We are off to Morzine in a couple of weeks and our car, (Touran) has a bottle of foam and a pump as the puncture kit.
I had mulled over just buying a steel wheel and tyre, then heard scare stories about mixing brands on the same axle.
Then looked at a space saver (it’s going to have to go in the boot/luggage area as it’s a 7 seater with no spare well) but read more horror stories about VW not approving this due to the weight loading!!!!!
Still deliberating, any thoughts???
Sort out a decent breakdown insurer that covers taking you to somewhere that can flog you a tyre if the worst happens.
Full size spare. At normal speeds you won't have an issue with one odd tyre, it's a temporary measure for a week or so till you get a matching one for the burst.
The above assumes your not running your current tyres towards their tread limit
Yeah, don’t over think it, get some break down cover.
Tbh mixing tyres ain’t an automatic death sentence, most cars are massively over engineered for what we do with them anyway.
Also, I know it doesn’t need saying but I think we all fall into the trap of worrying what the French for ‘Kwickfit’ is or wondering if French Garages close for 4 hours in the middle of the day and will want €100000 to fix a spark plug.
The only thing I found impossible to find in France was a U.K. spec number plate, worth thinking about before you fix it to the back of a £40 Halfords bike carrier ha ha. I drove most of the way to Morzine, back to Paris and back to Dover without a rear plate.
Tyres are currently 5-6mm.
I work in insurance and I think it is making me very risk averse.....
Modern car French (assume toll) roads, if you get a puncture it'll be on the UK's horrible roads! Peage roads are bloody lovely 🙂
Yeah, stop worrying. I regularly drive my 911 all round Europe up and down the Alps. No spare and my tyres are both a daft price and special order. So no way will a tyre shop / garage or French Kwik-fit stock them.
I've never had a puncture. If I did get one Id just use the emergency can of gunk and limp home.
Yes. Driven to the pyrenees without a spare and never had an issue. In fact in the last 150k miles I haven’t had a puncture. Last time I did a pump got enough air into the tyre to get me to a garage. In many hundreds of thousands miles driving I’ve never had a blow out or something a pump and tin of gunk couldn’t fix.
Other experiences are available!
This thread might well be an exercise in tempting fate.........
Only a rip in the carcase will cause a problem, a can of gunk will fix most punctures.
A full-size spare will take a huge amount of boot space, unless you sling it on either the roof or bonnet 🙂
Modern car French (assume toll) roads, if you get a puncture it’ll be on the UK’s horrible roads! Peage roads are bloody lovely 🙂
only place I've had a proper blowout was on french toll road - pulling away from the gate (briskly) a dozy attendant stepped out from behind a booth without looking, in (over) steering to avoid her I clipped the curb. no immediate problems but a (gentle) mile down the road there was a 'thud thud thud' and then it lost all pressure. hobbled it up to a refuge and swapped it over.
Modern car French (assume toll) roads, if you get a puncture it’ll be on the UK’s horrible roads!
They are so nice that glass doesn't break on them, and nails and bits of metal just fly straight back onto the backs of lorries when they fall off.
Oh, that reminds me to buy a new can of gunk.
As others have said, buy some breakdown insurance and don't worry.
I would be far more worried about get stuck with a broken down car than having a puncture. Punctures are easily fixed, a snapped cam belt or whatever isn't so easy to sort out.
The French are very well geared on breakdown recovery, as it normally comes with your car insurance here.
Works much like bike sealant and can be applied before you get a puncture. Will seal any hole that's safe to seal. Can be used post-puncture also (done it myself with a screw through the tyre, removed, applied and sealed with enough of the stuff. Permanent repair and fine for full speed driving.
Doesn't write off the tyre like nasty emergency repair sealant stuff (as once you use that stuff, it's new tyre time as can only drive low speed and it's not a permanent repair, plus a pain to replace/fix as no one will touch it with that stuff in it).
But other than that, decent breakdown cover. Can buy it with tunnel booking if you're going that way.
And yeah, the toll roads are fantastically smooth. Even local roads are lovely compared to our pothole ridden mess.
Other option is a run flat so at least you can get somewhere at lower speed for a repair, and I guess it runs like a slow puncture so could pump it up again. Don't know, never used them.
We've been pretty unlucky recently.
Last week had a puncture, screw in the tyre got it repaired on Thursday, all good. 4 days later hadn't driven it and came back to another flat on the other side. Another screw. I've just had it repaired and on my way outside now too fit it. Tyres less than 500 miles old.
Last year the old car needed a new tyre, 60 miles after a complete new set.
And the year before the camper shredded a tyre on the way to work.
I'm getting a bit twitchy and thinking I should put run flats back on mine. I just carry a can of goo and a pump.
if your tyre is not repairable they will want to fit 2 tyres to make the axle set match at an emergency price.
Unless you are lucky you will not persuade them otherwise,
A space saver will get you to a tyre shop when you want rather than needing recovery at the most awkward time/place.
Flats are rare these days but I got a proper spare for our last car that did not have one as std - we tow a caravan so space saver not really ideal.
A space saver is the minimum I would have , gunk and pump never works on a non fixable tyre and wrecks a fixable one so loose loose , OK some cars its unavoidable but for better reasons than saving money/fuel economy - ie Porsche when the wheels are so big they do not fit in the car, although they used to have space savers in the past.
What s the big drama about mixed brand tyres?
if your tyre is not repairable they will want to fit 2 tyres to make the axle set match at an emergency price.
Unless you are lucky you will not persuade them otherwise,
Sounds like you got played.
I'm with the op. I prefer to have a spare with me as all the break down cover in the world won't help if there simply isn't a vehicle in your area /they are all busy -and you have a ferry to catch.
wrightyson
Member
What s the big drama about mixed brand tyres?
It effs up the handling. I drove a pool car for a while that had 3 different brands of tyres on - it was all over the place on cornering - oversteer on rights, understeer on lefts. Horrid experience and that was at sub 30 mph
What s the big drama about mixed brand tyres?
I believe it’s the law in France that each axle has to have matching tyres (type, brand, wear, etc.)
Not sure if this only applies to French registered cars...?
Ahem.
I'm not going to help here.
1050 miles from home.
3.5 miles from Les Gets on a Sunday tea time we had a puncture.
Our breakdown cover (RAC) basically said 'leave it at the nearest garage, we don't do Sunday'...
Car was loaded with all our holiday kit and 5 bikes.
Compressor in the car (brand new in package) refused to work.
Cue some very helpful chaps with thier own car workshop at a nearby house using thier compressor and my can of gunk to get us going again.
🤪
It effs up the handling. I drove a pool car for a while that had 3 different brands of tyres on – it was all over the place on cornering – oversteer on rights, understeer on lefts. Horrid experience and that was at sub 30 mph
At 30mph. 😂😂😂
pictonroad - it was astonishing how badly it was affected. An extreme case perhaps but it really was verging on unsafe
What is so different about France to the UK?
it was astonishing how badly it was affected. An extreme case perhaps but it really was verging on unsafe
I doubt that would be tyre-related, unless they had some sort of carcase defect. Far more likely to be chassis/wheels/suspension allowing an element of self-steering
Maybe but it sure was not helped by the badly mismatched tyres - one front was a good tyre hardly worn, the other was a cheapo tyre well worn. Maybe something was also bent in the suspension but braking in the wet one side skidded easily, the other did not and it cornered very differently on rights and lefts.
Felt like tyre effects to me.
so it was the fact it was bald rather than the fact it was mismatched.
especially if you were going below 30mph.
Likewise the mismatched rule is a rule for french cars not for visitors.
in the same way that we dont make french cars get an MOT when they arrive in the uk despite the french roadworthy test being every 2 years.
Modern car French (assume toll) roads, if you get a puncture it’ll be on the UK’s horrible roads! Peage roads are bloody lovely
Just a note, though, you're not allowed to change a wheel on a French motorway. So spare or no spare, you'll probably end up on a low loader if it happens on the motorway.
EDIT - and frankly, you'd have to be a bit mad to try.
Wasn't bald - or I would have refused to drive it. It had over 2mm of tread.
you’re not allowed to change a wheel on a French motorway
thats not just a french rule.
tbh id abandon the car and buy a new one i think rather than risk changing the tire on a uk motorway having seen the driving inability on most.
Seeing target fixation at work and having seen my mates 12 tonne recovery trucks (with big flashing lights and all the pre requisite features designed for recoverys on the motorway being rear ended on more than one occasion while on the hardshoulder.
well worn ~ bald if the other side is hardly worn
its either well worn or its not - its not what ever suits your argument at what ever point.
I'd be more worried about a spare wheel loose in the boot, but I guess you'd have some heavy duty tie downs....
Ok trailrat. Both tyres perfectly legal in tread depth a tyre with 2-3 mm of tread is well worn but not bald to me.
We constantly run mismatched tyres and never change them as a pair if one punctures and run them far over 30 mph, never had an issue or know of anyone else having problems if the car straight and tyres legal at correct psi
It was all going so well until Matt and orange contributed.....😳
I’m now erring on buying four new tyres and risking it, they are ok tread wise but circa 4 years old. I had the garage look last week and there was a bit of cracking on the walls so new boots might offer a bit of reassurance.
I am sure it effects cars in different ways, I currently have 3 different brands on my car. Thankfully the front pair are matched however I have not yet felt unsafe because of the tyre setup.
Thinking of getting a complete set as the fronts are due but it is quite an expense.
If it was me driving to France in the OP's situation I would double up on the foam and not worry about having an official spare, it is just another little adventure to go on whilst on holiday if the worst does happen.
Euro breakdown is a good call mind to get you out of any jams tyre related or otherwise but it is not as if you are venturing off the beaten track where have not been seen a car before.
Most older cars on the road probably have mismatched tyres. The vast majority of people I know or speak to, couldn't care less until they're below the legal limit and have failed the MOT.
Certainly, I would rather take a full size spare than a space-saver which will most definitely compromise the handling of the car in a significant way.
I buy a full matching set these days, but I'd have no issue putting in a mismatched spare.
I have got European breakdown cover,
And a toll tag
And breathalysers
And headlamp deflectors
And hi viz vests
And a clean air sticker
And spare bulbs
Who knew a holiday could be so stressful.....
Recently drove to Norway in a mates van and it was only when we got there that I found out he had no spare wheel, tire repair kit or breakdown cover. Which I thought was odd. I did manage to convince him to get some breakdown cover though.
I buy a full matching set these days, but I’d have no issue putting in a mismatched spare.
Yep matching set all around, although rears wear nearly twice as fast so get replaced more often.
And would replace in pairs unless they were barely worn.
And not the cheapest ones I can find either, I view tyres as quite important as they're the thing that sticks you to the road.
Modern car French (assume toll) roads, if you get a puncture it’ll be on the UK’s horrible roads! Peage roads are bloody lovely
totally this, as well as the stopping places. And the standard of driving on motorways was impressive. Indicate, pull out then back in again. Unless it's an Audi with a UK plate then it's the standard of arseholeness that you'll be used to on UK roads.
Only advice I'd give would be get Euro breakdown cover and all the stuf rockhopper mentions - available as a kit from Halfords and occasionally Lidl/Aldi - as it's legal requirement (although I thought the vest was only for vans but could well be wrong).
Oh and if you'll be out of the UK after 31/10 you'll probably need an International Driving Permit (1968 for France) - £5 from a post office.
EDIT - also I heard but never experienced that French cops like to pull over UK reg cars and slap fines on them for not having headlight deflectors. Included in the kits and available on line fr £3 or £4 (or £7 near the Channel ferries).
I had mulled over just buying a steel wheel and tyre, then heard scare stories about mixing brands on the same axle.
You'd better tell the huge percentage of motorists with older cars who happily pootle about with mismatched tyres and only change which ever one is required to get it through an MOT.
If I was driving abroad then a space saver is an emergency measure that will get you to the tyre fitters but with more of a guarantee it will work than a can of sealant. A full size spare (with any decent tyre) would work fine until you got home. Obviously you need to look at the compromise in terms of space.
I had two punctures in one day once in different parts of town and on the same tyre - original then the replacement so can't have been from the same 'incident'. That was in Hemel Hempstead though so you'll be fine.
Generally if your car meets the standards/laws in your EU country then its legal in another ,
however persuading a supplier to break the local codes may not be easy .
Despite the EU there are local codes which differ so in France there is the "code de la route"
2 points :
Article 9.3 :
La différence entre la profondeur des rainures principales de deux pneumatiques montés sur un même essieu ne doit pas dépasser 5 mm.
5mm difference - ie if the new tyre on axle is more than 5mm different - not legal to fit
Article 3.5 (part)
Lorsque le Code de la Route interdit de monter des pneus de structures ou de types différents sur un même essieu (Article 3, point 3.2 et 3.3), il entend selon le J.O. de la C.E. N°1 129/105 du 14/05/1992, que les pneus doivent être à la fois de :
- même marque
- même dimension, et notamment de même section transversale
- même catégorie d'utilisation ( Exemple : route, neige, tout terrain )
- même structure : radiale ou diagonale
- même code de vitesse
- même indice de capacité de charge
- same brand
- same dimension, and in particular of the same cross-section
- same category of use (Example: road, snow, all terrain)
- same structure: radial or diagonal
- same speed code
- same load capacity index
Some of this is obvious , and there are ways to get round things but you need to know the detail
and be persuasive , its up to them what they will fit , assuming you have a space saver you could turn up with just the wheel/tyre that needs fixing and get that done .
The CT - MOT in France has similar rules and depending on how strict they feel you could get tyre advisories that state that you need to fix things within 2 months etc.
Road safety in France is a hot topic - they have double the road deaths we have hence the reduction in speed limits last year A and B roads 80kmh down from 90kmh.
OP relax you will be fine - at least you have made the effort to check and know what you need.
