Harsh Winter ahead?

[Kentish]

I ordered a set of winter tyres from Camskill and they were all showing as in stock with the exception of a couple of cheaper brands.

Paid on-line, expected them today but got an email to say "sorry no stock", no offer of a refund either.

Mad that they have pretty much sold out of all winter tyres in a couple of days!

Is a bad winter rumoured?

[Stu R]

Bad winters are rumoured every year, same as BBQ summers. The reality is they rarely materialise and when they do happen to be a bit more severe than the ones previously, like last years, some folks might be a bit more prepared when the next one rolls around. It's not a bad thing really if it means more people on winter tyres.

I doubt there's a massive amount of stock for winter tyres in the UK just yet anyway, give it a month and you'll see more people with them in stock I suppose.

I certainly hope we get a proper winter with lots of ice and snow, I love it, but I get the feeling we're more likely to get 3 months of damp and grey with the odd frost thrown in.

Edited by Stu R on Wednesday 22 September 23:35

[slipstream 1985]

hope so just bought snow chains

[v8will]

Stu R said:

Bad winters are rumoured every year, same as BBQ summers. The reality is they rarely materialise and when they do happen to be a bit more severe than the ones previously, like last years, some folks might be a bit more prepared when the next one rolls around. It's not a bad thing really if it means more people on winter tyres.

I doubt there's a massive amount of stock for winter tyres in the UK just yet anyway, give it a month and you'll see more people with them in stock I suppose.

I certainly hope we get a proper winter with lots of ice and snow, I love it, but I get the feeling we're more likely to get 3 months of damp and grey with the odd frost thrown in.

Edited by Stu R on Wednesday 22 September 23:35

I'd say that all the European customers have bought most of the available stocks already

[travisg]

try mytyres, ordered about 2 weeks ago, they import from Germany generally I believe (was the case for my Falken winter set). Took 3 days from ordering to arriving to me.

Graham

[Huntsman]

Kentish said:

I ordered a set of winter tyres from Camskill and they were all showing as in stock with the exception of a couple of cheaper brands.

Paid on-line, expected them today but got an email to say "sorry no stock", no offer of a refund either.

Mad that they have pretty much sold out of all winter tyres in a couple of days!

Is a bad winter rumoured?

I had an arguement with Camskill over that very point last year, listed on their website as being in stock, but in fact were not, I understand when they say in stock, it means its in stock at their supplier, maybe that info was out of date when you ordered.

[Mastodon2]

Kentish said:

I ordered a set of winter tyres from Camskill and they were all showing as in stock with the exception of a couple of cheaper brands.

Paid on-line, expected them today but got an email to say "sorry no stock", no offer of a refund either.

Mad that they have pretty much sold out of all winter tyres in a couple of days!

Is a bad winter rumoured?

I'd ask how quickly they can expect to get them to you - if they say under a week I'd let them make good on that, or I'd get a refund and buy elsewhere.

[voicey]

travisg said:

try mytyres, ordered about 2 weeks ago, they import from Germany generally I believe (was the case for my Falken winter set). Took 3 days from ordering to arriving to me.

Graham

I also ordered a set of Falken HS439's from mytyres on Monday and they arrived yesterday. By the look of the docs they came from Germany too.

[Matt106]

When people refer to 'Winter' tyres is the main difference deeper tread? Also how would they perform in the dry?

[Ed.]

Matt106 said:

When people refer to 'Winter' tyres is the main difference deeper tread? Also how would they perform in the dry?

Main difference should be that the compound is better suited to colder temperatures, I believe they wear out quicker in the warmer and dry.

[torres del paine]

I hope so. I would love to see a repeat of what we had at the beginning of this year.

I love winter, especially in the countryside, and I think it was refreshing and liberating when it disrupted our miserable routines for a week or so.

[swanny71]

I spoke to Camskill last week, they are getting their suplly of winter tyres actually in stock at the end of this month.

[300bhp/ton]

Kentish said:

I ordered a set of winter tyres from Camskill and they were all showing as in stock with the exception of a couple of cheaper brands.

Paid on-line, expected them today but got an email to say "sorry no stock", no offer of a refund either.

Mad that they have pretty much sold out of all winter tyres in a couple of days!

Is a bad winter rumoured?

Personally I'd be a bit more annoyed. If they claimed "in stock" when you paid, then they should be in stock. I'd be wanting a discount for having to wait and potentially make alternative arrangement to receive them and have them fitted.

[jbi]

i've noticed the cheap land rover's are starting to disappear from the classified's if thats any help to ya

[y2blade]

I hope so

[CraigyMc]

Ed. said:

Matt106 said:

When people refer to 'Winter' tyres is the main difference deeper tread? Also how would they perform in the dry?

Main difference should be that the compound is better suited to colder temperatures, I believe they wear out quicker in the warmer and dry.

In the UK we use what the rest of northern europe calls "summer tyres". They work fine down to about 5 or 8C, but below that they are kind of hopeless.

Winter tyres are kind of hopeless above those temperatures. They often have lower speed ratings too. The upside is that because they are designed for lower temperatures they don't behave like they are made of wood when the temps plummet, the way sumemr tyres do.

In various places in the EU, it's a legal requirement for locals to fit winter tyres in winter - Germany for example.

C

[CarbonBlackM5]

If I was a tyre specialist etc I would be telling everyone it was a bad winter.

Doesnt bother me, just means that we cant get out of our village so more time at home with the kids playing in the snow.

The M5 wouldnt even get up our drive anyway if it snowed.

[dylan0451]

what's the knobbliest (sp?!) type winter/snow tyre you can get?

i have a feeling i could have my work cut out with rwd even with winter tyres and lsd

[Matt106]

CraigyMc said:

Ed. said:

Matt106 said:

When people refer to 'Winter' tyres is the main difference deeper tread? Also how would they perform in the dry?

Main difference should be that the compound is better suited to colder temperatures, I believe they wear out quicker in the warmer and dry.

In the UK we use what the rest of northern europe calls "summer tyres". They work fine down to about 5 or 8C, but below that they are kind of hopeless.

Winter tyres are kind of hopeless above those temperatures. They often have lower speed ratings too. The upside is that because they are designed for lower temperatures they don't behave like they are made of wood when the temps plummet, the way sumemr tyres do.

In various places in the EU, it's a legal requirement for locals to fit winter tyres in winter - Germany for example.

C

Thanks for clearing that up! Ive been looking into some tyres for my winter steel wheels but not sure about full on winter tyres.

[Bluebarge]

dylan0451 said:

what's the knobbliest (sp?!) type winter/snow tyre you can get?

i have a feeling i could have my work cut out with rwd even with winter tyres and lsd

You don't need knobbly tyres - those are for mud. You need ordinary winter tyres which have a slightly softer compound, slightly more open tread and sipes on the contact patches. You would have to look closely to tell the difference between a winter and summer tyre once on the car.

If you live somewhere where the roads are permanently covered in snow in winter (eg Norway/Finland) then studs can be a good idea, but they are no use here.

If the snow gets quite deep, you may need chains, but at this point you would be starting to run out of ground clearance in an ordinary car anyway, so I would not bother unless you live in the Highlands.

Edited by Bluebarge on Thursday 23 September 11:30