Different strokes for different folks, and
a way to go about life. Road manners and feeling are not things that show up in skid pad, stopping distance, and raw lap time numbers. For this reason, even professional reviews of tires put anecdotes and testimony front and center. Even Tire Rack's tire roundups put the raw data off to the side, at the bottom, and/or even on a while separate tab. I've owned and driven enough cars, and bought enough tires in my life, to say with full confidence that things that are the best numerically aren't always the things that are the best to have.
I've lived enough years of my life, and made enough decisions in it, based on what the numbers say are best and found it to be a mixed bag. Sometimes having the king of hill numbers monster is the best, sometimes not. Not to say that this is the case with the Conti ECS or Michellin Pilot Sport 4S by any stretch, and fully acknowledging the fact that they are both exquisite tires from companies at the top of their game, I can certainly say that characteristics and road manners of otherwise very well rated tires by the numbers can make or break them. These sorts of things, in my opinion, show their faces more on tires with compromises (cough G-Max RS) and tires at the edge of technology (like R comps). A company can easily produce a tire that lays down the best lap times, skid pad numbers, and stopping distances but not necessarily have the "best" tire if it doesn't inspire confidence in the driver and/or have good manners.
There's an almost 400hp Golf R sitting right next to my FiST in my garage, which has been my DD since 2018, and was preceded by an almost 500hp MK6 APR Stage III (and then some) Golf R. The MK6 had a Wavetrac, competition Haldex controller, and loads of the other bells and whistles that make those cars awesome. The MK6 R was faster than the MK7, and generally better in lots of ways, but I like driving the MK7 better. The MK7 R is much much faster than the FiST, and has way more grip, but I like driving the FiST better. The FiST has a more raw feeling, which puts my driving experience more front and center without all the electronic nannies and gadgets the Golf has, so I gave my wife my R and proudly drive it instead. I like how easy the FiST is to toss around, how light it feels on its feet, and how much more exciting and less subdued the driving experience is...even though it's worse (by the numbers) in virtually every conceivable way.
The same is even true of my Civic. Yeah, I could have swapped a K24 into it and had more torque and more horsepower. I didn't, though, and opted to go for cammed k20 that winds out to 9000k RPMs with ease. On paper, that engine doesn't weigh meaningfully less than a k24 and makes less power and torque all over. I even paid, in the end, probably twice what a k24 with the same whp lays down would cost. I like the wide rev range of the K20, and the mean a$$ sound it makes bouncing off the rev limiter waiting for the tires to catch up from a dig.
Perhaps I've softened with age. Perhaps, in many cases, I just don't care.
🤷 Enjoy those numbers. I'm just gonna keep having fun in my slow car with tires that aren't the best, appreciating how it "feels" while not caring that it is slower, and sleep better at night knowing that saving $400 on this set of tires paid for half of my MFactory diff (gasp, also not the best
). I may not make the same choice tomorrow, but getting 85-90% of the performance of Pilot Super Sports for just about half the price sits just fine with me today.
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