Do you remember the crazed Union cavalry officer who hounded Clint Eastwood’s character in The Outlaw Josey Wales? He said “doin’ right ain’t got no end.” The state of California – and it is not just California – sees it that way also. Even to the extent of forbidding the sale of replacement tires that aren’t exactly the same spec (as far as rolling resistance) as the tires that were originally fitted to the vehicle by its manufacturer.
The doin’ right part has to do with the lower rolling resistance, which – so the argument goes – increases fuel economy and (by dint of that) lowers “emissions.” This is technically true, in the same way that adding a cup of water to the ocean increases the volume of the ocean – and in the same way that taking a cup of water out of the ocean decreases the volume of the ocean.
It is not, of course, explained to people in this way. Instead, people are told that forcing them to buy the same type of tire that their vehicle originally came with will result in meaningful mileage gains (as well as meaningful reductions in “emissions”) which is deliberately untrue, in the sense that the people pushing this untruth know it to be untrue. Put another way, they are pushing it for punitive purposes, though they will never openly admit this. Just as the “climate change” pushers will never admit they have been using the “climate change” bogeyman to get people – the masses, I mean – to accept an ever-diminishing standard of living. The “climate change” pushers do not intend to diminish their lifestyle anymore than Trump intends to trade in his new fleet of 250 V8-powered Cadillac Escalades for a fleet of fuel-sippy Prius hybrids.
Up to now – as regards tires, at least – only the car companies have had to worry about how much fractional increases in rolling resistance negatively affect their fuel-efficiency and “emissions” report cards. Once the vehicle is sold, the buyer was – as in past tense – free to buy a different tire, perhaps one with a more aggressive tread, even if it meant a little bit more rolling resistance. Or because it cost less than the factory tire. In other words, the vehicle owner was free to decide for himself whether it made more practical or financial sense to buy a set of replacement tires that offered more grip or cost $20 less per tire than the cost of the factory-original tire – or to buy the more compromised and perhaps more expensive, factory replacement tire, which increased his vehicle’s gas mileage by half an MPG (and reduced his vehicle’s “emissions” by a fraction of a gram per mile).
In other words, a meaningful vs. a meaningless difference.
California’s professional immiserators now decree that come 2029, Californians will longer have the freedom to make that choice and bet your Johnson Rod that other states – Washington and Oregon are likely emulators – will similarly decree the end of that freedom, too.
Of course, California’s professional immiserators claim this will save Californians “billions in fuel costs – which is bullshit. If were not, it wouldn’t be necessary to force people to save “billions,” would it? Just as if “masks worked,” it would not have been necessary to force people to “mask up.” Good ideas never require force. It’s the bad ones that necessarily do.
“Today, we are proud to approve the nation’s first replacement tire efficiency standards,” says chief immiserator, CEC Chair David Hochschild. “This action will help Californians save approximately $1 billion a year on refueling while reducing pollution and extending the range of vehicles on the road. I would like to thank all the consumer organizations, industry leaders and public health advocates for their support of this important step forward for California.”
Italics added. “Extending the range”? By – what? – half a mile per tankful? Maybe two whole miles?
It will be interesting to see how this will be enforced. At the retail level, it will be easy enough. Tire-sellers and tire-installers will not sell or install “illegal” tires (never mind them being DOT legal). But what will be done about Rolling Resistance Scofflaws who furtively finagle the purchase and installing of “illegal” tires? Will there be Rolling Resistance Checkpoints? If it seems a bit much, don’t forget there are already Safety Seat Checkpoints. And also that Flock cameras can probably identify “illegal” tires and notify The Authorities of your scofflawing.
One thing that is certain to happen as this latest cancer metastasizes is that there will be fewer choices in tires available, because tire companies aren’t going to keep making non-OE (original equipment) tires that can’t be legally sold or installed in the biggest markets. There is also another issue, which is what happens when OE-spec tires are no longer made because the market for them is not profitable enough to continue making them – because the number of vehicles that originally came with them has attrited down over the years to a relative handful of the number that were built? This is already a problem for cars more than 25 years old, many of which came originally with 15 inch (or smaller) wheels. Almost all new vehicles come with at least 17 inch wheels now – gnomesayin’? – and so there isn’t much available in the way of tires made for 15 inch (and smaller) wheels.
Soon – the order goes into effect in 2029, but the effects will be noticeable much sooner – it will be everyone’s problem.
. . .
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[…] They’ve come for your tires?? https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2026/08/25/theyve-come-for-your-tires-too/ […]
Eric,
There are at least two problems with this policy. One, as I understand it, even if you fit the same tires that were on your car when you bought it, the replacement tires won’t be quite the same as the OEM tires. Two, what if the tires are DISCONTINUED?
My ’26 Corolla Hatchback came with Yokohama Avid GTs. As I understand it, if I were to have a local tire shop put another set of Avid GTs on my car, that those replacement tires aren’t exactly the same as the OEMs; I heard on YouTube that Yokohama and other tire makers make OEM tires slightly different from the replacement tires we’d get at a tire shop. IOW, we can’t GET the same exact tire that came with our car!
Secondly, what happens if, between the time you get your new car and you replace tires 3-5 years later (assuming normal driving), the tire company DISCONTINUED the tire originally fitted to your car? Tire companies discontinue and/or change their tires all the time. What does one do if the OEM tire originally fitted to your car has been discontinued since you bought it? For example, my late mother had a Dodge Omni back in the day. IIRC, it came with Goodyear Vector tires. The Vector has been out of production for decades now.
Even if a particular tire model is still in production, what does one do if it were changed since it was fitted to your car? For example, Michelin has a Defender 2 which is sized for my old Nissan Altima. The fact that it’s called the Defender 2 means that there was a Defender 1 at some point. Tire companies discontinue and/or change tires all the time, like Michelin does. What does someone do if the OEM tire is literally no longer available?
Those are just two problems I see with this policy. One, the tires put on your car at the factory aren’t the same as you get at the tire store. Two, tire companies discontinue and/or change tires all the time. When it comes time to replace your tires, the OEM version may no longer exist. What then?
Ticky tac nonsense… the slow aggrazation of death by 1000 cuts. Jewrule #1, annoy the Goyim, profit from it, kill as many as possible. Covid injections and a draft for your kids. The tire corporations, like any corporation goes back to 3 jew corporations…Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street. And here you thought slavery no longer existed. Think again.
The Mexican gardening crews in California already seem to have some sort of underground supply chain for gas powered lawn mowers and stuff. I wonder how long it will take for them to add nornal tires to the list of stuff they smuggle into California?
This may be the only positive thing about the Tijuana-fication of California: Since the Mexicans have long experience living under a corrupt and stupid government, they already have the black market skills needed to operate in the People’s Soviet Socialist Republic of California.
It’s possible and likley the Asian tire makers could make exact copies of ‘approved’ tires for the black market.
“California’s direction is consistent with Michelin’s all-sustainable and holistic approach for reducing the impact of tires at every stage of the life cycle without compromising safety and other performances that are important to consumers,” said Francesca Mosteller, Director of State & Local Government Affairs, Michelin North America. “We support the efficiency goals and believe the proposed thresholds in this rulemaking are technically feasible within the defined timeframes.”
Director of State & Local Government Affairs, Michelin North America. Harvard grad.
What else is there to say? Even the manufacturers of the very parts we rely on are in on it. Fuck every last one of them. Place her’s and Hochschild’s faces beneath my 295 50 15’s and watch me burn rubber.
“the CEC has carved out exceptions for certain specialty tires, such as competition tires, large off-road tires, and all-weather winter performance tires. It also created product categories for long-life tires, ultra-high-performance tires, low-load-index tires, and other tires with special characteristics.”
Hoe benevolent of them! Thank you massa!
One can foresee that it’s going to take a large staff of perhaps 500 to 700 enforcers to inspect, manage and test all these new tire categories.
Peoples State of Commiefornia: creating high-paying jobs for deserving ‘crats!
Follow the money.
My bet is, the big tire manuf. where getting squeezed by Asian imports at fractional prices.
They lobbied and are winning.
Assuming CA has state emissions and safety inspection, tires will be on the check list. All DOT tires have date codes on them. Anything prior to the date of this going into effect, and not on the approved list, will not pass. Even buying them out of state won’t work.
No more sub-$100 tires, and the normal $150-250 will now double and triple
All the more reason for Inspection stickers to become a line in the sand/fight to the death. My county along with many other Arizona counties don’t have them, Word has it another D steal, this time perhaps resulting in a state wide legislative majority, along with a dumb as dirt Governor, SOS, and AG will usher in state wide smog inspections.
I’m sure fake inspection stickers can be made now pretty easily. And another reason why they need those flock camera’s to ID your plate which then triggers “they did not get an inspection” or whatever.
Hey Chris, I’d prefer a stand where enough people told GovCo to F off. Would be totally justifiable, along with a rejection of property tax, (at least for those with paid off property) But alas, we still have not cracked the 10% threshold for those of us who will refuse to comply. A sticker is a small thing, but when they change that here, next year, I will not be going along.
Hi Chris,
I used to be able to get inspection stickers from a friend who worked at a garage back in the day; now all the stations are connected to the hive mind of the DMV and the insurance mafia. Now I get not-so-friendly reminders from the insurance mafia that my inspection is due by whatever date so get it done or get canceled.
Excellent point. This kind of thing doesn’t happen without collusion between big corporations and government. More profit is always built into the equation.
Of course, it will only affect white people with jobs and mortgages and 401(k)s — people who need their cars for work and who have money that can be milked from them by the corporate-government complex. Illegal alien Mexicans without driver’s licenses or insurance who get into a DUI wreck will be unaffected by the tire mandate. Same for the black kids in a stolen Kia. No California prosecutor will charge them for having illegal tires.
SEMA, who represents aftermarket suppliers, and some tire manufacturers like Goodyear and Yokohama, lobbied against this. It doesn’t benefit them to squeeze consumers more.
https://www.sema.org/news-media/enews/2026/22/urge-lawmakers-halt-california-tire-proposal-will-harm-drivers
https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=269714&DocumentContentId=106854
-anon
The G78-15’s on my ‘64 C10 seem to roll just fine….but I bet they’ll be illegal in the California Caliphate, based on being bias ply.
I asked AI “is cec chair david hochschild jewish:
It answered: “David Hochschild, the Chair of the California Energy Commission (CEC), is of Jewish descent on his father’s side.”
Every. Single. Time.
My AI said there was no information available. Did find this car review of the Chevy Bolt he wrote in 2018:
“My first automotive love was a sleek, green 1978 MGB convertible that I got in my late 20s. It was a beautiful, curvy, temperamental car with equal supplies of character and electrical problems. Now I am in my late 40s and I have fallen in love again, this time with an electric car — the Chevy Bolt.”
https://www.sfgate.com/cars/article/Family-man-feels-right-at-home-in-Chevy-Bolt-13476299.php
A red shield is Rothschild, a dark shield is Schwartzchild. What is a Hoch? Not curious enough to Google it though.
‘High shield’ — it trumps (so to speak) red shields and dark shields.
Which leads to an ancient kvetch: why do jealous goyim attack for no reason, such that we must tote these heavy, burdensome shields everywhere we go? 🙁
Oy vey iz mir.
Royalty Auto Service had a video on this a couple months ago but doesn’t this new regulation violate the commerce clause in the Constitution?
Either way I suspect finding some F78 15’s at a good price will get even harder.
To bad none of these psychopaths in charge have a real life. So they are psychologically compelled to diminish yours. How badly bored does one have to be to dream up such male bovine fecal matter?
The gubmint authorized boy scout tire grift in the aforementioned area goes by the name Les Schwaab. You’ve been warned.
Even though I won’t need them for awhile it looks like I should buy a set of 14 inch tires for my ‘01 Corolla while they’re still available.
David Piglarvae. . .
What the fag do ya expect ?
Commiefornia is patently interfering with interstate commerce by attempting to set de facto nationwide tire standards, just as it did with ’emissions’ decades ago, under an exception which is still written into the Clean Air Act.
But there’s no exception for tires — just an impudent commissar, ‘David Hochschild,’ asserting purloined authority. Do the tires on his Gulfstream V private jet meet the OEM rolling resistance standards?
Commiefornia’s exorbitant privilege must be repealed. If this results in its secession from the US — ‘Commiefornia is full of rebels‘ — so be it! 🙂
Leave it to California to push something absolutely insane like this. Unfortunately, Oregon will probably push something similar, particularly if the state’s queen, er, governor, Tina Kotek, gets 4 more years. She’s all into this cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimate change lunacy as well, undoubtedly for the same billionaires who constantly preach to the masses that THEY should make sacrifices and drastically reduce their standard of living to stop climate change, but REFUSE to make ANY sacrifices themselves, let alone reduce living standards.
California was also the state that, just a few years ago, passed a law that criminalized “COVID misinformation”, even though the REAL pushers of “COVID misinformation” weren’t doctors who went against “The narratives”, but corrupt public health bureaucracies, government, and corporate media that gets LOTS of advertising money from Big Pharma.
Good. If Californians are forced to drive only on all season factory tires maybe they’ll stay out of Colorado. See, the great state of CO demands drivers have proper winter traction from September 1st through May 31. Mainly in an attempt to keep Vail Pass and the I-70 corridor open. You need either snow tires or chains. Most of us already have snow tires or AT rated, or M/S rated tires and AWD/4WD anyway, but the flatlanders don’t. So now instead of just tying up weekend traffic for 3 hours they also get a fine. That’s great for tourism.
So please CA, please require OEM tires on your vehicles. And ski on your own hills.
The Commiefornia rule exempted snow tires because they knew this would trigger the mountain counties that are already on the edge of trying for the State of Jefferson. If Oregon and Washington try to follow the eastern halves might just get the needed support to join Idaho. Colorado and New Mexico I foresee trying the same, especially Colorado since they joined the coalition of CARB followers, didn’t they?
Of course the flip side for the tire suppliers is they can simply sell Blizzaks as stock tire option to bless them as OEM, for a healthy up-charge of course.
-anon
When we lived in WA State, studded snow tires swapped out seasonally were a big profit generator for the retailers.
Most people living west of the Cascades — think Seattle and the I-5 corridor — don’t need snow tires, but a lot got sold because, God forbid, someone might need to drive the Snoqualmie Pass or I-84 switchback out of the Columbia Gorge eastbound in the dead of Winter during an ice storm.
In four years, I never drove the Snoqualmie Pass, and I only drove the switchback twice — moving my car to WA State and then making my escape four years later.
Watching Baker City, OR recede in my rearview mirror while I drove up the eastbound ramp after getting gas was one of the happiest moments of my life. That’s the last I saw of OR/WA.
This is rayyyyyyycisssst against blacks and their cartoonish tall tires. And the rednecks jacked up trucks. No one cares about the latter.
Who is “James Dalton Bell?”
And speaking of rolling resistance, why allow such large tires in the first place, Eric?
As you’ve pointed out previously, these large tires such as 225/44-17s have much greater rolling resistance than, say, 175/80-14s would have. Both have the same diameter, 25″, so they could be interchanged easily. What would the mileage benefit be in that case?
Why not mandate smaller tires, period? I know the computerized systems of braking, traction control and stability would probably be compromised but, who cares? We’re Saving The Planet!!
Capt. Red Legs would be proud. Will we have to insert sabers into torsos to end this madness, too?
Indeed, Mark –
Fifteen inch wheels are what my ’76 Trans-Am has and my car handles and stops competently – assuming a competent driver. Why on Earth does a Prius come standard with 17 inch “rims”? Because Idiocy is why. If it came with 15 inch wheels, the mileage would increase by 3-4 MPG. I say this because when equipped with its optional 19 inch “rims,” the mileage decreases by about that.
Gnomesayin’?
Bubbba bubbba bubba muffuggin bix nood . . .
>19 inch “rims”
a.k.a. “Nigger wheels”
Sorry, jus’ cain’t hep my rayciss white self.
The LR I reviewed last week had twennythrees, man. Gnomesayin’?
Why not NO FN MANDATES at all ?
Rolling resistance decreases as circumference increases.
F = f x W / R
F = Force to overcome rolling friction
f = coefficient of friction
W = Load on wheel
R = Radius of wheel
There are other factors at play in the dynamics of a vehicle so this isn’t the only aspect. There’s air resistance, a taller tire presents a larger surface. But that’s usually covered by the car body. There’s angular momentum, the distance of the mass from the hub changes how the tire accelerates and how well it retains momentum.
Think about this in the real world. If smaller tires were more efficient why do big trucks run 22.5″ rims and those tall tires? What about bicycles? Why wouldn’t the Tour duh France riders compete on 20″ BMX tires?
-anon