If you were to write out your priorities in an ordered list -- no ties, no if-thens, nothing but a strictly ordered list -- what would it be?
For non-winter tires, mine would be:
1. Quality
2. Wet performance
3. Performance retention at low tread
4. Limit behavior
5. Steering feel
6. Low weight
7. NVH
8. Longevity
I don't worry much about dry grip because anything that meets those criteria will be fine in that respect, and because I'm generally careful to buy/recommend cars that inherently don't suffer for grip in the first place.
And for winter tires, up here in the land of rare and intermittent snow:
1. Quality
2. Just enough non-snow grip that it's not miserable to drive on
3. Snow grip
Price would technically be the last item on each list, but I've never had a situation where trying to save money on tires was a good idea in the end. The only exception is when the more expensive one is expensive for some reason unrelated to performance (e.g. it's an OE fitment for a rare and expensive car or something), and is actually a worse pick overall.
What's your list??
For non-winter tires, mine would be:
1. Quality
2. Wet performance
3. Performance retention at low tread
4. Limit behavior
5. Steering feel
6. Low weight
7. NVH
8. Longevity
I don't worry much about dry grip because anything that meets those criteria will be fine in that respect, and because I'm generally careful to buy/recommend cars that inherently don't suffer for grip in the first place.
And for winter tires, up here in the land of rare and intermittent snow:
1. Quality
2. Just enough non-snow grip that it's not miserable to drive on
3. Snow grip
Price would technically be the last item on each list, but I've never had a situation where trying to save money on tires was a good idea in the end. The only exception is when the more expensive one is expensive for some reason unrelated to performance (e.g. it's an OE fitment for a rare and expensive car or something), and is actually a worse pick overall.
What's your list??