Bridgestone Firestone to raise prices

[phantom power]

The last time I put tires on my car it cost $900. Speaking of which, I'd like to have some words with the motherfuckers who popularized "high performance" rims. Because you never know when you might need to drag race in your Volvo.
x(

One of the world's largest tire manufactures has announced forthcoming price increases, citing a shortage of raw materials.

Bridgestone Firestone North America has just announced that customers can expect to pay up to 10 percent more for replacement tires when they next visit their service centre. The increases will affect passenger and light truck, truck and bus, motorcycle, agricultural and off road tires.

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/wheels/article/391664

[tridim]

1. High Performance is a relative term..

I have aftermarket performance wheels on my Honda that are about 25% lighter than stock. Less spinning mass = better gas mileage.

[phantom power]

2. Relative is a good way to put it. For example...

When it comes to tires, two measures of performance that I like are long lifetime and low cost. The tires I have to put on my rims are neither. They are only rated for 40K miles and they cost more than regular tires. Furthermore, the reason they don't last as long is because they're softer (for that high-speed cornering that we Volvo drivers are famous for as we drive our families around the neighborhood) so the rolling friction is higher.

Mostly, I'm angry at myself. We bought the car used, and at the time I had no clue what the implications of high-performance tires were. I didn't even know they were "high performance." Buyer beware.

To me, it's just one more example of cheap oil affecting the kinds of cars people made, and purchased. In a sane world, nobody would make a family station wagon with high performance rims. It's ridiculous, but in the age of cheap fuel, lots of ridiculous things seemed perfectly appropriate.