Driving with one winter and one summer tyre on the same axle

[AnthonyH]

There's nothing in the MOT that says don't do this, but still, I've seen some chat that its not safe. I'm thinking about putting my spare, which is a winter tyre, on the rear axle with the rest of the car all summer.

Thoughts?

 

[Greasytrucker]

If it’s on the back and you drive appropriately it wouldn’t bother me tbh. You’d notice it much more cornering on the front. As long as you don’t drive like a hooligan normally i’m sure it’ll be fine. I ran an odd winter on the rear of my people carrier for a couple of years with no issues

 

[bugsymike]

There's nothing in the MOT that says don't do this, but still, I've seen some chat that its not safe. I'm thinking about putting my spare, which is a winter tyre, on the rear axle with the rest of the car all summer.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are you may get away with it on the back axle, but the grip will be different .
If you look up the spec. on the two different tyres it should indicate what I mean.
Ideally matching tyres is safest recommendation, although over the years I have driven with all sorts. Russian tyres even though a matching new set were the most frightening, although it did help me brush up on "cadence braking" before the advent of ABS.

 

[Greasytrucker]

If it’s a different speed rating as winter tyres are often a T you may get an advisory on the mot but they can’t fail it for it

 

[AnthonyH]

My thoughts are you may get away with it on the back axle, but the grip will be different .
If you look up the spec. on the two different tyres it should indicate what I mean.
Ideally matching tyres is safest recommendation, although over the years I have driven with all sorts. Russian tyres even though a matching new set were the most frightening, although it did help me brush up on "cadence braking" before the advent of ABS.

The summer tyre I have on there keeps going down, slowly, but a lot faster than the other tyres, the tread is good. But I forget to inflate it and all of a sudden notice it slopping around corners! So I need to switch it, buy a new tyre, or develop a better memory

 

[AnthonyH]

If it’s a different speed rating as winter tyres are often a T you may get an advisory on the mot but they can’t fail it for it

I have an 84H on all my tyres at the moment, and would be putting on one 84T, so non ideal.

 

[Greasytrucker]

I have an 84H on all my tyres at the moment, and would be putting on one 84T, so non ideal.

It’s only a speed rating at the end of the day because off the aggressive pattern and the winter tyre will probably be a softer compound meaning it’ll be a bit more noisy when the weather warms up but that’s about it. Not like you’re gonna be flying down the motorway at 100mph+ (I’m presuming that’s the case anyway)

 

[StevenRB45]

The only time you'd actually notice a difference highly likely is if you're doing something Ill advised or in an emergency swerve/stop. Or perhaps mid summer or mid winter where you're going to have significantly asymmetric grip levels.

Personally I wouldn't because I like my car to respond the same if I need to avoid something to the left or to the right but for putting round it's highly likely you'll not notice a damn bit of difference.

 

[AnthonyH]

It’s only a speed rating at the end of the day because off the aggressive pattern and the winter tyre will probably be a softer compound meaning it’ll be a bit more noisy when the weather warms up but that’s about it. Not like you’re gonna be flying down the motorway at 100mph+ (I’m presuming that’s the case anyway)

I wouldn't try to do a 100mph in these old Grande Puntos I drive, something would fall off lol. This is making me envision a cartoon car with something flying off the car every few minutes until I arrive at my destination with just a set of wheels. I don't need to open the door because its not there anymore lol

 

[AnthonyH]

The only time you'd actually notice a difference highly likely is if you're doing something Ill advised or in an emergency swerve/stop. Or perhaps mid summer or mid winter where you're going to have significantly asymmetric grip levels.

Personally I wouldn't because I like my car to respond the same if I need to avoid something to the left or to the right but for putting round it's highly likely you'll not notice a damn bit of difference.

I think I'll switch it and see if I can notice any difference, i'd like to avoid buying a new tyre until the tread is low, possibly in the summer.

 

[Greasytrucker]

I think I'll switch it and see if I can notice any difference, i'd like to avoid buying a new tyre until the tread is low, possibly in the summer.

You won’t wear it out on the back, it’ll crack from age before it’s bald! That’s why you normally put new tyres on the rear on a front wheel drive and put the rear wheels on the front, if you don’t you end up with 5 year plus old tyres on back. It’ll last as long as you need it too on the back, then replace at least a pair at a time

 

[AnthonyH]

You won’t wear it out on the back, it’ll crack from age before it’s bald! That’s why you normally put new tyres on the rear on a front wheel drive and put the rear wheels on the front, if you don’t you end up with 5 year plus old tyres on back. It’ll last as long as you need it too on the back, then replace at least a pair at a time

I hadn't thought of it like that, but I can see it makes sense.

The last time I had a tyre changed ATS Euromaster showed me the DOT number on my tyres. One of them read "1806", they presuaded me the tyre was from the 18th week of 2006, and I was like WOW, thats a great story to tell! Of course they wanted another sale because the numbers were reversed and the tyre was from the 6th week of 2018. Incidentally this is the tyre that keeps deflating, so they were right it needed changing.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

It'll be fine until it isn't, which will be in conditions where you need it least. I have personal experience of a car attempting to swap ends on me at an alarmingly low speed without any notice, fortunately without any damage to self, car or others. See if the slow puncture is repairable.

 

[AnthonyH]

It'll be fine until it isn't, which will be in conditions where you need it least. I have personal experience of a car attempting to swap ends on me at an alarmingly low speed without any notice, fortunately without any damage to self, car or others. See if the slow puncture is repairable.

I already have a compound that gets injected into the tyre through the valve, I'm not sure if it is a permanent fix or temporary, i'll take a look, thanks for the idea!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I already have a compound that gets injected into the tyre through the valve, I'm not sure if it is a permanent fix or temporary, i'll take a look, thanks for the idea!

If that's already in, then no, you're not going to get it repaired I'm afraid

 

[AnthonyH]

If that's already in, then no, you're not going to get it repaired I'm afraid

I meant the compund is in the house, not the tyre at the moment, so all good.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Ah, OK. Let the tyre shop take a look first. Costs a tenner at mine as long as it's repairable.

 

[AnthonyH]

The leaky summer tyre was on the front, so I did a switch around, got that off and put the spare winter tyre on the back. The handling of the car has improved noticeably - a leaky summer tyre on the front is a lot worse for handling than a winter tyre on the back (or the front probably). I was mis-remembering the condition of the leaky tyre, so I'm not going to repair it, it'll get replaced in due course.