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Originally Posted by cody
1. I want them to be a great value, meaining they'll last a long time AND be inexpensive.
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This one's easy; buy the cheapest tire you can find with a treadwear over 340 or so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cody
2. I want a tire that won't kill me on the way home if I get surprised by a touch of snow or black ice that the weather report didn't call in time for me to switch to my Winters or I decide to push my luck when I probably should have switched to Winters.
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This one pretty much directly contradicts the first one in terms of tire construction. The things that make a tire not suck on ice are not the things that make them long lasting or cheap. Do you want a tire that's actually good in that April or October snow storm over Donner, or is just mediocre-but-won't-be-disastrous okay?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cody
3. I want them to be quiet and comfortable for road trips.
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This is easy to find too, if you aren't looking for superior dry or ice grip, just passable. Most all seasons are pretty quiet, except for the ones that really get complained about. And the cheaper non-M&S tires tend to be cushy and quiet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cody
4. I want excellent grip in the dry and wet. I'm willing to sacrifice some resonse for a more comfortable ride so softer sidewalls are okay.
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Throw this one out. Cheap, long lasting, and "excellent" grip in any one condition don't exist in a single tire.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cody
5. If they can stand up to an autocross because there's only one left in the season and my current autocross tires are corded, great.
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Probably also available in a cheap, somewhat quiet and comfortable summer tire. All seasons tend to land on a spectrum between decent in winter and unable to handle autocross abuse, or sturdy but too hockey puckish in the winter. One is pretty much inverse to the other.
I guess the best recommendation I can make is to throw out the super-cheap requirement and get something like the Falken 912s, or the newest version of those Toyos you've said in the past you really liked. It's either that, or go with something economical that you won't like getting caught in snow on, or want to autocross unless it's the difference between getting 6 or 8 points in the last event weekend or none. But if there was a very cheap, 3-year tire that approached a true snow tire in winter and a high performance tire at autocross, it wouldn't have taken us this much thread to come up with it.
