Tyre rotation - four or five tyres and rotation pattern?

[AlHeart]

I bought four new tyres last year and had to use to the spare wheel because one of the wheels was bent. I recently bought a new wheel to replace the damaged one. I may buy a fifth tyre soon so that I can have a spare tyre.

Should I incorporate the fifth one in the rotation? If so, how would that work? I have directional tyres so they would always stay on the same side of the vehicle and the tyres from the other side of the the vehicle will would always be on the be road. If this is the case, the side without the the spare would wear faster and the side with the spare would wear slower.

The only way I can see to ensure the tyres wear the most evenly is the spare gets dismounted and remounted the other way around and then installed on the other side of the vehicle. Is this done by anyone? Are there other ways to do this?

[HPsauce]

Why not just buy a part-worn tyre for the spare, that's what I've done in the past? It doesn't even have to be exactly the same tyre, though the closer the better in design and ideally same brand/range.
e.g. When I moved up to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S all round I had a Pilot Super Sport as spare. More than adequate for the job.

Then, when the inevitable happens and you need to replace one tyre due to an "incident" get a nice new matching pair and fit them on the road wheels. I never remember whether the better/new tyres should be front or back.
Scrap the spare tyre and use the worst of the three once-new tyres for the spare.

As for rotational tyres I personally avoid them for exactly the complications you've raised. The spare only has a 50% chance of being fully useable.

[paulrstaylor]

Agreed, the spare should be to get you out of a jam short term - not swap and forget.

Originally Posted by HPsauce

I never remember whether the better/new tyres should be front or back.

Opinions vary (especially on FWD cars), but the safety advice would be put the new pair on the rear - if you have a traction differential you want the most grip at the back, as if the tyres break traction on the front you will understeer, which is easier to recover for most drivers than the rear braking traction and going backwards through a hedge

[AlHeart]

Thanks for your feedback. The rotation pattern with five tyres is confusing for sure.

I have Continental Vikingcontact 7 winter tyres installed on my A8. Trying to find one used winter tyre in this size is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I may either buy a new but cheaper tyre and leave that as the spare or buy a fifth Vikingcontact 7 and try to incorporate that in the rotation pattern.

[tonupkid]

I don't often hear of people rotating tyre in the UK. It seems to be popular in the USA.

[AlHeart]

Originally Posted by tonupkid

I don't often hear of people rotating tyre in the UK. It seems to be popular in the USA.

Regardless of where you live, physics is a constant. Front tyres will wear faster because of braking and cornering forces as well as the weight distribution of most cars including the A8. Rotating tyres promotes even wear to all four tyres.

[HPsauce]

I've not bothered with rotating tyres since probably the 1970s!
I remember back in the sixties and seventies you could get different wear patterns front vs rear so rotating them gave you longer life.
Nowadays I pay more attention to alignment and steering geometry (and correct pressures) so that doesn't seem to happen.

When a pair wear out I replace them and do as recommended re where new/old tyres go for the vehicle in question. Though as noted above "incidents" often force your hand early.