43E7-4C58-BAC1-72B71F007661
 
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State11

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The supplied Pirelli ATs on the 20s are "3PMS rated," but are *NOT* snow tires. They'll do fine with cautious driving on loose or packed snow; but aren't good on ice. If you expect ice, get proper traction tires or snow socks.
Thanks for the advice, but I know all that. Maybe my post wasn't clear, but I now have a massive winter under my belt and have driven the 21's with the Pirelli Verdes, the 20 Pirelli AT's and then nokian hakkapeliitta lt3's. I thought it might be useful and would definitely like to hear what the driving experience has been for others on the various tire options.
 

fastwheels

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Already in the garage, ready to go (stored now)!



C05D56C3-F210-4B91-832A-44F42AE8F792.jpeg
I had these on my GMC Canyon last winter and they performed quite well. I put Hakka R5s on the Rivian in December after what I thought was very poor performance of the OEM 22s (with 7000 miles) in snow/ice conditions. The Hakkas are vastly better, as expected.
 

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DTown3011

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I thought it was 7,000 lbs?
8500 GVWR - it’s actually a little over because in the state of Colorado, we qualified for a higher tax credit due to the weight of the vehicle
 

M00v0vr

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Here in the PNW our snow has a very high moisture content, it gets very slick at times, Zamboni slick. The stock 20's suck ass when it gets slick so I put a set of Firestone Winterforce LT's on the existing rims and have been very happy. Check them out, same compound as the Blizaks and studable if needed.
 

jjswan33

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I have the opposite take to @M00v0vr. Same area been up and down Mt Hood from Sandy at least 40 times this winter on the 20s and haven't had any issues at all. If I were to upgrade I would go to a studded snow tire for ice conditions.
 

White Shadow

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8500 GVWR - it’s actually a little over because in the state of Colorado, we qualified for a higher tax credit due to the weight of the vehicle
That's not the weight of the vehicle....that's the maximum weight it can be if it's all loaded up with occupants and cargo. Curb weight is the weight of the vehicle.
 

Arky

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Mine have been fine, I regularly ski so I'm driving over snow packed roads fairly often. You're never going to get around the fact that this is a *heavy* car and that works against you, and the AT tire is *not* a snow tire. It's a very hard compound that won't grip packed snow as effectively.

If you keep those things in mind and stop driving it like you're on dry pavement (slow down, make more gradual maneuvers) it's fine. If you regularly drive in icy conditions you should consider dedicated snow tires with studs.
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