Spare tyre

[valley boy]

Today I had that dreaded call in tesco would the owner of car. I went to the front of the store to be told i had a puncture I returned to my car (not the bongo) to find the front left flat proceeded to change and removed spare from boot a brand spanking new full size tyre and wheel when fitting noticed that the tyre was directional and was meant to be fitted on the front right or back right not the front left where i was putting it does anybody know what the effect this would have on the performance of the tyre or is it illegal i ask this question as fellow members may have directional tyres as a full size spare on their bongos and dont know it.

[teenmal]

Hi,
It will be OK to get you home or to a tyre depot.But its a MOT failure(rejection).

Cheers.

[borntobag]

I have a directional tyre as a spare and as long as it is a used as a spare and not a replacement i.e change it as soon as you will be ok.
A mate of mine does drifting an uses direction tyres on his car and deliberatly puts them on to rotate the opposite way than intended, he claims they dont grip as well and smoke more, which is what he wants.

but as a spare they might make a bit more noise and be less grippy, but as a get you home they are fine.

[M 80NGO]

Hi,
It will be OK to get you home or to a tyre depot.But its a MOT failure(rejection).

Cheers.

Spot on

[borntobag]

Hi,
It will be OK to get you home or to a tyre depot.But its a MOT failure(rejection).

Cheers.

Spot on

Is it really?
I was under the impression it wasnt, I thought only the 4 running tyres were checked for this
and as long as the spare tyre was present it just had to be legal i.e no cracks bulges etc and enough tread.
Mine has never been properly checked on an MOT and by that i mean removed from the holder and I have never had a failure or advisory for this.

but from what i have been reading:
"The condition of the spare tyre will not affect the MOT in any way but the wheel condition does"
http://www.ctyres.co.uk/tyre_info/Tyres%26MOT.html

However if you are concerned or confused by this, there is no requirement for a spare tyre for an MOT, so if in any doubt, leave it out.

I would still rather use a directional tyre on the wrong side than a skinny space saver.