I understand what you're saying about using the spare. Mine also is the same as my tires on the ground and under normal circumstances I would just put the spare on. But, my question is, more specifically, can you run different brands as long as they're all the same size? There's always questions on this forum about tires but I have never seen this particular question addressed. Phillyg: I agree with you. I would never relax completely till I had all four the same again.:) I remember back in 1976 we bought a new car. At the time one of the major tire companies was on strike. My spare tire was a different brand than the others. Always sort of bothered me.