Tire Sizes

[Autolycus]

Thanks, this is what I figured and very helpful. AS is all season, I infer.

Yes, AS = All Season; AT = All-Terrain.

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[DB-EV]

I’m really not sure of all implications of that strategy. At least some of the range loss is probably from aerodynamics. The wheels used for the 21” option have aero inserts that surely make some difference. I think the Tesla aero inserts make a difference of about 5% even on the exact same car and tires.

But using a low rolling resistance tire with an AS tread pattern on the 20” rims should absolutely give better range than the standard AT tire on those rims.

Auto - This seems to be an option to hit the AS, a new tire from Pirelli:

What do you think? Can it take the load?

SCORPION VERDE™ ALL SEASON PLUS II
Best touring all season performance for SUV
SUV
TOURING
ALL SEASON
FRONT 275/60R20
Load speed index 115H
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[Autolycus]

Auto - This seems to be an option to hit the AS, a new tire from Pirelli:

What do you think? Can it take the load?

SCORPION VERDE™ ALL SEASON PLUS II
Best touring all season performance for SUV
SUV
TOURING
ALL SEASON
FRONT 275/60R20
Load speed index 115H
DISCOVER MORE

In theory it should be fine, but others have wondered if it's wise to use a tire with a load index that's lower than the factory standard. I honestly don't know. I think the standard tires are 116 rated, but they will also have the "ELEC" rating, and I'm not sure what that rating means for these tires.

A 115 load rating should support 2679 lb x 4 = 10,716 lb. That's more than the GVWR (8,523, I think) by what I would think is a sufficient margin. 116 rated tires are rated for 11,024 on 4, so ~300 extra buffer over 115 rated.

But again, I'm not really a big tire, or even car, guy. This is just based on what I can gather from google searches and reading some articles for lay people. I truly don't know what impact even light off-road trips should have on all of this. Or even whether there's going to be a major difference with basic daily driving stuff like hitting a pothole or curb.

 

[C.R. Rivian]

If you're doing mostly highway, get the 21" wheels. Saves you $ you can use to get whatever off road wheels and tires you want, and the 21" are the most efficient.

Since there are virtually no other 21" tires available, I am getting the 22"ers. I can't see being hostage to possible shortages. Having had to wait on a tire to match my others 3 is not an experience that I would like to repeat. Not anticipating much real off road, so good with 22's. Having had my 1st mile yesterday, though, on 20's, I will say, road noise on them should not be an issue.

 

[koersontap]

Just to add something else into the mix, caught this story:

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/goodyear-high-performance-electric-car-tire

Right now they're only releasing a 255/45R19 104W, at a $265 price point. But if they release a size appropriate for the Rivian, could be a nice replacement.

I particularly like their "SoundComfort Technology", and seems in line with many of the sentiments I was seeing on this thread.

 

[Diddy123]

I particularly like their "SoundComfort Technology", and seems in line with many of the sentiments I was seeing on this thread.

You could not pay me to put on tires with foam insulation on my vehicles ever again. Biggest pain I've ever had to deal with tires. Just replaced all 4 on my Volvo at 10k miles, after having to repeatedly have the dealer rebalance and replace them one at a time.

 

[R1Tr8000]

You could not pay me to put on tires with foam insulation on my vehicles ever again. Biggest pain I've ever had to deal with tires. Just replaced all 4 on my Volvo at 10k miles, after having to repeatedly have the dealer rebalance and replace them one at a time.

Same here. Doubt the technology has evolved much from the Michelin OEM tire (that was) on my ‘17 Benz. Compared to the Pirelli I put on last April..that Michelin was louder and more harsh. Can’t confirm..but have read that some tire places would even refuse to fix a flat on that type of tire?

 

[Monkey]

You could not pay me to put on tires with foam insulation on my vehicles ever again. Biggest pain I've ever had to deal with tires. Just replaced all 4 on my Volvo at 10k miles, after having to repeatedly have the dealer rebalance and replace them one at a time.

Foam is just dumb. It offers zero benefit, no noise reduction, nothing. Call it a conspiracy theory if you want, but the reason I think certain brands (Volvo, Tesla, Mercedes…) do the foam is it makes other tire companies not want to deal with repairs. Lots of Teslas in my area so the tire shops still work on them, but some are known for charging an extra ”tesla” fee, but it’s because the foam. As soon as you tell them they’re not factory tires and no foam they drop the fee and treat it like any other car that stops by. Discount Tire near me is my usual go-to and they happily work on Teslas. No extra fees or BS. But they do whine about the foam…. Even though it only adds a few seconds to the repair. Grinding the foam away from the patch site is all that’s required, but they can’t mark the tire for re-mounting and skip the re-balance as they usually would. They have to do a full re-balance if they cut foam away.

Our Model X had foam in the front tires from the factory, but not in the rear tires. Tesla usually glues the foam in, but has been inconsistent with it over the years. Our Model Y has it in the Goodyear F1s that came on the 20” factory wheels…. I’m running Pirelli winter tires on 19” wheels now and no foam there. Those F1’s are garbage tires, probably putting on some good all seasons before I throw the 20’s back on this spring. But for a couple exceptions, Tesla uses some really crappy tires. Many automakers do, which is sad.

 

[BigE]

Auto - This seems to be an option to hit the AS, a new tire from Pirelli:

What do you think? Can it take the load?

SCORPION VERDE™ ALL SEASON PLUS II
Best touring all season performance for SUV
SUV
TOURING
ALL SEASON
FRONT 275/60R20
Load speed index 115H
DISCOVER MORE

If I recall correctly, the Perilli AT is a 116H and the 21 & 22” are 115H. As long as you replace with the same or higher load rating you should be fine. The unknown is Perilli custom made these 3 tires for Rivian, so they have a higher rated load rating vs say a more standard 111H which would be more typical in these sizes. But Perilli also modified the tire construction to make it lower rolling resistance. I guess we’ll all learn as these get into customers hands. Both Michelin & Continental make very good tires in this size that are 115H rated.

 

[cleex024]

Sorry to bring up an old thread but do you guys think the xl rating would make a difference if you replaced with sl but same 115h load?

 

[Condor]

I was wondering the same thing... Based on my research, the numeric rating is much more specific so I would think a 115H tire would check the boxes.

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