A winter tyre topic in the middle of July - although judging by the weather maybe we are in winter already

In winter I swap to a set of 4 steel rims fitted with Goodyear Ultragrip 8 winter tyres (205/55R16 94H), all bought from My Tyres last year, so far so good. They work brilliantly and I'm really happy with them

However, a couple of days ago, and this is July so I've got the alloys and 225/50R17 summer tyres fitted and the winters are in the garage, I got a puncture for the first time in years, bloody nails! I swapped to the spare which i spec'd when I bought the car (205/55R16 Continental summer tyre on a steel wheel - can't remember the exact model, whatever came as standard from Skoda), so far I was thinking I'm glad I added the spare as an option otherwise I'd be a bit stuffed .... well maybe not stuffed exactly but the spare did make things a lot easier.

However, it got me thinking what if the same thing happened when I'm abroad in the winter with winter tyres fitted:

1. Where would I stand having three winter tyres and having to fit the spare which isn't a winter tyre?

2. Would a 5th winter tyre be my best bet?

3. The Goodyear Ultragrip 8s are uni-directional, so if I buy a 5th one as a spare is a uni-directional tyre OK to fit the 'wrong way round' if the puncture happens on the wrong side? Potentially this could be fitted for 1000 miles as I'd not want to get a tyre repaired when abroad and would do it when I'm home.

[if I did buy a 5th 'wheel & tyre' from My Tyres I'd flog the current spare steel & tyre as it's done less than 40 miles, probably cheaper than buying a tyre and swapping it over, and use one of the winter wheels as the spare in the boot all year round.]

PS The reason for the winters is mainly because I drive to the Alps in Feb every year to go skiing and winters are required by law over there. I am a winter tyre convert and a bit of a pedant with tyres so maybe I'm looking too much into this, sure you'll tell me the way it is!

Long post, sorry :think:

I's say put a winter tyre on as a spare and just carry it all year.

It's a spare on a stell, so not like you'd be running it for much longer than you'd need to get to a tyre place.

As long as you're careful when it's on, you'll be a lot safer (IMHO) running one winter in the summer than one summer in the winter.

As for the directional bit... it's a pain and something that's a bugger for the spare.

I've done it and you can tell it's not right in snow and standing water.

These days I tend to avoid directional tyres as spares where possible.

Edited 25 July, 201213 yr by cheezemonkhai

I carry a Summer a a spare in winter and a Winter as a spare in summer. It's "a get me home" option. I'd be changing it as soon as I could.

These days I tend to avoid directional tyres as spares where possible.

Any recommendations for non-directional tyres? I'm struggling to find any apart from Vredestein Nextremes, which don't come in the size I need :(

I was thinking about a Nokian WR G2 as my spare, as although asymetric I believe they are non-directional.

Me too, but looking at pics of them I'm not completely sure. The technical info on their site didn't say either.

I have Nokian WR A3s as my winters - they are asymmetric & non-directional. I'll stick with the slim spare (16" 185/60 I think, Continental brand) - if it's needed the original will be repaired & back on asap.

I was thinking about a Nokian WR G2 as my spare, as although asymetric I believe they are non-directional.

Me too, but looking at pics of them I'm not completely sure. The technical info on their site didn't say either.

Correct they are not directional .... also a great choice IMO.

I changed my factory spare Goodyear NCT5 for a non-directional all-season Maxxis UA603 because I wanted a larger diameter 60 profile tyre to be an occasional spare for a quattro where tyre parity is more critical. I would normally use one of my "other season" wheel/tyre combos as its off-season use in emergencies is negligible.

Update:

After procrastinating for way too long I've bitten the bullet and ordered a Nokian WR G2 205/55 R16 94H fitted to a steel wheel from MyTyres. I'll keep it in the car all year round so will be selling the factory supplied spare wheel & tyre as soon as the new one arrives (only done 40 miles so it is pretty much brand new).

The reason I went for the Nokian is because it's unidirectional so can be fitted to nearside or offside.

Update 29th Sep 2012:

Nokian winter tyre fitted to steel wheel arrived, it is now in the car, and the OEM spare is up for sale; see the for sale section for details of cost and which part of the country if you're interested in it.