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

[cohall]

I have the 20's. They've been fine both around the city and in the mountains. I'm ultra-cautious on slippery surfaces given the weight of the vehicle.

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[zefram47]

Still waiting on my Rivian, but some added perspective. The folks talking about the weight are on the money. I've had several Subarus over the years both on all-seasons and full winter tires. The difference between the best all-season an a proper winter tire is night and day. When I bought my 4Runner it was already 1300 lbs heavier than the Subarus in stock form and around 5400 lbs when kitted out with rock sliders, skids, bumper, etc. I've been running Falken AT3W in LT form which are 3PMSF rated, which means relatively little. In deep snow they work very well, but it's the slush and packed snow you find on the road where they leave something to be desired. If you remember that it weighs more than a passenger car and give more room for braking and slow down more for turns it's never gotten me stuck, but it's a far cry from a Subaru on snows. With the known quad-motor calibration issues where the rear end likes to slide out I will definitely be looking at snow tires for next winter on the Rivian.

 

[Andystroh]

We bought ours with 20", and switched to blizzaks right around the first snow, so I didn't get any experience with the Pirellis in snow.

We are in CO, so definitely a different snowpack than CA, and I am a pretty cautious driver in winter conditions. However we have put 7000 miles in this winter, with 40+ days of driving in the mountains, and they been pretty much flawless. Very little slipping, always stopped reliably; our only scary events have been due to other vehicles unable to stop. Not one incident of 'trying' to stop and going long, but again I take winter driving very seriously, so that is probably partially due to my (grandma) driving style.

At the service center for the recall they were asking me about it, and noted the tires were wearing well for snow tires, especially with 7k miles on them, so that is encouraging. They didn't actually measure them, but I'll admit a bit of me was afraid they'd be fried after just a season.

 

[Puttyandnapalm]

I’ve dived down into several tire reviews, trying to find that elusive a/t who performs best in winter.

I’m leaning towards the Nokian outpost, but the wrangler duratrac, ko2, or grabber atx.

Where I live now doesn’t quite get enough snow to warrant snow tires fwiw. When I lived in Michigan it was well worth it.

 

[kylealden]

I've been very happy with Blizzak LTs on my 20s. I have a few thousand miles on them including several bona fide blizzards and a mix of deep, fresh, dry powder, wet PNW hardpack, ice, and various crud. As others have noted, it's heavy, but with good shoes the Rivian outperforms other large SUVs or light trucks.

ATs will probably slightly outperform "proper" snow tires if you're in deep snow. Although even there, you're probably better off with something like an MT than the factory Scorpions. But that doesn't carry over to any real-world winter driving on plowed roads, where you'll want a proper snow tire for safety and liability reasons.

For studs - I don't want to start a whole studs vs. studless war so I'll leave my comments at this: Modern studless snow tires are very, very good. Studs have their place, but for the love of all that is holy please don't be that asshole in Seattle who slaps studded tires on in November and drives them until April just because they occasionally ski. Studs are fine if you live somewhere where you'll need them more often than not, but let's be real: You probably don't. For the vast majority of us, "conditions that need studs" === "conditions where I should stay home." Don't destroy our roads.

 

[DTown3011]

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.

So do you drive it without any cargo or without anyone onboard? Just curious.

 

[State11]

We bought ours with 20", and switched to blizzaks right around the first snow, so I didn't get any experience with the Pirellis in snow.

We are in CO, so definitely a different snowpack than CA, and I am a pretty cautious driver in winter conditions. However we have put 7000 miles in this winter, with 40+ days of driving in the mountains, and they been pretty much flawless. Very little slipping, always stopped reliably; our only scary events have been due to other vehicles unable to stop. Not one incident of 'trying' to stop and going long, but again I take winter driving very seriously, so that is probably partially due to my (grandma) driving style.

At the service center for the recall they were asking me about it, and noted the tires were wearing well for snow tires, especially with 7k miles on them, so that is encouraging. They didn't actually measure them, but I'll admit a bit of me was afraid they'd be fried after just a season.

Andy, which Blizzaks did you get? I was pretty unimpressed with the Nokians I had on the r1t vs the Blizzaks I had on my discovery, but it could be just the additional weight of the Rivian.

 

[White Shadow]

So do you drive it without any cargo or without anyone onboard? Just curious.

So you drive it fully loaded with people and cargo every day? Just curious.

The point here is that a vehicle's weight is it's curb weight. The gross vehicle weight is a misrepresentation if you're using it to say that you drive an 8500 lb vehicle when you really drive a 7000 lb vehicle. And yes, your 7000 lb vehicle can weigh 8500 lbs fully loaded up, but that's the exception and not the norm. Every vehicle on the road has an actual weight (curb weight) and a gross vehicle weight. Let's try to at least be intellectually honest here.

 

[DTown3011]

So you drive it fully loaded with people and cargo every day? Just curious.

The point here is that a vehicle's weight is it's curb weight. The gross vehicle weight is a misrepresentation if you're using it to say that you drive an 8500 lb vehicle when you really drive a 7000 lb vehicle. And yes, your 7000 lb vehicle can weigh 8500 lbs fully loaded up, but that's the exception and not the norm. Every vehicle on the road has an actual weight (curb weight) and a gross vehicle weight. Let's try to at least be intellectually honest here.

Just giving you a hard time and having some fun with you. No worries, you are correct. But yes, I do typically drive my truck with at least 1 person and some cargo in it, hahah

 

[White Shadow]

Just giving you a hard time and having some fun with you. No worries, you are correct. But yes, I do typically drive my truck with at least 1 person and some cargo in it, hahah

It's all good. These Rivians are already heavy enough. We need some lightweight battery technology down the road

 

[Andystroh]

Andy, which Blizzaks did you get? I was pretty unimpressed with the Nokians I had on the r1t vs the Blizzaks I had on my discovery, but it could be just the additional weight of the Rivian.

I have the blizzak LT in the stock 20” size.

 

[FrictionlessLube]

Second time driving with snow falling in Colorado with stock 21”s and I’m seriously thinking these are summer tires. I’m still trying to unsuctioncup my butt from the seat. Even with just a tiny bit of water and slush and I’m all over the road and trying my damndest to stay straight. Even going 20mph in snow mode and I was fish tailing a bit and had to get off the highway. Their first storm was literally driving on ice, but was was getting passed up by every car on the road and felt like I had 0 traction.

 

[DTown3011]

Second time driving with snow falling in Colorado with stock 21”s and I’m seriously thinking these are summer tires. I’m still trying to unsuctioncup my butt from the seat. Even with just a tiny bit of water and slush and I’m all over the road and trying my damndest to stay straight. Even going 20mph in snow mode and I was fish tailing a bit and had to get off the highway. Their first storm was literally driving on ice, but was was getting passed up by every car on the road and felt like I had 0 traction.

I have the stock 22's which are supposedly worse than the 21's and have driven back and forth from Winter Park numerous times. Never had an issue. I'm surprised you find them this bad - that said, any tires are going to be bad on ice. But water and slush? Shouldn't be an issue.

I still have snow tires for the truck, but didn't think they were this bad.

 

[zefram47]

First snow drive yesterday and this morning. With all the bitching about tires I was pleasantly surprised that this thing felt like a tank on the stock 20s in snow mode. Goosed it a few times to try and force some slides and it would do a little slide and immediately catch itself. Can't wait to get a big snow and find a parking lot to go play around in with rally mode and others. I'll still probably look into getting real snow tires for next winter, but the 20s aren't that bad. Also pleasantly surprised that the ABS cycles very fast and seems to work well.

 

[bbqdevil]

While I'm not driving in snow every day, we did a Spring Break trip last month to Truckee during the Snowmageddon that OP referred to. Dealt every day with combos of packed snow, fresh powder (in the 10" deep range) and snow on ice. For the most part, didn't have any issues maintaining traction with the stock 20s. The day we left, we actually threaded a needle where Donner Pass was only open for 2.5 hours (about 20 minutes after we passed through Colfax, there was a 10 car pile-up that shut 80 down again).

The pic shown is Interstate 80 between Soda Springs and Kingvale, and is representative of the road conditions from Truckee down to Colfax. Tires did great, we never felt slippy slidey or any loss of traction or control. The OEM windshield wipers, on the other hand, are horrible.

I also learned that week that if you want to be highly entertained, follow the Truckee CHP Instagram. Seriously, they are hilarious and are on point with both music and hashtags.

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