Disco 1 Spare Tyre - does it need to match?

I’ll shortly be moving from 235/70 to 245/75 16 tyres on my standard height D1 300tdi. As I’m changing size I need five, if I was feeling tight would buying a part worn of something in the same size be a big deal? Alternatively if they should be similar I could buy five and work out a rotation system to keep them at similar wear.

The car came with some falcon landairs and a Goodyear spare, last owner obviously wasn’t worried.

AdamD1 said:

I’ll shortly be moving from 235/70 to 245/75 16 tyres on my standard height D1 300tdi. As I’m changing size I need five, if I was feeling tight would buying a part worn of something in the same size be a big deal? Alternatively if they should be similar I could buy five and work out a rotation system to keep them at similar wear.

The car came with some falcon landairs and a Goodyear spare, last owner obviously wasn’t worried.

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Arguably buying part worn makes sense as, unless you're particularly unlucky, the other tyres will be part worn by the time you need to use the spare.

I don't exactly understand what you are saying perhaps you should try again.

private penguin said:

Arguably buying part worn makes sense as, unless you're particularly unlucky, the other tyres will be part worn by the time you need to use the spare.

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No argument, if you driving a 30mph and the part worn tyres are certified maybe, But traveling at a 100mph + definitely do not use part worn tyres.

discool said:

No argument, if you driving a 30mph and the part worn tyres are certified maybe, But traveling at a 100mph + definitely do not use part worn tyres.

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i wouldnt buy any part worn tyres for anything other than slow off road use

As far as I'm aware, the one thing which is important is that the tread depth should meet the legal requirements, should the tyre be required to be fitted in an emergency. As to whether the spare tyre should match the tyres fitted to the vehicle, well in summer with all five being on 18 inch rims I would meet that criteria, but in winter I have four cold weather tyres on 16 inch rims but the spare is still on an 18 inch rim. Of course, it does mean that I have to make "other arrangements" should I be unfortunate enough to suffer a flat tyre. Since the cover is locked on, there's little likelihood of it being examined during the MoT.
The other consideration has to be radial or cross ply tyres, although cross ply tyres are becoming rare these days and mainly for specialist applications.
In years gone by I've had some bad experiences with remould tyres, but these days manufacturing methods have improved remarkably, for that reason if money was a problem I would be more inclined to go down the route of remoulds in preference to part worns.

discool said:

I don't exactly understand what you are saying perhaps you should try again.

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Long story short, do I buy five new ones or be a tight arse and buy four new and a part worn in the right size for the spare.
100mph+ most certainly won’t be happening! It would only be an emergency get me home solution.

If I can get them I want a set of Cooper ST Maxx so one would hope punctures would be unlikely.

Do different rolling diameters cause issues for proper land rovers is the question I probably should have asked!

AdamD1 said:

Long story short, do I buy five new ones or be a tight arse and buy four new and a part worn in the right size for the spare.
100mph+ most certainly won’t be happening! It would only be an emergency get me home solution.

If I can get them I want a set of Cooper ST Maxx so one would hope punctures would be unlikely.

Do different rolling diameters cause issues for proper land rovers is the question I probably should have asked!

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you can do that,difference in rolling radius wont matter in the short term ,but it wants changing as soon as you can,you want 4 equal tyres of decent quality,there will be times when thats vital and there only needs to be one

Personally I have no issued in buying second hand or part worn tyres, and I've never had an issue with them. To me it's no different to buying a second hand car and leaving the tyres it came with on it. We've all heard people talk about horror stories but as far as I'm concerned they are just that, stories. If part worn tyres were really as bad as people make them out to be then you'd not see companies selling them. I've also run remoulds on old vehicles I've owned as I was skint and didn't have a lot of choice, but they were never a problem either. I remember a little while ago there was a facebook video saying about how shocking the process was with re-treading a tyre and 'look at what the tyre companies don't want you to know'. It's all scaremongering IMHO.

I do however agree with the tread depth difference comments though as it could make handling slightly weird, but this is no real difference to these space saver tyres that a lot of cars have. But if you use a spare as a spare and once your original tyre is repaired/replaced and put it back as a spare then you can't go wrong.

jamesmartin said:

i wouldnt buy any part worn tyres for anything other than slow off road use

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Absolutely. As I was taught many years ago, it doesn't matter how good your brakes are or how well a car handles - there are only ever four points of contact between you and the road so don't cut corners. I never buy budget tyres and wouldn't dream of putting a part worn on anything unless as James suggests it's for slow off road movement only.

The comments by @tetsu0san regarding part worn tyres being similar to buying a second hand car in many cases might be quite sound, but unfortunately there's no way of knowing whether or not the vehicle they came off had been in an accident and the tyres suffered unseen damage too.
You have to ask why are the tyres on sale without the vehicle.

brian47 said:

You have to ask why are the tyres on sale without the vehicle.

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They could well be on sale because the person to took their car into the tyre place to get a tyre replaced thought it best to get 2 matching tyres on the same end, or even all 4 tyres replaced so they all matched. You just never know.
But each to their own. Like I said, I have no problem buying part worn or second hand tyres.

I wouldnt personally buy part worn unless i knew the person i was buying it from

I do however use a tyre thats approaching the end of its life as the spare - i have never seen any point having a brand new tyre perishing underneath, or on the back of, the car

I think the answer is a part worn spare for now and if I ever wear the new tyres out one of those can become a spare. The disco is a toy rather than something I rely on daily so if I have to limp it home on a spare I can live with that. Time to order some rubber!

AdamD1 said:

I think the answer is a part worn spare for now and if I ever wear the new tyres out one of those can become a spare. The disco is a toy rather than something I rely on daily so if I have to limp it home on a spare I can live with that. Time to order some rubber!

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I can understand what you're saying about your Disco being a playmobile, unlike mine which is my only vehicle but unless you trailer it to and from your play site, your tyres will still have to comply with the law regarding condition and tread depth, as will the spare should you have to use it.
Road law does in almost all cases apply to green lanes too.

Of course, I’m not looking to do anything illegal. If the spare is a part worn of another make but roadworthy and in the same size then I don’t see it being an issue. I’m just trying to avoid spending £130 or so on a rear door ornament.