20" Inch Michelin Defender LTX MS/2 all-season tire replacements for 20" ATs - considerable range improvement impact

[R1T Kludge]

That’s crazy efficiency, regardless of tire choice on your quad. I’m at 2.2 lifetime, mostly on the factory 21s and since February on Michelin Platinums.

Does Michelin make 21s?

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[ksujeff99]

Does Michelin make 21s?

They do now. The MS/2 I believe.

They didn’t at the time I needed tires though so I bought 20” Atomic wheels and the 20” Platinums.

 

[wjhdrew]

I'm in MN so snow/ice is absolutely a thing for almost all of the winter but the factory AT's have actually been really good in the experiences I've had so far. We run Blizzaks on my wife's Subaru (and I've run the same on previous cars I've had too) and they are better than the Pirelli's but not to the point that I'm running out to buy new rims and tires for the winter.

If I'm going to go out and get new wheels, I'm buying a set of 22's and (hopefully) those Michelin PS5S's that are allegedly coming soon and running the 20's with dedicated snows for the winter.

Appreciate the anecdote. I'm gonna have my first winter with these AT tires, and was wondering if I should just skip straight to a dedicated winter tire, but sounds like it's worth trying them out for the season. Folks saying this winter is gonna be real bad especially after the last winter being so mild..maybe we'll have some fun in the snow this year.

 

[mikehmb]

@mikehmb how is the road noise on the Michelins? My OE 275x65x20s are killing me with noise after 10k miles. I'm embarrassed to take friends for a ride in the truck with this howl!

Dead quiet on smooth roads. Night and day to the pirellis

 

[SamDoe1]

Appreciate the anecdote. I'm gonna have my first winter with these AT tires, and was wondering if I should just skip straight to a dedicated winter tire, but sounds like it's worth trying them out for the season. Folks saying this winter is gonna be real bad especially after the last winter being so mild..maybe we'll have some fun in the snow this year.

I had my truck the winter of 22-23 when we got a crapload of snow so the AT's have gone through some stuff and they did fine. I'm not going to suggest that they are better than a dedicated snow tire nor am I going to dissuade you from getting dedicated snow tires as I'm a HUGE advocate of them but I decided against it for my purposes.

I'm crediting the quad motors for being so good at putting power where needed and being able to effectively steer the truck using motor inputs as a big part of it. Also, each individual motor will regen separately to slow you down fast and keep you straight. It would definitely be better with snow tires but YMMV.

 

[mkhuffman]

Can you share pictures?

 

[CO-rayman]

I'll have the car re-coded next week during a mobile service appt, so all good there. 3% brings me down to 2.8 ... which is still too early to draw conclusions from, but clearly better than 2.2.

Sequence of events:
1) Bought truck with 21" OE. Efficiency then was 2.5ish overall, with a heavy foot. GPS showed speedo was optimistic by 1-2% at the time which changed after SW updates.
2) Swapped out at 7k miles to 20" AT black (OE size - 275/65/20, stock AT tires). Truck was reprogrammed to 20" size, range estimates dropped to expected with AT.
3) 15k miles in, consistent range/efficiency, saw 2.2 for lifetime on ATs. Speedo was accurate per GPS to within 1% over lifetime.
4) Swapped to 275/60/20 Michelins - interested to do a GPS check with these to see how close to 3% off I really am.
5) Mobile service next Tuesday so speedo will be calibrated to stock size (edit: 21" stock size)

Interesting that Rivian is recoding your truck. I just called them yesterday to recode mine since I installed 275/60R20s for my winter set and they said they only do recoding for factory tire/wheel combos.

Very inconsistent of Rivian!

 

[wjhdrew]

Yea I'll cautiously try these out this winter. I've got DM so we'll see how they do.

 

[R1TCntrlMaIzzy]

Interesting that Rivian is recoding your truck. I just called them yesterday to recode mine since I installed 275/60R20s for my winter set and they said they only do recoding for factory tire/wheel combos.

Very inconsistent of Rivian!

IMO, this inconsistency, bad service, including the time delays might hurt Riv more than anything else and sooner. Word of mouth can make or break a company.

I hope not. I love my T, Izzy. Especially now with the Defender tires and black rims.

As of right now, the Chelsea SC will be recalibrating Izzy from 21" to 22" rims during my next appt.

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

Interesting that Rivian is recoding your truck. I just called them yesterday to recode mine since I installed 275/60R20s for my winter set and they said they only do recoding for factory tire/wheel combos.

Very inconsistent of Rivian!

If it’s any consolation, the earliest appointment to recode my winter tires isn’t until spring. I guess I won’t be doing that.

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

Thanks for this report, and please do let us know how the efficiency unfolds over time.

 

[CO-rayman]

If it’s any consolation, the earliest appointment to recode my winter tires isn’t until spring. I guess I won’t be doing that.

As many have already mentioned on the forum, the size selection should be part of the user interface, like other manufacturers (including Porsche) do when they have different size factory wheel options. Even Dodge reprogrammed my RAM 3500 truck for a different non-factory size option.

I too love my R1T and have pre-ordered two R2s, but one main reason is the great experience I've had with my Rivian so far.

I am still hoping that Rivian makes the selection available through the UI especially since it messes with the whole range calculation and not just the speedometer.

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

I am still hoping that Rivian makes the selection available through the UI especially since it messes with the whole range calculation and not just the speedometer.

It’s depreciating my truck 3% faster, too!

 

[mikehmb]

Good to know. I prefer appearance and all around capability of ATs. But if my commute distance changes, will have to seriously consider AS. Hope the promised user-configurable software is out by then.

Yeah that was a big portion of my motivation to go with AS - I am taking on a new commute of about 60 miles r/t a day and wanted more comfort / less noise / less electrons.

At some point, I'll have a spare wheel set around for off roading and overlanding use. Maybe next summer. Definitely not the OE Pirellis.

 

[Joules Burn]

Did you consider the Defender LTX Platinum version that has been discussed? I have the original Defender version on my Kia EV6 GT-L that has been awesome. The SCREAMER Pirelli's on my R1S have to go.

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