so i need a new tyre soon for the fiesta and after some digging around, to replace the one that's on the car it's going to cost me £85

but if i go for a "cheaper" option i can save a few quid as they start at silly prices like £45 for some made in china special

so, other than the "you pay for quality" brigade, what are your views on having one odd tyre make from the rest?

 

I was always taught to replace in pairs, and having odd tyres across one axle isnt ideal. Dont know what the theory behind it is.
Personally it would play with my OCD no end knowing my tyres dont match

 

Just guessing....different tyres could equal different grip levels side to side, therefore possible unpredictable handling and maybe accidents.

 

Don't do it - you will have differing grip and breaking levels on both sides of the car.

As regards Chinese tyres most are ok in the dry but crap in the wet. There are intermedite options: Barum are not bad.

 

Never skrimp on tyres Dojj - they're the only things ultimately between you and that brick wall.

Why do you just need the one 'soon' ? Uneven wear might suggest it needs a proper alignment?

 

Wheel bearing and cv joint on either sides of the car meant that there wear some wear issues

Plus my mrs likes parking by touch

 

I try to end up with an averagely-worn tyre as the spare (assuming you have a car with a full-size spare!) and make sure it's not too old as well.
Along the way, as others have said, I try to buy tyres in pairs; sometimes that means the spare gets binned along with the worst of the 2 tyres being replaced, the other becoming the spare if it's newer.

If I need to "even up" I have on occasion bought a part-worn tyre; these can be remarkably cheap, but you do need to be careful on condition.

I also never let tyres get anywhere near the legal minimum, usually replacing them at around 3 or 4mm.

And I try to keep all 4 the same brand and type (or very similar type), certainly on the same "axle".

 

got all 4 continentals at the start, then changed the rears to maxxis, now one of the fronts needs doing soon and so it's a question of putting the one good one as a spare and getting 2 matched new ones, or putting a new one on the same as the other one or buggering about with other stuff

i've got 8 alloys in total so keeping a matched set isn't a problem, i was approaching this from the angle of someone who's got 4 directional tyres and no spare

 

My personal preference is Asymmetric over directional, not sure why as I always use a professional to change wheels/tyres so they can swap directional sides very quickly on their machines.

Only 8 alloys? Both my cars have 10 each, 5 for summer 5 for winter. In one case (the Ford) they're also a different size wheel between summer and winter (16" vs 15") the other has 18's all the time (though it could easily take up to 20's with some loss of comfort).