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Well... Finally, I have the rims all sorted out. I've got it narrowed down to 3, hopefully by spring break, I'll have them in my hand (it's too cold and crappy outside to put them on anyway). Now onto rubber... No matter which rim I pick, they're going to be 215/45/17 tires (2 are 17x7, one is 17x7.5), the only question is which one. As much as I would like to have ultra sticky performance tires on them, there's no way. I drive too much (20-25K a year) to be rolling on tires that last 30000 miles or less. They'll get eaten up in no time. And since most of my driving is just highway driving to and from work, I need a tire that will last a while and be good to drive on, but I also do like to mess around... which is where the high performance tire part comes in. I am aware of the "High Performance All Season" tire category, but have no experience with any of them. Has anyone ever used one of these tires? Once my bank account recovers from the rims/tires/suspension, I'll most likely put some sticky tires on my Si's for AutoX, but for this coming year, I'll probably find myself racing on these. So I basically need a double purpose tire. I know I'm going to lose some grip for longevity, thats fine.... but I don't want to play slip and slide either.
Basically the tires in this category... Potenza RE950, Michelin XGT H4, Yok Avid H4/V4, Sumitumo HTR+, Pirrelli P7000, etc...
All are pretty expensive for all season tires, so I'm going to assume they have some "sport" in them... how much is the question.
Anyone have experience pushing any of these tires hard? And how are they on the road (general driving)?

 
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Actually I was just thinking about that same subject. I have Falken ZIEX ZE-512 215/45R17 (about $100 each from discount tire direct), and they claim to be "all-season performance tires". If you paid any attention to the weather lately you know its snowing here in South Carolina. I just got back from driving in the stuff, and I was impressed that they actually had pretty good traction in the snow/slush. As far a dry performance, these are the first performance tires I've had, so I don't have anything to compare them to except the off-road tires on my old Suzuki Samurai. But I can say that I am not dissapointed in them. Anyway, its a huge improvemnt over stock Firestones. As far as ride, I'm glad I went with 17", they seems to be a good compromise between ride handling.

 
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ya i have the same falkens.. they're not the stickiest but ya they're all season for a reason. havnt drove much in the rain cause i live in sunny SoCal but so far its been good in the wet conditions as well.. tread design isnt too badd either

 
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Well, of the tires you listed, I have driven on three of them: Michelin, Yokohoma Avid H4 and the Sumitomo HTR+ which I have now on my Civic in the size you listed. Here are my thoughts. The Yokohamas sucked. I am a big Yokohama fan (going back to A-509s and AVS Intermediates) so that is tough to say, but they were marginal on dry stuff, loose in wet and brutal in snow. The Michelins were much better tires. They were awesome in the dry and wet, and capable in the snow. The problem with Michelins, as you know, is they are so freaking expensive! I got the Sumitomos from Tirerack for $93 each when I got my 17" wheels. I was wanting the Bridgestone RE950 but they wanted $135 each. Plus, if you look at the ratings, they are very very similar and the Sumitomo was actually better in snow, which is important to me if you are running a 45 series tire all year round, and they are W speed rated. Yes, I realize our cars will never approach that sustained maximum speed, but it does indicate something about how they handle. I talked to Lee at Tirerack and she told me the two tires are very similar and said Sumitomo used to own Dunlop or Bridgestone (can't remember now). I live in St. Louis and have had the chance to experience these tires in dry hot weather, rain, ice and now cold and snow (currently 12degrees F and snow on the ground) and they are awesome! They might give up a little bit to the Michelin in the dry handling, but not much and they are much better in bad weather. The only thing I don't know is what the mileage is on the Sumitomos, but I don't recall it being bad. Maybe 45-50k miles? You could look on the Tirerack site.

Sorry for the long message. Hope that helps.

 
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Well I was going to buy the Yoko Avid h4's but they were out of stock on them when I bought my rims so I got the Kumho 712's since they were on sale and I am impressed with them in the rain and dry.

But I am running 215/45/17 if the Paradas came in that size I would have got them

Nick