Hi. I am new to Skoda. Took delivery of Octavia 1.6 tdi in May 2011 after 5 month wait but so far very pleased with purchase.

I have been looking at topic on winter tyres. I wondered what one does about the spare as I have a 16 inch steel spare with summer tyre. If I have 16 inch winter steels and tyres in the event of a puncture can I use the spare as it is or should I have a winter spare? Sorry if this sounds ignorant but thought I would ask the question! Davernip

Hi, I recently bought and fitted a set of 4 GoodYear Ultragrip 8's for my Fabia 1.9TDi and so far I have been overwhelmed by the extra grip they give, especially in the wet. As temperatures drop, they will come into their own having a harder compound than summer tyres and a better, bulkier tread pattern. Personally I wouldn't bother with the expense of fitting one to a spare as for me the spare is always a temporary measure, although that is just personal tightness! One thing I would suggest is if you get lots of snow where you are is to consider buying a pair of snow socks. I put these on a couple of times in last years snow to get me up a couple of hills and they worked a treat! Google weissenfells snow sock. These just slip on and self centre. I think a pair for my 185/60/R14's was ~65 quid but worth every penny when I got stuck

http://www.snowchains.co.uk/snowchains/Weissenfels+WeissSock+Snowsock/

Edited 1 November, 201114 yr by leepatrick01

Most people do not bother with a spare winter tyre, if you are unfortunate enough to get a non repairable puncture though then you may have a problem getting an identical replacement tyre as stocks tend to run out just after the bad weather really hits.

Ideally a spare would be nice, but you need to weigh up the chance of getting a non repairable puncture with the cost of a spare wheel and tyre (£170 ish), personally I will take my chances.

Hi, I recently bought and fitted a set of 4 GoodYear Ultragrip 8's for my Fabia 1.9TDi and so far I have been overwhelmed by the extra grip they give, especially in the wet. As temperatures drop, they will come into their own having a harder compound than summer tyres and a better, bulkier tread pattern.

Winter tyres are softer and made from a different compound which contains more silica than a summer tyre, this is what makes them work better at temperatures below 7° as tyres with less (or no) silica will go harder in the colder temperatures.

One thing I would suggest is if you get lots of snow where you are is to consider buying a pair of snow socks. I put these on a couple of times in last years snow to get me up a couple of hills and they worked a treat!

That is pointless on a decent winter tyre IMO .... chains? possibly, but winter tyres are better than snow socks anyway.

Sorry yes, softer compound. As for the snow socks, I wasn't running on winters when we had the snow earlier in the year but I popped them over my Michelin Energy Savers and they got me out of a bind. This year will be the first where I have run specific winter tyres. When we get some snow, I'll post a message and let you know if I got stuck on the winters or whether the snow socks come to the rescue again!

Sorry yes, softer compound. As for the snow socks, I wasn't running on winters when we had the snow earlier in the year but I popped them over my Michelin Energy Savers and they got me out of a bind. This year will be the first where I have run specific winter tyres. When we get some snow, I'll post a message and let you know if I got stuck on the winters or whether the snow socks come to the rescue again!

Same here!

Got socks last year after Michelin Energys were useless. My Avon winter tyres get fitted this Saturday by a local mobile fitter. I'm contemplating selling the socks as I've only used them twice for 2 x 200m up to the house.

Edited 1 November, 201114 yr by Web Ferret

Thanks folks for this. I suppose my question was really about the legality of using a spare which was a summer tyre if I had winter tyres on the other three wheels. I now gather from a local dealer this is legal in the uk but not abroad. Also not ideal in terms of handling but as a first aid measure as it were. I do not intend to purchase a 5ht one!

I have found the local Skoda dealer competitive on price.

I had a puncture which wrote off one winter tyre at beginning of feb this year. I could not get a spare winter tyre anywhere.

This year I have a spare winter tyre on a spare wheel.

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Thanks folks for this. I suppose my question was really about the legality of using a spare which was a summer tyre if I had winter tyres on the other three wheels. I now gather from a local dealer this is legal in the uk but not abroad. Also not ideal in terms of handling but as a first aid measure as it were. I do not intend to purchase a 5ht one!

I have found the local Skoda dealer competitive on price.

Can't be any worse than a space saver wheel!

If it was me, i'd put the steel spare on ebay.

Fit your winters tyres to the steels and run these in the winter, and put one of your alloys (?) with its regular summer tyre in as the spare for the winter months. Next spring, put the alloys back on with the summer tyres, and put one of the steels with its winter tyre in the boot for emergencies.

This of course only works if your summer wheel/tyre will fit in the spare wheel well.

what rob_e said I'm looking around some scrappies for a set of steels to fit for the winters and keep the summers on the alloys. Added bonus is once they are all swapped, I won't have to pay a fitter to keep changing them. Keep the winters on steels and vice versa. It's the future! )

Thanks folks for this. I suppose my question was really about the legality of using a spare which was a summer tyre if I had winter tyres on the other three wheels. I now gather from a local dealer this is legal in the uk but not abroad. Also not ideal in terms of handling but as a first aid measure as it were. I do not intend to purchase a 5ht one!

I have found the local Skoda dealer competitive on price.

Been in Prague 2 days and seen a load of cars with a summer spare on and winters on the other 3 - must be the cobbled streets giving them lots of punctures!