Snow Mode Needed! - My first snow drives in R1S and R1T

[opnwide]

opnwide - I appreciate physics, but I think to prove your point you are going to have to wear your wife's pumps to work in the snow and take pictures/video!

Great example, even if not a great visual!

Those photos do exist, but to only a select few on this forum.

Sponsored

 

[rivian1800]

No surprise it was terrible on the 22" Sport tires. If anyone had even the slightest hope that "sport" tires would be decent in snow... they need to wake up and smell the powder. Sport tires = summer tires.

Even the 20" AT's are just barely passable as "winter tires" as far as snow competence is concerned. Modern actual winter tires are awesome in snow, make no mistake.

22’ is referring to wheel not the tire. Pirelli Scorpion Zero is AS(all season) tire not sport one. BIG difference. But it’s not a winter one either….

 

[opnwide]

opnwide - I appreciate physics, but I think to prove your point you are going to have to wear your wife's pumps to work in the snow and take pictures/video!

Great example, even if not a great visual!

Perhaps there is a Kyle CS chat agent that can further demonstrate the difficulty of Colorado winters.

 

[COdogman]

If I wear leather dress shoes or my wife’s pumps to work in snow, even my incredibly intelligent brain that is telling me to scoot, won’t overcome the physics of a proper sole that grips.

 

[Pixelshot]

@Pixelshot - as always, really great and informative videos. You are such an asset to our little Rivian Forums community. Thank you for doing everything that you do.

As an R1T reservation holder with 22s configured, I am curious how the R1T performs in 22s in snow. The 22's on the R1S appear to leave little to be desired and I wonder how much of it is wheel base and how much of it is wheel grip. Any chance you experienced snow conditions in the R1T with the 22's for comparison?

To add another voice about the importance of weight for maintaining traction in snow conditions, my little carbon fiber bodied BMW i3s BEV has massive 20 inch wheels and they are the sport wheels with a grip pattern like the 22's on the R1T.

The curb weight of my i3s though is <3000 lbs so I'm coming in at less than half the weight of an R1T. My i3s handles like a champ in the snow - heavy regen braking and all. The i3s has some of the most aggressive regen braking I've ever experienced in an EV and it isn't adjustable. I've had no issues in the snow and drive confidently.

Also, it is completely rear-wheel drive, which makes it an absolute blast to drive in dry conditions and I have yet to slip out in wet or snowy conditions. The traction control is very effective.

I was planning on trading in my i3s when I took delivery - maybe I will keep it and it will be my snow vehicle!

No

Thanks for experimenting with your 2 very expensive vehicles!

I can’t believe Rivian didn’t have a snow mode ready on day 1.

I think they consider "All Purpose" a snow mode.

 

[Pixelshot]

I know you could not do like for like but are the 20s that much better than the 22s. Can you also confirm the 22s are all season and not sport tires?

the 22s I have (the OEM Rivian ones) are sport. Not all season.

 

[Pixelshot]

The biggest benefit of winter tires is STOPPING grip. They won't stop all sliding but they are exponentiallly better at stopping in winter conditions than all season tires, particularly on EVs that utilize regen braking.

Gimme some!
Actually, I have some Falken snow tires on the way. I'll let you know how they do.

 

[COdogman]

No

I think they consider "All Purpose" a snow mode.

True, they recommend AP mode in the manual for rain/ snow road conditions. Based on the descriptions of the drive modes, sand sounds like the most appropriate on paper. I had not thought about trying conserve as you did.

 

[Pixelshot]

We will be skiing this weekend so I will see if there is anywhere worth taking some video, although we got more snow in the metro area than a lot of the mountains did it looks like, about 8" at my home in Golden.

In the absence of a video, my experiences:

In this storm, I drove up and down some of the steeper roads in my neighborhood (About an 8% grade based on some google maps calculations), and it was very similar to what I have seen with snow tires in other vehicles - on steep downhills if you brake too hard you can slide, but doing some downhill tests where I removed my foot entirely from the pedal, it was able to maintain traction throughout the standard regen deceleration to 0mph. This was more packed snow than ice (neighborhood wasn't plowed as of last night). Driving higher traffic plowed streets on the west side of town, I saw other vehicles having issues, but not once did I slip. This was mostly 30-45 mph roads. I even pushed it around some turns (where a slip would have been non-consequential) and was impressed how well the Rivian maintained traction.

A couple of weeks ago I went up i70 during a pretty nasty storm - very icy roads, wet snow just before the sun went down. We ended up in Georgetown with i70 closed westbound, and eastbound (in Idaho springs). On the Floyd hill downhill there was one spot where the Rivian did slide sideways a few inches while traveling at about 20mph, which caught me off guard. But the truck behind me slid from the left lane, across the right lane and onto the shoulder at the same spot. This spot also ended up closing the road westbound later that night due to accidents. Besides that one slip, the vehicle did great, even in a low vis spot where all the vehicles in front slammed on their brakes, the Rivian stopped no problem and the vehicle behind us had to drive off the road to avoid a collision (terrifying). Interesting note, we spent about 4 hours in Georgetown, lost 3% charge while waiting (52-49%). We kept the cabin comfortable and I was glad to know it could last a long time 'idling'.

TL;DR: With snow tires on I do not feel like I need a snow mode, the vehicle performs like other vehicles with snow mode, but I am still cautious on downhills just due to the weight of the truck. And I wouldn't complain about a snow mode.

This is good to know as my confidence was a little shaken yesterday. However, driving around today gave me new confidence. Lots of times I pulled off to the side (in the powder) to let cars pass on a skinny road without hesitation, remembering my other car that would get bogged down in that situation every time. Definitely net positive with the abilities of the truck. Now to find some better snow tires!

 

[Pixelshot]

I’ll second @SASSquatch in recognizing Scott for his fantastic videos. I’ve met his entire family and they are wonderful.

The soft compound of a dedicated winter tire that can flex and grip at freezing temperatures over an all season or even an AT will far outweigh any software program. If I wear leather dress shoes or my wife’s pumps to work in snow, even my incredibly intelligent brain that is telling me to scoot, won’t overcome the physics of a proper sole that grips. That’s why I’m so interested in @Andystroh ’s Blizzaks, even though I’d only expect 2 winter seasons out of them at this weight.

Thanks B - good point about the compound of the tires. I was just thinking of tread type.

 

[Pixelshot]

You and @Pixelshot should head to Steamboat Springs at the Bridgestone Blizzak snow/ice test track and do some comparisons. I’m sure they’d love Scott’s YT coverage for Blizzaks.

Challenge accepted!

 

[Pixelshot]

@Pixelshot - as always, really great and informative videos. You are such an asset to our little Rivian Forums community. Thank you for doing everything that you do.

As an R1T reservation holder with 22s configured, I am curious how the R1T performs in 22s in snow. The 22's on the R1S appear to leave little to be desired and I wonder how much of it is wheel base and how much of it is wheel grip. Any chance you experienced snow conditions in the R1T with the 22's for comparison?

To add another voice about the importance of weight for maintaining traction in snow conditions, my little carbon fiber bodied BMW i3s BEV has massive 20 inch wheels and they are the sport wheels with a grip pattern like the 22's on the R1T.

The curb weight of my i3s though is <3000 lbs so I'm coming in at less than half the weight of an R1T. My i3s handles like a champ in the snow - heavy regen braking and all. The i3s has some of the most aggressive regen braking I've ever experienced in an EV and it isn't adjustable. I've had no issues in the snow and drive confidently.

Also, it is completely rear-wheel drive, which makes it an absolute blast to drive in dry conditions and I have yet to slip out in wet or snowy conditions. The traction control is very effective.

I was planning on trading in my i3s when I took delivery - maybe I will keep it and it will be my snow vehicle!

First of all, thanks for your support and compliments. When I consider if the "juice is worth the squeeze" in all this YouTube world, it's nice to see a benefit to keep me going.

As for the 22s - they are not a snow tire. Full Stop. probably better than my skinny-tired road bike, but a far cry from a good snow tire from what I can tell. I have not driven the R1T with 22s yet, although I will tomorrow (switching the set for a road trip). It will be interesting to see how it feels. The R1T does drive more stable, which has everything to do with the wheel base, but I don't think this really changes whether or not it will slide in the snow. I'll be watching and let you all know!

 

[Pixelshot]

Those photos do exist, but to only a select few on this forum.

I'm still waiting for my hush payments. Those photos are only a phone-tap away from "Access Hollywood."

 

[moosehead]

I'm still waiting for my hush payments. Those photos are only a phone-tap away from "Access Hollywood."

 

[Pixelshot]

True, they recommend AP mode in the manual for rain/ snow road conditions. Based on the descriptions of the drive modes, sand sounds like the most appropriate on paper. I had not thought about trying conserve as you did.

Yeah, conserve changed the dynamics a lot. Much improved for around-town where you don't need the extra torque and don't want the back end to slip out.

Sponsored