I have Scorpion tyres all around but the fronts are looking in need of replacement; there's still some decent life, probably six, or even nine months left in the rears and I have a brand new full size spare. Suspect this has been there since the car was first put on the road in 2013.
Clearly it would be cheapest to just buy another two of the same - however, I then get myself into a cycle of changing the tyres in pairs. Is this wise? If that's an okay solution, then should the wheels be swapped around, fitting the new tyres on the rear?
Should the spare be brought into play? Is there any problem with it just being left as a spare, or with time does it deteriorate?
I have no issue with the Scorpions (although I did like the CrossClimates I had on my Forester) and changing the tyres in pairs would of course confine me to this particular brand.
Perhaps I should just raid the piggy bank, buy five tyres of whatever brand I fancy and start all over, sticking the spare up for sale.

Have searched but can't find the info , even though I think I might have contributed to a previous thread on the same/similar matter

as far as I know buying in pairs isn't an issue. Just put the new ones on the back and move the worn ones to the front.

if you buying the same make etc then maybe think about swapping the spare out with one of the new ones to make use of the lifespan.

If you are buying Pirelli tyres I would buy 3. Use your unused spare as the 4th tyre, and put your best used tyre in the boot.

This will give you 4 new tyres on the car, and a serviceable spare. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 79k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Yes, that's the obvious thing and what I would do/have done. There is the slight quibble that tyre specs do change even if the tread pattern looks the same, but I have not found this to be a problem. There is absolutely no point in having a brand new tyre on the spare, and I rotate all (6) of mine regularly to even the wear. the worst one goes on the spare. Tyres don't last for ever, and I would want to get as much value as possible from my spare. Buy three, as suggested.
Edit: if you have tpms you'll need a tpms valve for the spare as well if you are going to swap it with one of the road wheels. I believe some later FL2s do have tpms? Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

Thanks guys That'll save me a few bob as well

Past master wrote:

Yes, that's the obvious thing and what I would do/have done. There is the slight quibble that tyre specs do change even if the tread pattern looks the same, but I have not found this to be a problem. There is absolutely no point in having a brand new tyre on the spare, and I rotate all (6) of mine regularly to even the wear. the worst one goes on the spare. Tyres don't last for ever, and I would want to get as much value as possible from my spare. Buy three, as suggested.
Edit: if you have tpms you'll need a tpms valve for the spare as well if you are going to swap it with one of the road wheels. I believe some later FL2s do have tpms?

If your existing wheels don't have TPMS it suggests that your car doesn't have the system otherwise you'd have a orange warning triangle on all the time.

Therefore fitting a wheel with sensors won't be an issue.

There is a school of thought that you should always fit a new pair of tyres to the front, as they do the steering and most of the braking, therefore better to have the most grip at the front.

New tyres to the front or back?
Check your handbook first but if it doesn’t give any specific advice then, whether your car’s front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive the best/newest tyres should be on the back.
Making sure you have your best tyres on the back will favour ‘understeer’ rather than ‘oversteer’ when grip is limited such as in very wet or cold conditions.
Understeer – the car tends to go straight on even though you’re turning the wheel.
Oversteer – the back end breaks free and the car is likely to spin.
Tyres with deeper tread grooves are less likely to puncture too and it's more difficult to control a car with a damaged rear tyre than one with a damaged front tyre.

https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/safety/car-tyres

Having your new tyres on the back helps you go off the road forward, instead of backwards. --- Best to have 4 good tyres. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 79k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Yes it's counter-intuitive, but all the manufacturers, etc say put the new ones on the back. Just google it and you'll find lots of sites saying the same thing (for reasons well explained in the previous post). Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

What about the age of your "new" spare? If your car is 2013 then this tyre will be coming up to 6 years old. If you check the Handbook (and tyre manufacturers) it is not advisable to have tyres 6 years or older as the rubber deteriorates with age. 2014 Freelander 2 TD4 GS Auto

All the more reason to get some use out of your spare! I've read that most of the deterioration is down to UV light, and the spare being hidden away shouldn't suffer as much degradation as one on the outside. My wife recently changed her 11 year old car with 11 year old tyres, which seemed fine.
Could otherwise be a problem for a car with a "skinny" spare, as you've no chance of swapping that for one of the road wheels except in emergency.
There was a big fuss a while ago after a coach with (I think) 24 year old tyres crashed. There were unsuccessful calls to make it illegal for coaches to have tyres over a certain age.
One point to watch - some FL2s were supplied with a slightly different size tyre on the spare, for no obvious reason. Check the size. Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

Bit of a dilemma now - was going to go with the brand I have now, the Pirelli Zeros, although there's a lot of all-weather reviews going with the Cross Climate. However if I buy another brand, I'm looking at getting 5 whereas I could get away with just 3 if I stick with the Zeros.
Perhaps bite the bullet and shell out the extra £s although that would leave me with an unused Zero, presently living as my spare.
Decisions, decisions . . .
Perhaps buy a bike

You could always just go for four new tyres and keep the spare as it will be a different make as an “emergency” spare, this is what LR did/do as mine has a spare which is a steel road wheel with a Hancook tyre of smaller dimensions (albeit the same rolling circumference of course). Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

I have 5 of those steel 17" rims with knobbly tyres.





also a set 5 of 17" alloys.


/

My Granddaughter has nobbly tyres on her mud plugger also

 Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......